Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping
DisneyMom0604
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2020
(If this isn't the proper thread please feel free to let me know.) We just got back home today from five days at Disney World staying at the Dolphin! We used Marriott points which allowed us to be a little more “fun” with our trip expenses. We also achieve Platinum status right before this trip so we were able to request the breakfast/food credit instead of extra points for our stay. This was awesome because we were able to pick up some breakfast snacks on our way out to the parks each morning. We were supposed to go in April 2020 and had been looking forward to this trip for quite a while. We rented a double stroller and had it delivered to the resort. My kids were also surprised with our door being decorated and a gift basket delivered to our room on our first night there. The parks were definitely more crowded than we had planned and had read in our research, so we purchased Genie+ for MK and HS days. We also purchased the ILL for Frozen and 7DMT. We were able to get in on the virtual queue for Remy's as well. Here's how our trip went:
Saturday - Arrival Day: We arrived at the Dolphin and spent the afternoon enjoying the beach and the paddle boats. That night we walked over to Boardwalk and ordered a dessert snack. My husband took our son back for bath and bed while my daughter and I spent 2 hours exploring the resorts and riding the skyliner. We rode from Epcot over to Pop and had fun walking around taking pictures with the decorations there. We also found the movie for that night and watched some of it as well.
Sunday - AK: Rope-dropped and went straight to Pandora which was already backing up. So we rode Navi River ride which was really pretty and enjoyable. Then we rode the safari which minimal wait in line. My kids really enjoyed that! My husband and I rode Everest by using the individual rider line. That was fun! My kids enjoyed DinoLand and both won prizes while there. We drove Sunday morning and parked pretty close to the front. We took a break back at the hotel and then took the bus back before park closing. Lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue was good...the salad was very good! We enjoyed an early dinner at Tusker House! The characters made the rounds often and our waitress was great; my kids are picky eaters and she offered to bring them chicken nuggets and fries. AK just isn’t our favorite park, but we did enjoy our time there.
Monday - MK: We took the Mears bus from the Dolphin to the TTC and then hopped the monorail over to the park entrance. The one plus about traveling this route is taking care of security before we got on the monorail so we were able to just scan our magic bands and go on in. We were there for the early hours and had zero issues entering the park by showing our hotel room key. We were able to ride several of the kids’ favorites: teacups, Dumbo, etc. As for masks, you walk through the building while in line for Dumbo and just slip the mask on then once you are back outside you can take it off. Very easy! We got in line for the carousel which then broke down and caused a slight delay. We stayed in line and were on the ride in about 15 minutes. We purchased Genie+ once we got to the park and saw the crowds. We were able to use the LL for just about everything we wanted. We also used Rider Swap along with the LL so my daughter was able to ride a few rides twice. Masks are “required” on Splash Mountain, but many people take them off because it is a water ride. No one said anything about that and pictures still came through on the MM. We saw several characters in the cavalcades which was exciting! We had lunch at Pecos Bill’s which was okay. I don’t know if I would eat there again. We did not stay for fireworks but did stay long enough to see the castle light up right at dark. I also purchased umbrellas for my kids. Just a warning: read the fine print because they end up being expensive! We decided to head back to the hotel early and enjoyed dinner at Cape May Café at Beach Club. This was a very good meal and it was nice seeing the gingerbread carousel in the resort’s lobby.
Tuesday - Epcot: Let me preface this by saying we love Epcot! We went for the early entry and rushed to Frozen which was broken down. We ended up deciding not to wait and purchased an ILL for later in the evening. This park was the only park that I had some issues with using my room key for early entry. I feel like maybe Disney needs some better training so that all CMs are on the same page about what counts and what doesn’t count. We did the KidCot activity and collected all the stickers throughout the world showcase. We also purchased the Christmas activity with Olaf although we didn’t enjoy that one quite as much. My suggestion is pick one and focus on it if you are doing those activities with your kids. At 1pm we were able to snag a virtual queue spot for Remy’s which my kids absolutely hated. My 2yo was just not ready for dark/indoor rides so he often just covered his head with his blanket (my daughter did this when she was little too), but my daughter also did not like Remy’s because it is 3D. It was a cute ride, but I wouldn’t say it is one of my favorites. We love the Frozen ride and my kids enjoyed meeting Elsa and Anna outside the ride in Norway. Of course, we rode Soarin’ and my daughter was tall enough to ride this time. She was able to ride it twice with Rider Swap. We ate at Season’s at The Land for lunch and Garden Grill for dinner. Garden Grill is definitely one of our favorite places to eat. The characters came by often and I enjoyed a special birthday treat and song too. As everyone gathered to get ready for the fireworks we still had Canada and the UK KidCot stations to find so my daughter and I set off to find those cards and stickers. Canada was absolutely empty and we enjoyed wandering around by ourselves exploring. We had previously watched the fireworks show the last time we visited so we did have that one to compare the new Reflections show to. We were in agreement that this show is good and very enjoyable even if the equipment used is an eyesore during the day.
