Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[southernfriedmom]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging stories & pick-me-ups! I was reminded that some of our most memorable trips have been the not-so-perfect ones because the magic on those trips really stood out because we were looking for it. We were at WDW during Hurricane Matthew and it may be one of our favorite trips ever. My daughter got the flu while at Disney and we still had no regrets from that trip. As far as crowds, I have been Spring Break, the 4th of July, Christmas Day, and countless Star Wars Weekends and I still keep coming back. If nothing else the people watching will be good (although quite expensive)!! I love whomever said they lowered their expectations about the amount they would accomplish but not the amount of fun that would be had. We will have a magical vacation regardless and I am sure I will annoy my four children (11-16) while doing it!! I will be sure to update for others while there.

 

[Cj2017]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?

They are probably looking at the MDE app. There are times where both are off or MDE is more correct, but more often than not, the Lines app is far more accurate. Plenty of times where the real wait is close to half of the what the posted/MDE time says.

 

[Happyjen27]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

In my case it’s because I’m WEAK!! Haha. Advanced arthritis in my knees and no need to maximize every minute of parks, as I’m sure we’ll come back, we’re just a plane ride away.
We usually bail after about 5 hours in the park. Rarely go back after a break. I’m sure if I were one of those commando park people I’d be able to do more, but I’m just chill about touring and life in general.

 

[JAM77]

They are probably looking at the MDE app. There are times where both are off or MDE is more correct, but more often than not, the Lines app is far more accurate. Plenty of times where the real wait is close to half of the what the posted/MDE time says.

Disney also has to keep building because these parks with only about 10 attractions in it is not going to cut it with the constant increasing demands....You got tons of room in HS, AK and Epcot(luckily 2 rides coming) for more. keep it coming and don't take 5 years to build it...Guardians!!

 

[Akck]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

Disney is known to manipulate wait times and many don’t know about the Lines app. I’d bet some here see the MDE waits and don’t even bother to go to the ride. A few experiences we had was MDE had a 45 minute wait and Lines had 20 minutes. Just after we got in line, MDE went to 65 minutes. The actual wait was about 35 minutes. So the Lines app can have a lag in reporting too.

As for doing only 3-4 rides, standing out in the sun takes a lot out of you. Sometimes you get off that 4th ride and decide you don’t want to stand in the sunlight again and the resort pool is a better option.

 

[DisneyFive]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

On our 5th full day here and I can tell you, believe the Lines app. It has been WAY MORE accurate. I should have put the Lines wait times in my daily “live” updates as we tour the parks, but I didn’t want to seem like an advertisement for them

We base our decisions on the Lines app and rarely even reference MDE anymore.

Every single ride has been inflated on the Disney (MDE) app for us except for MFSR a few days ago but that’s because we were suckers and got in line early/mid morning and the wait time hadn’t caught up yet. Posted 60 minutes but waited 90 (and not because the ride went down or anything).

So those >60 minutes waits on the Lines app? Those are real too (and real killer).

Honestly anything even approaching 60 minutes is way too long IMO

Dan

 

[Sarahslay]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

Aside from what others have said (all good points, very true), there are a ton of people who do the "I won't wait in any line if it's longer than 'x' amount of time". So they look at a wait time and go "NOPE!" After about the first hour or two every line in the park is past their max wait limit and they leave, even if those aren't really the accurate wait times. I remember being there Thanksgiving week with my husband and a woman near us telling her husband they were leaving because all the lines just looked too long, it's not that they were too long, they just LOOKED too long. Sure, the HM line went down the bridge to BTMRR and look super long, but it was only 15 min. We were there in June and Splash said 80 on MDE but Lines app said 20, people were turning around left and right because it was so long but we jumped in line. It might have been closer to 40 by the time my oldest DD and I got on but it definitely wasn't anywhere near 80. The heat does wear you down though, it's tough, I know I'm only planning on being in the parks for 2-3 hours in the morning during my late August trip because I just can't do long stretches, and I'll only get like 3-4 rides (with DAS maybe 1 more, but I'm not planning on it just because I'm taking it easy).

 

[Mrtommorrow1987]

What is the lines app?

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?


Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

The other thing to consider for planning purposes is that without Fast Pass, you can be more efficient in your touring by doing everything in one land before moving on to another area of the park. So, commit to not crisscrossing the park to chase shorter waits (per MDE). I know this may mean choosing between rope dropping a favorite attraction over another, but it helps. And sure cuts down on saving energy - especially in the heat.

