Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[SCDisneyfanatic]

Here now too, and having a great time.... BUT..... other than our ADRs, avoiding the parks like the plague !!! MK was a disaster--- Epcot was nice tonight--- park was empty--- MK and HS are a disaster--- Spent a great night yesterday at Citywalk--- excellent dinner @ Margaritaville and the movie theatre is beautiful--- !!

Can you expand a little on "Disaster" at MK, and HS? Thanks for the words.

 

[Turksmom]

We

Here now. Overall, we are having fun but definitely noticeable difference in CM attitude and cuts in service and guest experience. Still pretty peeved about the CM who told us “you chose to come to Disney during a pandemic” when we expressed concern about having to wait amongst all the indoor playing kids at the big top. We did not ask to skip the line just asked to wait off to the side by the line until our buzzer buzzed.

We made that request pre-pandemic (2018) and were also told no in a not very nice way.

 

[Nice Work Pal]

FP+ was stopped because of social distancing. Lines would have wrapped around entire parks if it was still operating. They also cannibalized the infrastructure for the Park Reservation system.

Wait times do not improve for anyone except the people with FPs. It’s quite the opposite for everyone else in standby. I get that you’re upset because FP+ was better for the way you like to tour, and I’m sorry you had a bad time, but the issue right now with HS specifically isn’t a lack of FP, it’s that currently it’s a park of nothing but headliner attractions with a lack of shows to eat up people besides Frozen. The Indy theater alone accounts for a massive amount of capacity that’s not being used. And if all those shows are sitting empty, the people who would have sat in them have to go somewhere else…meaning the headliners. The impact is extra noticeable because 10am is generally when the shows would start iirc, and it’s not a coincidence that’s when wait times started to get really onerous at the headliners when I was there a couple weekends ago. Hopefully BatB’s return will help the situation a little, that theater is also massive.

How would fp make social distancing any worse than standing in a longer single regular line that stretches all over the parks that other guests have to walk through and by? The fp line is always way shorter which would be easier for social distancing and cut down in the regular line distance. Not understanding the logic.

We were there in April with masks and 6 foot markers. Lines were fine. Some long but not every single one. I get the cannibalization logic then but now park attendance is crazy and social distancing is no longer a thing what point does that serve?

Also the lines are longer now than ever. I get they need to keep a separate line open for das but utilizing both lines would have been a great way to prevent lines wrapping around the entire parks. When I used to go before any fp system there were always two lines open for rides. You never had to wait out in the searing heat for 60 minutes before getting into the actual ride queue ac portion. 7DMT wrapped around to little mermaid, HM stretched to the liberty tree tavern, space mountain line got so long they moved turnstiles out to keep the distance from wrapping around to buzz again, Splash was well over the bridge and almost reached Pirates, BTR went down the side of the water, TOT was down Hollywood blvd. near the vacation club place at one point, RNR wasn’t far behind, MFSR had the gate open in the corner with turnstiles out there so it didn’t wrap to Oga’s, TSM at one point was out of the front of the line queue entrance, Kilimanjaro safari was back to the Lion king show, then went off to the side to some other wrap around, EE was back to finding Nemo but unlike the other lines that one moved fairly quick. Remember the days when the only crazy line stretch was FOP to the bridge? Now it’s every decent ride. I know a lot of the queues like HM are closed off but still don’t understand why. We’re no longer social distancing or wearing masks except on buses and that’s not really enforced.

I’m assuming most park goers used fp…so it benefited everyone. If line times aren’t really affected by fp and people don’t want to use the system that’s on them. We go often so not getting on certain rides is whatever but I felt bad for families (like my uncle, his gf and their 6 kids who we went with ) who went for the first time. They said they’ll never go back.

And agreed about HS and the shows…MK was actually way worse. We were there 8 days and only went there once…stayed until 2pm then came back for HEA. I actually had a better time at the airport waiting in the tsa line.

 

[To the honeypots]

Please tell me you took that to guest services? She could've declined your request, but the snarky comment is outrageous. Bad enough that I may have asked for her supervisor right then and there. People really have to not continue to put up with this. While I'm sure the vast majority of CM's are wonderful, there are some that just shouldn't be there.

We have contacted guest services. Yes, I agree the snarky comment was not appreciated at all.