Wednesday - MK: We chose not to rope drop but to sleep in some and go later in the morning to the park. We also took the bus from Boardwalk to the MK which was overall easier than taking the Bus from the Dolphin. Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus was very good and dinner at Casey’s was okay. We purchased Genie+ again while at the park and the ILL for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. My kids really liked the Tomorrowland Speedway and It’s a Small World. We ventured over to Tom Sawyer’s Island. My husband wasn’t too excited about this until we got there and he and our daughter started exploring. They loved it! My son was very sleepy and cranky so we found a rocking chair by the water on the island and spent some time rocking and just enjoying looking at the water and waving to everyone on the riverboat as it went by. We stayed for the fireworks and had a pretty good view in front of the castle. We got to our spot early and took turns doing things with my daughter while my son napped in the stroller. We enjoyed the fireworks and light show. My daughter was thrilled to see Tinker Bell flying from the castle! Side note: We purchased her a Tinker Bell doll from one of the shops and as we watched Tinker Bell during her cavalcade, my daughter held the doll up and Tinker noticed and “hearted” her! Made my daughter’s day! After the fireworks we went to ride the mine train but the smoke from the fireworks had set off the smoke alarms on the ride which caused it to be evacuated. We waited around for it to be reset which was after 9pm. Fortunately, we stayed for extended hours and were able to ride. My daughter and I and a couple were the first on the ride. We realized about halfway up the hill we were the only people on the entire train. We also noticed there was no music and no other people on the train behind us. We definitely felt like maybe we were the test dummies! Lol Because there was no music we were offered to ride again which we did. Then my daughter rode again with her dad because we had done the rider swap. Lucky child was able to ride 3 times in less than 15 minutes!! I also rode Space Mountain for the very first time with ZERO wait. We rode a few other rides (speedway, Winnie the Pooh, teacups) with the kids during the extended time and took pictures in front of the castle with all the pretty lights. It was a late night, but it was very much worth it.
Thursday - HS: This was our short day because we were checking out of our hotel and heading up to Jacksonville Beach to see the Atlantic Ocean. We got there before the main opening and went to Toy Story Land where we rode Toy Story Mania. My 2yo son LOVED this ride!! He wanted to ride again and one of the CMs heard him as we were getting off the ride and offered some pixie dust to let us ride again. Because it is a 3D ride, my daughter didn’t really like it so my son and I rode again. Everything about Toy Story Land the queue for TS Mania was just so detailed and wonderful. We felt like we were in a toy box!! We had late breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Jr. characters which my kids loved. I felt like the characters didn’t come around quite as often as the other two character meals, but it was still a fun experience. I also found out they have an “infant meal” which consists of scrambled eggs and fruit and doesn’t cost anything extra. We purchased Genie+ but only used it for Tower of Terror which broke down and caused our time window to be moved. We also used Genie+ for the Frozen Sing-A-Long which was wonderful!! Highly recommend going to that show! It was also nice to have the photographers in the animation courtyard taking pictures with the character meets there. My husband enjoyed visiting Star Wars Land too.
Overall, we enjoyed the trip and are exhausted. We chose to drive the 16 hours instead of trying to fly with a 2yo. With a couple pit stops at the beaches along the way it was a bearable drive. If you are able to attend the extended hours at night I highly recommend it!! The park emptied out and we really enjoyed the ability to walk around freely and just walk onto the rides. If you are able to do some character meals, do it! We were able to have the kids stand by our table and take pictures with the characters. Definitely recommend Genie+ if you can swing it. The LL waits for the rides were very short and made for a much better experience especially with us having young kids who have zero patience to wait for a long periods of time. The crowds were higher than we expected, but we adjusted and made the most of the time there. Get the popcorn bucket; it's an easy snack to refill especially for the kids. We also carried Kool-Aid drops and our kids' Disney sipper cups with us and got cups of ice water to make the kids Kool-Aid to drink with their popcorn snacks. I did miss having my purchases sent back to the resort and am hoping that returns before our next trip. We planned accordingly so we weren't carrying a bunch of purchases all around the parks. If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin be sure to contact Guest Relations and they can make sure your reservation number is actually attached to your magic band/tickets for early entry and extended hours. Even though it looked to be attached on my end, it actually wasn't when we scanned the band so I ended up showing our room key for a couple days.
Saturday - Arrival Day: We arrived at the Dolphin and spent the afternoon enjoying the beach and the paddle boats. That night we walked over to Boardwalk and ordered a dessert snack. My husband took our son back for bath and bed while my daughter and I spent 2 hours exploring the resorts and riding the skyliner. We rode from Epcot over to Pop and had fun walking around taking pictures with the decorations there. We also found the movie for that night and watched some of it as well.
