Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[tinkerhon]

Just got back from a wonderful, hectic day at BC (followed by a very warm bike ride across the Sunshine State one day and back the next)

I could not agree more with @SarahC97 about MK. We hit all four parks - RD AK, lunch at Epcot, the evening at HS, and HEA to close out the night. I wish I had just stayed at HS; MK was wild and a stark contrast to the crowds at the other parks.

AK was probably best about mask compliance, with multiple CMs asking folks to mask properly throughout all queues. Epcot was, as Sarah mentioned, low on crowds the whole time we were there (~3-5pm)

If you can live without the Magic Kingdom right now, I’d recommend giving it a pass. It’s frenzied in a way I can’t quite articulate, and I can’t imagine what October will be like.

Totally agree about MK---- we were there a few weeks ago, and it was the worst part of our trip--- only went because we had "BoG' ADR

 

[Gary Stocker]

I have eaten grasshopper twice in my life..both at La Cava...you know your vacation is approaching its end game when..

 

[Gary Stocker]

Washed it down with some cucumber margarita...oh man this place is delicious but dangerous

 

[123SA]

MK today seems much more crowded that every other park this week. We slept in a bit and arrived at 835. We rope dropped jungle cruise, then splash, big thunder, small world. By then it was 1115 lunch at harbor house. Space, buzz, under the sea, philharmagic, pirates. Then we got in line for haunted mansion. We had an hour until our 405 ADR and had to get out of line after making it out of the stretching room…it was so crowded and the ride has stopped. We weren’t going to make our adr if we stayed

dinner at crystal palace was very good. Went to Main Street to look at Halloween stuff but there wasn’t much. Didn’t buy anything. Stood in line for Pooh .. not sure how long but my boys were finished space before we got to ride. Then it shut down but we did get a fast pass. My feet hurt so I’m just going to hang around until fireworks Kids are using the fast pass on space

 

[Eastern]

We got a FP when we had to be evacuated off the People Mover. The ride must have stopped at least 6 times and eventually they couldn’t get it running again. It turned into a 45 minute experience. We did not get a FP after we had gone through most of the Splash line, just around the corner from loading area and the ride broke down. It’s annoying that the policy is so inconsistent because as we were waiting to be evacuated from PM, we could see them giving FPs to those in that line which was a far shorter one than the Splash one we had gone through without a recovery pass. It was a MK anytime pass good for every ride except SDMT until the next day.

We were in line for an hour once at TT. They finally closed the ride indefinitely but did not give anyone a FP. I think it was because there was a really huge line. This policy is very inconsistent.

 

[bethbuchall]

Occasionally a Cast Member may "Pixie Dust" a Guest with access to the FP line for no reason other than that.

It happened to us at Soarin' last trip.

First time we had been in a FP line in a LONG time-talk about getting some SERIOUS stares!lol

This happened to some friends of mine at FoP recently. The CM heard the one child excited to finally be tall enough to ride and let them in through the FP line.

 

[Gary Stocker]

So security has some expectations you need to follow so you don't get pulled to the side and have them rifle through your stuff... this applies for non strollers as you can expect them to check these.
Take out anything that might be "cubic" in your bag and hold out on front of you through the detector.
Umbrella
Cell phone
Portable charger
..all of these got my bag inspected when I left them in.
Appreciate the security but learn from my experience. Got through tonight holding these in front of me.

 

[CarolynFH]

So security has some expectations you need to follow so you don't get pulled to the side and have them rifle through your stuff... this applies for non strollers as you can expect them to check these.
Take out anything that might be "cubic" in your bag and hold out on front of you through the detector.
Umbrella
Cell phone
Portable charger
..all of these got my bag inspected when I left them in.
Appreciate the security but learn from my experience. Got through tonight holding these in front of me.

Yep, and a cardboard prism-shaped eyeglass case got us pulled over a couple of times before we realized that was the problem.

 

[Gary Stocker]

Boat parties awaiting Epcot Forever.

 

[preemiemama]

So security has some expectations you need to follow so you don't get pulled to the side and have them rifle through your stuff... this applies for non strollers as you can expect them to check these.
Take out anything that might be "cubic" in your bag and hold out on front of you through the detector.
Umbrella
Cell phone
Portable charger
..all of these got my bag inspected when I left them in.
Appreciate the security but learn from my experience. Got through tonight holding these in front of me.

Yep, and a cardboard prism-shaped eyeglass case got us pulled over a couple of times before we realized that was the problem.

My phone and chargers got through fine- it was the eyeglass case. It has a metal hinge. A couple security guards pointed it out. Once it was out of the bag, no further issues.

 

[Gary Stocker]

My umbrellas were the culprits for me. Security specifically told me...guess they look like weapons?

 

[preemiemama]

My umbrellas were the culprits for me. Security specifically told me...guess they look like weapons?

Yes- a few people have said that as well. I didn't have one, but the eyeglass case got me!

 

[Gary Stocker]

Apparently they learned their lesson when this got through

 

[The Iron Giant]

We rope dropped HS today. We drove and arrived at the parking lot about 7:50 and they let cars in within a few minutes. We were among the first cars to park and were near the front of the line at the tapstiles. The crowds were pretty well behaved and it wasn’t crazy at all. We headed for MFSR and were among the first groups to go on… basically a walk on. I have to say… using the Touring Plans app was HUGE. The Disney ride times were way overinflated and we used the app to minimize our times in line. Had we went by Disney’s times we would have easily been discouraged from waiting for most rides. We left about 2 hours before close and did every ride except Slinky. We have another HS day and plan to rope drop it then. We debated staying and doing it before leaving as the app had the wait at only 41 minutes but decided to head out before we felt like we overdid the day. We missed getting a boarding group at 7am due to a snafu on our part but scored one in the park. The longest wait we had was for RnR at 36 minutes which was spot on with the TP app. Can’t recommend the Touring Plans app enough… it was worth every penny and then some.