 

[cakebaker]

FP+ was stopped because of social distancing. Lines would have wrapped around entire parks if it was still operating.

FP+ was not stopped because of social distancing. At the time of re-opening and for a good period of time afterwards, it was not needed due to low park capacity limits and lack of staffing. They also cut costs by not having to staff those lines in the first place. The proof of that is, it's still not back and social distancing is gone and has been for at least a couple of weeks. Lines never wrapped around the park with FP+ before, they wouldn't now.

The only reason it hasn't been brought back is they're going to introduce a pay to play system and don't want to have to take "free" away to do it. I'm guessing there are going to be a lot of anti-FP+ people that will be wishing we had old FP+ back once they do that. But I will guarantee you, lines won't wrap around the park with a paid system either.

 

[scrappinginontario]

There are many FP+ threads available for discussion. Please return this thread to discussing 'Here Now and Just Back' not why/why not FP+ should return.

Thanks.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Just got back from a 7 day stay at SSR. We’ve visited 3-4 times a year since 2013 (last trip was late April at the Poly). Been an AP since 2015. This was by far our worst trip.

The lines at HS and MK were horrible. 70-140 minute wait for any decent ride.

There’s a LOT more line cutting. Saw a conflict daily and was involved in one with some guy at space mountain. . Every person behind me said thanks because they knew what he was doing.

The parks are a crowded mess

They’re severely understaffed

Why are a bunch of shows still closed? Makes zero sense unless they just can’t find staff. Maybe something they should have considered before laying off 28k employees

Trash cans are all overflowing. Trash is on the ground and in random spaces everywhere. If Walt could see the current state of the parks he’d be rolling over in his grave. He was super crazy about park cleanliness

Heat was relentless. I get it it’s Florida in July but when they had fast passes you wouldn’t be standing in line all day for every single ride. At least put more shade and fans out if you’re not doing fp.

Love mobile order but every QS was a mess of people.

Disney Springs is a zoo

Ran out of toilet paper at SSR. Called the front desk/housekeeping and even maintenance over 10 times but kept getting a voicemail. Had to run to the Artist Pallet to use the bathroom. Wound up balling up a bunch of toilet paper and shoving it in my pockets so my family could use the bathroom at our hotel. I told the bartender at the Turf Club (she was awesome) and she called the manager. A relative went to the front desk to complain, she waited in line for 30 minutes for the desk person to tell her “service has been lackluster because of the pandemic” (no lie). Took them 3 hours to actually bring toilet paper to our room. I emailed Disney last night to complain about the current park situation and the lack of toilet paper and towels at the hotel. To their credit when I landed today they had called, left a vm and emailed me. Going to call them back tomorrow. The food at SSR is really lacking. At least DS is close by. Overall it’s a very nice

I make it a point every trip to take down cm’s names who were great. After every trip I email disney to let them know they went above and beyond. They always contact me thanking me for doing so and tell me they’re letting their supervisors know. This was the first trip ever I complained about anything.

The good

50’s prime time was great. Food, atmosphere and staff were amazing.

It was great seeing HEA live again.

Great time and food at Raglan Road, Boathouse and Paddlefish

Unless they bring fp back, hire more cm’s and clean up the parks I’m done. I’d rather sit on a beach in Aruba then wait in line all day in that heat for every single ride. I’m sure they’ll still draw a crowd but from talking to other guests in line and the miserable look on peoples faces Disney reputation is falling fast. It’s been on a slow decline but I feel like it’s fallen faster than the drop on the tower of terror.

Thank you for your thorough report.

Could you elaborate more on the QS? This has me the most worried out of anything. I've been adding more and more TS to my trip as I find them (yay, got Sci Fi this morning), but we're still having 2 QS meals.

Your TP situation is especially disheartening.

 

[lovethattink]

Concerning the birthday and celebrations, wait staff are so swamped that they hardly have time to get food served much less recognize all the hundreds of people they see wearing buttons. It’s the same in our town where my college nieces who are waitresses are working 12 hour shifts seven days a week. Until we get enough people willing to work then there won’t be time for extras from overworked wait staff.

And kitchen staff could be short. My son is a server and a couple weeks ago got his double shifts cut because there weren’t enough line cooks. And he’s been having to work expo more frequently.

 

[e_yerger]

Thank you for your thorough report.