 

[Jillpsu15]

On our 5th full day here and I can tell you, believe the Lines app. It has been WAY MORE accurate. I should have put the Lines wait times in my daily “live” updates as we tour the parks, but I didn’t want to seem like an advertisement for them

We base our decisions on the Lines app and rarely even reference MDE anymore.

Every single ride has been inflated on the Disney (MDE) app for us except for MFSR a few days ago but that’s because we were suckers and got in line early/mid morning and the wait time hadn’t caught up yet. Posted 60 minutes but waited 90 (and not because the ride went down or anything).

So those >60 minutes waits on the Lines app? Those are real too (and real killer).

Honestly anything even approaching 60 minutes is way too long IMO

Dan

What is the name of the official lines app you are talking about? I see a few in the App Store and want to make sure I download the correct one! Thanks!

 

[mdmost]

Disney World Lines (TP). They have one for WDW, DLR, and Universal.

 

[DisneyFive]

What is the name of the official lines app you are talking about? I see a few in the App Store and want to make sure I download the correct one! Thanks!

This is what I have downloaded

If you go to touringplans.com and sign up for a touring plan subscription you use the same login information for this app once downloaded.

-Dan

 

[sjrec]

I'm so confused by these wait times everyone is claiming. For the last 2 weeks, I have been looking at my touring plans app and I never see a line more than 60 minutes and that's usually for the heavy hitters. Everything else is around 25-45 minutes. How are people only doing 3-4 rides?
We also go by TP lines app. Ex. Toy Story was 60 minutes posted and we went by the reported TP 25 minutes-which was accurate. Our longest line was Millenium Falcon at 40.

Edit - I'm not saying anyone is lying just want to know what I'm missing for planning purposes.

We have done probably 6 or 7 rides per park visit. Our daughter’s family rode Everest three times at opening today. Dinosaur twice, Kali, KS, the bird show, Lion King, Gorilla Falls, Animation Station and left not long after 2:00. We did FoP earlier this week.
TP lines app is much more accurate.

 

[Spaghetti Cat]

It takes me 30 minutes to wait through a 10 minute line.
A 30 minute line takes me at least 2 hours!

This is the reason for the wait time discrepancies, there are other posters like me.

 

[Looper]

I have a touring plans subscription, but didn’t realize about the app! I just downloaded it for our trip next week!

 

[ThistleMae]

On our 5th full day here and I can tell you, believe the Lines app. It has been WAY MORE accurate. I should have put the Lines wait times in my daily “live” updates as we tour the parks, but I didn’t want to seem like an advertisement for them

We base our decisions on the Lines app and rarely even reference MDE anymore.

Every single ride has been inflated on the Disney (MDE) app for us except for MFSR a few days ago but that’s because we were suckers and got in line early/mid morning and the wait time hadn’t caught up yet. Posted 60 minutes but waited 90 (and not because the ride went down or anything).

So those >60 minutes waits on the Lines app? Those are real too (and real killer).

Honestly anything even approaching 60 minutes is way too long IMO

Dan

What is the lines app? So not part of MDE? Nevermind, found it.

 

[cakebaker]

Back from a day at the MK. It felt every bit as crowded to me by midday as it has all week. Mask enforcement was spotty at best- lots of mask sniffers and people pulling down their masks once inside the queue. But, at least there are more with masks on than before, so I’ll take it.

We’re at the Beach Club now and I’m much happier here than than the FT Wilderness Cabins. We were upgraded to a water view, so finally a little pixie dust! The remainder of our trip will be at HS and Epcot so this is a much better location and the pool can’t be beat. The resort is busy, there was actually a line to get on the elevator!

We’ll be poolside sipping something frozen all evening. It’s been a challenging week, but has been better than I expected. But I would still highly recommend not visiting right now.

 

[Momtomouselover]

We definitely found that the Lines app was more correct than MDE but we also found that there were often long waits. If you are used to using FP I think that is the biggest difference. Between no FP, crowds and Covid I wouldn’t choose these last weeks of July to visit with your family. Maybe August will be different. Hopefully FP comes back and Covid soon goes away!

 

[CeCe0906]

Disney also has to keep building because these parks with only about 10 attractions in it is not going to cut it with the constant increasing demands....You got tons of room in HS, AK and Epcot(luckily 2 rides coming) for more. keep it coming and don't take 5 years to build it...Guardians!!

Now that Disney has Marvel, I keep waiting to hear that Wakanda is the new land being added to AK