 

[WEDWDW]

Yep, and a cardboard prism-shaped eyeglass case got us pulled over a couple of times before we realized that was the problem.

After "hearing" that all I needed to do was hold my Umbrella and Phone out in front of me and I would be fine and then seeing that doing that resulted in being sent to the "table" EVERY time,I eventually began to put ANYTHING remotely questionable(Cellphone/Cellphone Charger/Earbuds Case/Keys/Eyeglass Cases/Batteries,etc.) in a large Ziploc bag and held that and my Umbrella out in front.

I started doing that a couple of trips back and have been sent to the "table" ZERO times and the Guards really seem to appreciate this "system".

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

For security checkpoints, I know I'm getting stopped EVERY time. I have 5 umbrellas, two cans of sunscreen & a portable battery.
The security people I've encountered have always been professional, efficient & pleasent. Much, much better screening process than in the past.

 

[Gary Stocker]

Funny we had breakfast at the Wave at California Grill (recommend) and when we walked to MK security guards told me I almost got my bag checked because of the "angle I held the umbrella " so it seems to be procedural...or they were messing with me..
Absolutely these folks are doing a great job and I appreciate it
While we were going through noticed a veritable Santa with a bulging sack of merch....put that together when I learned 50 anniversary stuff was being sold. Ho ho ebay

 

[brockash]

Today at Epcot was sooo much better for us than yesterday at MK. MK is just kinda a madhouse postcovid...each time we go MK is our least enjoyable park. Yesterday; we're all bunched up for Mine Train and 855 they tell us mine train is down...of course at this point there's nothing we can really do as we're all just stuck there. We rode the least amount of rides we ever have at MK and we were there all day.

Epcot was a total 180 though. We ended up being first to ride Test track today (we've never beem first to ride anything.) We then moved it to Frozen...maybe 5 min wait; walked on Mexican boat ride, shopped a lil and then had lunch in Mexico...it was empty, no problem finding tables etc. Having said that; their nachos were not good...it's usually one of our favorites, but it was different- no white queso, instead some generic yellow cheese sauce...it was pretty disappointing. They also had no ketchup...apparently they ran out yesterday and wouldn't have more until tomorrow. Bummer for my kiddo who got chicken fingers. The cm taking my order was super sweet, the guy handing out the food though (Chris) was pretty unpleasant and definitely had no business interacting with customers.

After lunch we decided to just stroll around workd showcase and while it was hot, it was a leisurely not too crowded stroll. We then went to Figment, under 5 min wait, Spaceship Earth under 5 mins., Nemo, under 5, Soarin about 7ish mins., Living with land walk on. We also saw the fireworks- honestly we were all pretty disappointed...why they just couldn't have left Illuminations until they were ready for the new one, cause this one is pretty blah in our opinion.

Back to MK tomorrow...hoping for a more successful day, but we'll see.

 

[SimonSez]

We wrapped up our trip today at the MK. We did rope drop for only the second time ever. We went straight to SDMT, probably took about a half hour to board. Rode Splash Mountain twice, BTMR, Pirates three times, once this morning and twice during Happily Ever After. We rode it back to back tonight because the first trip, we had to endure a guy in the back being a jerk First, after we got in the boat, this guy hadn't masked up. When the CM reminded him, he snottily said "yeah if I don't mask up I might die." DSis turned around and said "you might." Then right after the ride started, this same idiot started using flash photography DNiece turned around and said "really dude." Needless to say, he wasn't very popular on that boat. Some people's sense of self-worth is over exaggerated--see entitled It was a happy ending though as we got right back on and had a boat to ourselves We managed to ride everything we wanted and more. All in all it was a very good trip. We were at MK from rope drop to closing and it was great. We enjoyed F&W and Epcot, and AK had the lowest crowd I've seen there. Our toughest day was probably DHS. The crowds were pretty overwhelming, and we couldn't wait to leave that park. We usually enjoy it a lot more than we did this time. We did get to ride ROTR, and that made it worth it We will miss WDW and the YC and we may not be back for a couple more years. When I think of all the planning that went into this trip, it's over in a second but at least we got to go. Mask compliance ended up better than I thought it would be, I'd say over 90% obeyed the rules. Yes, there were those who pulled their masks down after they got out of sight of the CM, but most people were very nice and did as they were told. It was a different type of trip than we were used to, with Covid. I must admit, some of it was pretty nice. I didn't miss FP and I loved how the characters roamed around. We even saw Winnie the Pooh in Epcot, up on a hill with a butterfly net. So that's it for our trip. Hope some of this info helps those with trips still ahead. Good luck to all of you and have great time when you get here Thanks and I'll see you real soon

 

[monarchsfan16]

Regarding security, every park I went to this week, the CMs were announcing that umbrellas should be removed to avoid secondary screening. The one day I took my dSLR into the parks, I also removed that and just hung it from my neck and held it up. I got several thumbs up and comments from the security CMs that made it clear that that also would have sent me to the table.

On the flip side I never removed my small (zipper) sunglass case, my phone (in my pocket) or my portable charger and never had an issue. So those must be shape/size specific?