Could you elaborate more on the QS? This has me the most worried out of anything. I've been adding more and more TS to my trip as I find them (yay, got Sci Fi this morning), but we're still having 2 QS meals.

Your TP situation is especially disheartening.

Last time I visited was in April 2021, so it may be a bit dated. But for the QS stuff, there is really a limited amount of meals they can push out at any given time. If you want to eat at peak times (12-1pm, 5-6pm), you'll want to secure your Mobile Order early!! We would order our lunch first thing in the morning, and select a pick-up time for the time we wanted to eat. The only time that things felt a little chaotic was when we ordered from Peco Bill's and everyone was standing around the entrance waiting for their alert that their meal was ready.

The other option would be to eat in off times - which is a win-win. This allows more availability for the time frame, and lower crowds for when you pick up your food and are looking to eat.

 

[Kimpossible1]

Here now. Overall, we are having fun but definitely noticeable difference in CM attitude and cuts in service and guest experience. Still pretty peeved about the CM who told us “you chose to come to Disney during a pandemic” when we expressed concern about having to wait amongst all the indoor playing kids at the big top. We did not ask to skip the line just asked to wait off to the side by the line until our buzzer buzzed.

Please be kind to cast members and give them a little grace. They have had a tough year dealing with guests. I disagree that this is a snarky comment as it is true. You chose to go to Disney during a pandemic and knew what standards were in place currently such as no masks indoors. Please don't take out frustrations on cast members.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Anyone that’s been in D tech recently know if they have Samsung phone case options, or if it’s just Apple?

 

[brockash]

Please be kind to cast members and give them a little grace. They have had a tough year dealing with guests. I disagree that this is a snarky comment as it is true. You chose to go to Disney during a pandemic and knew what standards were in place currently such as no masks indoors. Please don't take out frustrations on cast members.

OMG...you think the way the CM answered the question was appropriate...anywhere...let alone at Disney?!?! The OP is not the one who took their frustration out on someone...it's VERY clear the CM was the one taking their frustration out on their paying guests.
Good lord; yes, now we should also accept and be grateful that we have the opportunity to be spoken to rudely by CMs...give me a break...
OP I'm so glad that you took the time to let Disney know about the inappropriate way the CM handled that situation. The pp who posted about the need for these type of things to be reported is 100% right. Disney is now, more than ever, testing the limits to see just how far they can push things (raising prices, taking away perks, cutting costs and the number and quality of their employees etc.) and obviously there are many out there who have no problem with them running their previous business model into the ground, so for those of us who are not okay with it; we unfortunately seem to be needing to be in a place right now that we advocate for that.

 

[Kimpossible1]

OMG...you think the way the CM answered the question was appropriate...anywhere...let alone at Disney?!?! The OP is not the one who took their frustration out on someone...it's VERY clear the CM was the one taking their frustration out on their paying guests.
Good lord; yes, now we should also accept and be grateful that we have the opportunity to be spoken to rudely by CMs...give me a break...
OP I'm so glad that you took the time to let Disney know about the inappropriate way the CM handled that situation. The pp who posted about the need for these type of things to be reported is 100% right. Disney is now, more than ever, testing the limits to see just how far they can push things (raising prices, taking away perks, cutting costs and the number and quality of their employees etc.) and obviously there are many out there who have no problem with them running their previous business model into the ground, so for those of us who are not okay with it; we unfortunately seem to be needing to be in a place right now that we advocate for that.

We were not there and did not hear the conversation so it is difficult to interpret how the CM was speaking and I do not believe one side of a story. CM's have been treated terribly by guests in the last year, and all I was saying is give them some grace. Apparently they should not be allowed to be human beings and have feelings because that disrupts the guests' magic?? Going to WDW is a privilege, not a need but I think people have forgotten that over the last year. CM's are people and most visitors treat them as part of the background, with no regard to them as individuals with feelings.

 

[brockash]

We were not there and did not hear the conversation so it is difficult to interpret how the CM was speaking and I do not believe one side of a story. CM's have been treated terribly by guests in the last year, and all I was saying is give them some grace. Apparently they should not be allowed to be human beings and have feelings because that disrupts the guests' magic?? Going to WDW is a privilege, not a need but I think people have forgotten that over the last year. CM's are people and most visitors treat them as part of the background, with no regard to them as individuals with feelings.

