Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[DisneyFive]

Im curious, luggage tags? Disney sends luggage tags? We’ve never received those. Is this for certain pass holders? I thought the magic Bands were discontinued? We have to purchase those still correct?

Not sure if you are talking about magical express tags. No Magical express luggage tags. You have to grab your checked bags at MCO and bring them to the magical express check in.

Magic bands are no longer provided free of charge. You can order magic bands ahead of time. Yes. They will not provide them unless you order them.

Dan

 

[CarolynFH]

Im curious, luggage tags? Disney sends luggage tags? We’ve never received those. Is this for certain pass holders? I thought the magic Bands were discontinued? We have to purchase those still correct?

Luggage tags (for identifying your bags, not for DME) come only with packages (room + tickets), not with room-only reservations or with DVC reservations.

 

[newbie72]

Ah! Thank you for the clarification.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

You mention that rope drop is back at 'all' parks but you did not arrive at AK until 9:30. We have had multiple reports that AK is still doing the modified park opening where guests can enter the park 45 mins before posted park opening and begin riding attractions immediately. Did you rope drop AK any day?

We rope dropped AK today and they let us in at 7:15AM and we were able to ride FOP right away and Navi right after. So yes, it's still doing the modified opening!

But man, do NOT ride FOP if you aren't at the front of that pack of people racing there. After we rode both rides it was just 8AM and the line to the ride was all the way out of Pandora with more people joining it as we walked by. When we went back later around 5pm it was much more reasonable and the queue was completely inside the building. I'd say wait and do it later.

 

[4Ds4Diz]

So what was the pixie dust?

Let's just say Disney made it possible for my son to return to the store to shop for the favorite items he had planned to purchase for himself and my husband. We were grateful and made sure to let Disney know what a great job the CMs involved did to help us.

 

[shelbel95]

We are wrapping up our 8-night stay at the Poly tonight (plus 2 nights at the start of the trip at Universal/Royal Pacific). As a fast pass-loving, non rope dropping family, staying at a monorail resort with no monorail stop and under construction, we really weren’t sure what to expect. This was a rescheduled trip that was supposed to happen June 2020 and we just went in with the attitude that we’d roll with whatever happens.

Turns out - we had an amazing time! I may come back and do a brief report of our trip, but let me know if anyone has any questions in the meantime! We fly home tomorrow, so it’s probably best to answer any questions now before I start forgetting!

 

[kylenne]

Luggage tags (for identifying your bags, not for DME) come only with packages (room + tickets), not with room-only reservations or with DVC reservations.

Weirdly enough they were actually giving luggage tags and magical extras with “2020 recovery” ticketless packages...basically if you had a room only reservation that you had to move because of the closures that’s what it was rebooked as. I was shocked to see the envelope with the tags and coupons waiting for me in my room at the GF.

 

[olive]

An update from yesterday!

Sat - checked into Contemporary a little before 9. We dropped off our bags and headed to Hollywood Studios to ride Rise again (boarding group 6!). A bus pulled up shortly after we got to the bus stop. We waited all day for a text or notice on the app that our room was ready.

HS again had very long lines and was so hot! We did Rise, then Millennium Falcon. Mickey and Minnie was down all morning until a little after we got off that ride. We headed over right away but the line still got to 60 minutes pretty fast. We did Toy Story Mania after MMRR and then tried for ToT or RnR but both had lines too long for us with an upcoming reservation at Epcot.

We took the Skyliner to Epcot - no line at all. It was super pleasant! Leisurely wander over to Le Cellier for a freezing cold but tasty late lunch/early dinner. Our service was kind of weird. The server kept pointing to things and asking me to move them (like the silverware) or hand them to her/clear the table . There was also a mistake with the food. But we enjoyed our meal and left nice and full. We tried to ride Test Track but it went down for lightning, then headed to Soarin before heading out for an early night.

When we got back to the hotel after 6 pm, our room was still not ready. At the front desk they had housekeeping check everything and it turned out there was a mistake in the system and the room was actually ready when we checked in. I was kind of annoyed because we paid someone to check our bags, but I smiled it off. It wasn't the front desk person's fault and not worth getting too upset over. We unpacked and swam, caught the electric water pageant and went to sleep. MK today!

 

[dreamit]

Do you get any sores/blisters from doing all that walking in your Tevas? I love mine, but haven't done a ton in them yet.