Ok, I guess I didn't realize you were one of those ppl. who creates their own reality. Just like everything else on these boards or in real life when you have a conversation with your friends/family we can only speak to what we have either experienced or been told. I have absolutely no reason to think the OP was lying, so with the information provided, the CM was completely out of line and at the very least needs retraining. From what was reported the OP didn't do/say anything wrong/rude etc., but obviously anyone can make up any scenario they'd like in their head, but that just seems like a complete waste of time to me.

For ppl. like you, who apparently need a video and I'm sure audio recording of every situation/comment/interaction in order to "believe" someone; it's probably a waste of time to be on a thread about 1st hand accounts/reports; as 99% of these reports do not have video and audio evidence that you seem to need in order to believe what is reported.

 

[harleyquinn]

We were not there and did not hear the conversation so it is difficult to interpret how the CM was speaking and I do not believe one side of a story. CM's have been treated terribly by guests in the last year, and all I was saying is give them some grace. Apparently they should not be allowed to be human beings and have feelings because that disrupts the guests' magic?? Going to WDW is a privilege, not a need but I think people have forgotten that over the last year. CM's are people and most visitors treat them as part of the background, with no regard to them as individuals with feelings.

OMG...you think the way the CM answered the question was appropriate...anywhere...let alone at Disney?!?! The OP is not the one who took their frustration out on someone...it's VERY clear the CM was the one taking their frustration out on their paying guests.
Good lord; yes, now we should also accept and be grateful that we have the opportunity to be spoken to rudely by CMs...give me a break...
OP I'm so glad that you took the time to let Disney know about the inappropriate way the CM handled that situation. The pp who posted about the need for these type of things to be reported is 100% right. Disney is now, more than ever, testing the limits to see just how far they can push things (raising prices, taking away perks, cutting costs and the number and quality of their employees etc.) and obviously there are many out there who have no problem with them running their previous business model into the ground, so for those of us who are not okay with it; we unfortunately seem to be needing to be in a place right now that we advocate for that.

I have to say that I actually agree with BOTH of you. CMs are under a LOT of pressure, which is Disney's fault. If I had an interaction that was truly awful (the one as described is not that bad to me, but I was not there), I would err on the side of letting it go. What I might do is contact guest services and add it to a complaint without the CMs name as part of why my trip was awful due to x, y, z.

As someone who worked retail and works with the public, I always err on the side of putting myself in the worker's place. Even that does not excuse everything and sometimes you definitely have to complain.

 

[123SA]

Pandemic is not a valid excuse for poor behavior or snarky attitude from anyone. I’m glad the OP reported it.

 

[White_Rabbit18]

The mask mandate was only lifted recently so maybe the OP booked the trip when there were different measures in the park and they might not have wanted to lose money on the trip and was just trying to find a way to feel safer on their trip.

It is crazy that people have a negative opinion on these boards without getting attack and people are excepted to accept everything just because of the pandemic.

 

[Kimpossible1]

Ok, I guess I didn't realize you were one of those ppl. who creates their own reality. Just like everything else on these boards or in real life when you have a conversation with your friends/family we can only speak to what we have either experienced or been told. I have absolutely no reason to think the OP was lying, so with the information provided, the CM was completely out of line and at the very least needs retraining. From what was reported the OP didn't do/say anything wrong/rude etc., but obviously anyone can make up any scenario they'd like in their head, but that just seems like a complete waste of time to me.

For ppl. like you, who apparently need a video and I'm sure audio recording of every situation/comment/interaction in order to "believe" someone; it's probably a waste of time to be on a thread about 1st hand accounts/reports; as 99% of these reports do not have video and audio evidence that you seem to need in order to believe what is reported.

Well, I obviously hit some kind of nerve as I did not make any personal attacks. I was simply asking for people to give cast members some leeway.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Again, this is the 'Here Now and Just Back' thread that many are finding to be a valuable source of information.

If the off topic discussions re: what actual guests are posting continue, we would need to consider closing this thread and we don't want to do this.

Please stay on topic and share your own actual experiences and not judge/criticize the validity of what someone else posts.

Thanks.

 

[chad_1138]

We are at Epcot right now and MDE is down, which means both Mobile Order at Magic Band room charging are down. If you are at the parks today make sure you have back up payment methods. Ordered at the counter for some Regal Eagle.

EDIT: MDE is back up.