Different poster but thought I’d share that my DD and I typically rotate between Tevas and a second pair of shoes when at WDW. I find Tevas comfortable and great for wearing in the rain. However, I do proactively place pre-cut strips of moleskin in areas where I feel rubbing. Too, regardless of the shoes we’re wearing, we run BodyGlide across our feet in the morning. It feels great!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Has anyone here right now seen the Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway Loungefly backpack and wallet around? Ive looked at HS, AK and World of Disney but no dice. Going to MK and Epcot so hope I have more luck! It's online so can buy it there but was hoping to find it here!

The design looks like this:



Also just a shopping tip: buy things you want early in the day- my son has been trying to find a hoodie and every single time he sees one he likes the only sizes left are all large/x large and up. Lots of sizes out of stock in clothes.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Has anyone here right now seen the Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway Loungefly backpack and wallet around? Ive looked at HS, AK and World of Disney but no dice. Going to MK and Epcot so hope I have more luck! It's online so can buy it there but was hoping to find it here!

The design looks like this:

View attachment 585020

Also just a shopping tip: buy things you want early in the day- my son has been trying to find a hoodie and every single time he sees one he likes the only sizes left are all large/x large and up. Lots of sizes out of stock in clothes.

If you show this pic to a CM in a store they can pull up supply across WDW and let you know where they have them and how many. Much easier than going from place to place yourself.

I found this out a few years back when I was looking for Mickey Crocs.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

If you show this pic to a CM in a store they can pull up supply across WDW and let you know where they have them and how many. Much easier than going from place to place yourself.

I found this out a few years back when I was looking for Mickey Crocs.

Oh that's amazing! Thank you!!

 

[cdurham1]

We are at Disney right now and happy to be here. This is what we have experienced so far.

Weds - we had a morning flight out of CT. Got to our hotel (Gaylord Palms for 3 nights before switching to the Contemporary for a week this morning). We went swimming, then off to Disney Springs dinner to wander around and have dinner at T Rex. We had a virtual queue time at Gideon's but decided not to wait around in the rain for it.

Thurs - We got BG 16 on our first attempts! HS officially opened 9, and our hotel shuttle dropped us off about 845. We had to stop at guest services which caused a little delay. After that we walked onto Star Tours, explored Galaxy’s Edge a little and then our BG was called at 940. We had never ridden this before but I think the preshows were running when we went. Lines were quite long by the time we got out of Rise. TS Mania was down until the afternoon. Slinky was up to 80-120 mins, Swirling Saucers 40 mins, Millennium Falcon at 60 mins. We ended up doing a short day here, with mobile ordered lunch from Docking Bay/Pizza Rizzo and riding Slinky and MF and doing Muppets before heading out.

We hopped to AK, which seemed so much less hot and crowded. The shade at AK makes such a big difference. The kids were getting miserable at HS and asking to just leave and go back to the hotel. It was rough. AK saved it. Lines for what we went on ranged from walk on to 25 mins posted but may have been actually less. We hit kali first to cool off, then Dinosaur and safari, then dinner at Yak and Yeti.

Fri (yesterday) - we picked this day as a relaxation day and I am so glad. After a couple of hours at the pool at the Gaylord Palms- the pool area here is incredible especially for kids, with lots of slides and an amazing climbing structure in addition to the pools and hot tubs - we went on to Blizzard Beach. We took a Lyft over and got there shortly after opening. We did some slides and the wave pool (walked onto team boat springs, toboggan racers), short wait for slush gushers, did two cycles of the very long lazy river. Spent a little over 4 hours here, and it was never super crowded. We had lunch at Lottawatta. It was very relaxing. We headed out just as a storm hit a bit after 4. We headed back to the hotel for dinner, laundry, resting and movie.

Today we check into the Contemporary and then have another morning at HS to hit some of what we missed and an afternoon at Epcot. We have had a great start to the trip!

I got to stay at Gaylord Palms a couple of years ago for a work conference. Wow, I was impressed with that place. Did you find a good deal on it? Or use Marriott points or something? I felt like it was one of the coolest hotels i have ever stayed in. Did you drive to the parks from there or do they have a reliable shuttle system?

 

[threeboyzdad]

Just back from a 9 day split stay rescheduled 2020 trip. We usually go every June and are a monorail resort, rope drop, afternoon break, park close family! It was our first split stay and first time flying in years. So lots of new experiences for us. I was worried about all the new logistics….using ME, having bags transferred for split stay, ordering groceries, riding ROR for first time, having no FP, increased crowds and long lines… The list goes on. I’m happy to report it was a smooth and wonderful trip!

-We stayed at GF first and moved to YC. My kids have always wanted to use SAB. I loved both but prefer the GF. Yacht was very loud and busy. Walking through the lobby stressed me out. The pool is nice and fun but I love the GF ambiance. I did enjoy being able to walk to Epcot though at YC. I still prefer the monorail loop to the boats as the daily storms had the boats closed more and we were forced to bus. Our bus experiences were awesome. They came often.

-We got boarding groups both of our HS days at 7 am. It’s an amazing ride.

-Rope dropping Slinky was key

-Rope dropping Flight of Passage was also key

-We rope dropped Test Track but single rider is now open and that was awesome too.

-Magic Kingdom seems less crowded than other parks and walking around was so nice with extra space to move.

-Flower and Garden booths were awesome and new to us. We really enjoyed it.

-Many many shops in Epcot World showcase are closed and that’s frustrating.

-Since we rope drop and parks are opening earlier, we were done most days before lunch. Low wait times. We rested and returned late afternoon to close parks. We often park hopped to Epcot or MK as they stayed open later after hopping to AK and HS. Several days we did three parks a day this way. Getting in line for headliners at the end of the night is the way to go similar to rope drop. We rode Slinky twice in a row at close!

-We didn’t get our bags until about 5:15 on our transfer day (room was ready at 12:15). That was frustrating even though I had heard that’s the case. I think using a taxi and moving your own bags may be worth it. I wanted to have time to unpack before I hopped to our afternoon parks.

-issues with ME. There was a line but it moved fast and we got on a bus right away.


-Mobile ordering is so nice. It was always fast and easy and always plenty of tables.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Carol_]

We had a glitch with mobile ordering last week at Pecos Bill’s. There was a huge backup as order numbers had to be manually recorded by a cashier, then basically shouted into the kitchen for them to prepare them. The kitchen had the orders but couldn’t access info about if customers were there to get the food. Huge irritated hot and tired lunch crowd but that kitchen was hustling as much as they could… Even the manager remained incredibly pleasant given the angry mob. It was a master class in management.

 

[Cynthiab]

For those of you who flew United, did you notice if the United Club was open? Their website is having all manner of glitches about if it is or if it ain't, so if someone has info, I'd appreciate it.

I flew week before last for a work trip to Tampa. Clubs were open at hubs but not really anywhere else but they are open in Orlando. See - https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/tr...lounges/locations.html#currentlyopenlocations

All snacks were pre-packaged, single serving. There were sanitizing wipes for anything that multiple people might touch (like the coffee machine.) The coke machine had a qr code you could scan to operate it without touching the machine.

 

[NashvilleMama]

Arrived today, no issues at MCO or with rental cars…seemed to be tons and tons of cars and relatively short lines so desks were well staffed.

1st time at Riviera, got room ready notification around 11:30am but asked to change when we got here for a pool view which they quickly did. Doesn’t seem crowded at all, had a drink out on Topolino’s terrace and mobile orders Primo Piatto. That was a bit annoying as they apparently let anyone sit down and hold tables before your food, and there are about 10 in there total so once you got your food there was nowhere to sit. I even asked the CM at the door why they were letting anyone sit down without food and she looked at me like I I was crazy. Guess that rule is gone now? I’d really liked that one.

also what on earth is up with all the helicopters? Riviera is on a flight path or something because it’s constant. Is this normal??

 

[goodeats]

also what on earth is up with all the helicopters? Riviera is on a flight path or something because it’s constant. Is this normal??

I noticed that at CBR. I was thinking it had to do with being so close to the RC fire station, but maybe it’s tourist flights? I thought the parks were no fly zones though.

 

[NashvilleMama]

I noticed that at CBR. I was thinking it had to do with being so close to the RC fire station, but maybe it’s tourist flights? I thought the parks were no fly zones though.

I’m no expert but they looked like private ones to me, not news or law enforcement. It’s so constant. I think the actual parks may be no fly but doesn’t extend to resorts. We’re seriously considering DVC here and if this is normal I’m out. I don’t remember this at all from our CBR stay last fall but that was definitely deep into covid times.

 

[NashvilleMama]

I’m no expert but they looked like private ones to me, not news or law enforcement. It’s so constant. I think the actual parks may be no fly but doesn’t extend to resorts. We’re seriously considering DVC here and if this is normal I’m out. I don’t remember this at all from our CBR stay last fall but that was definitely deep into covid times.

PS the skyliner has been down here since we arrived around 4pm, but looks like the CBR to DHS line is running. Haven’t heard a reason why.