Sunday - AK: Rope-dropped and went straight to Pandora which was already backing up. So we rode Navi River ride which was really pretty and enjoyable. Then we rode the safari which minimal wait in line. My kids really enjoyed that! My husband and I rode Everest by using the individual rider line. That was fun! My kids enjoyed DinoLand and both won prizes while there. We drove Sunday morning and parked pretty close to the front. We took a break back at the hotel and then took the bus back before park closing. Lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue was good...the salad was very good! We enjoyed an early dinner at Tusker House! The characters made the rounds often and our waitress was great; my kids are picky eaters and she offered to bring them chicken nuggets and fries. AK just isn’t our favorite park, but we did enjoy our time there.
Monday - MK: We took the Mears bus from the Dolphin to the TTC and then hopped the monorail over to the park entrance. The one plus about traveling this route is taking care of security before we got on the monorail so we were able to just scan our magic bands and go on in. We were there for the early hours and had zero issues entering the park by showing our hotel room key. We were able to ride several of the kids’ favorites: teacups, Dumbo, etc. As for masks, you walk through the building while in line for Dumbo and just slip the mask on then once you are back outside you can take it off. Very easy! We got in line for the carousel which then broke down and caused a slight delay. We stayed in line and were on the ride in about 15 minutes. We purchased Genie+ once we got to the park and saw the crowds. We were able to use the LL for just about everything we wanted. We also used Rider Swap along with the LL so my daughter was able to ride a few rides twice. Masks are “required” on Splash Mountain, but many people take them off because it is a water ride. No one said anything about that and pictures still came through on the MM. We saw several characters in the cavalcades which was exciting! We had lunch at Pecos Bill’s which was okay. I don’t know if I would eat there again. We did not stay for fireworks but did stay long enough to see the castle light up right at dark. I also purchased umbrellas for my kids. Just a warning: read the fine print because they end up being expensive! We decided to head back to the hotel early and enjoyed dinner at Cape May Café at Beach Club. This was a very good meal and it was nice seeing the gingerbread carousel in the resort’s lobby.
Tuesday - Epcot: Let me preface this by saying we love Epcot! We went for the early entry and rushed to Frozen which was broken down. We ended up deciding not to wait and purchased an ILL for later in the evening. This park was the only park that I had some issues with using my room key for early entry. I feel like maybe Disney needs some better training so that all CMs are on the same page about what counts and what doesn’t count. We did the KidCot activity and collected all the stickers throughout the world showcase. We also purchased the Christmas activity with Olaf although we didn’t enjoy that one quite as much. My suggestion is pick one and focus on it if you are doing those activities with your kids. At 1pm we were able to snag a virtual queue spot for Remy’s which my kids absolutely hated. My 2yo was just not ready for dark/indoor rides so he often just covered his head with his blanket (my daughter did this when she was little too), but my daughter also did not like Remy’s because it is 3D. It was a cute ride, but I wouldn’t say it is one of my favorites. We love the Frozen ride and my kids enjoyed meeting Elsa and Anna outside the ride in Norway. Of course, we rode Soarin’ and my daughter was tall enough to ride this time. She was able to ride it twice with Rider Swap. We ate at Season’s at The Land for lunch and Garden Grill for dinner. Garden Grill is definitely one of our favorite places to eat. The characters came by often and I enjoyed a special birthday treat and song too. As everyone gathered to get ready for the fireworks we still had Canada and the UK KidCot stations to find so my daughter and I set off to find those cards and stickers. Canada was absolutely empty and we enjoyed wandering around by ourselves exploring. We had previously watched the fireworks show the last time we visited so we did have that one to compare the new Reflections show to. We were in agreement that this show is good and very enjoyable even if the equipment used is an eyesore during the day.
Wednesday - MK: We chose not to rope drop but to sleep in some and go later in the morning to the park. We also took the bus from Boardwalk to the MK which was overall easier than taking the Bus from the Dolphin. Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus was very good and dinner at Casey’s was okay. We purchased Genie+ again while at the park and the ILL for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. My kids really liked the Tomorrowland Speedway and It’s a Small World. We ventured over to Tom Sawyer’s Island. My husband wasn’t too excited about this until we got there and he and our daughter started exploring. They loved it! My son was very sleepy and cranky so we found a rocking chair by the water on the island and spent some time rocking and just enjoying looking at the water and waving to everyone on the riverboat as it went by. We stayed for the fireworks and had a pretty good view in front of the castle. We got to our spot early and took turns doing things with my daughter while my son napped in the stroller. We enjoyed the fireworks and light show. My daughter was thrilled to see Tinker Bell flying from the castle! Side note: We purchased her a Tinker Bell doll from one of the shops and as we watched Tinker Bell during her cavalcade, my daughter held the doll up and Tinker noticed and “hearted” her! Made my daughter’s day! After the fireworks we went to ride the mine train but the smoke from the fireworks had set off the smoke alarms on the ride which caused it to be evacuated. We waited around for it to be reset which was after 9pm. Fortunately, we stayed for extended hours and were able to ride. My daughter and I and a couple were the first on the ride. We realized about halfway up the hill we were the only people on the entire train. We also noticed there was no music and no other people on the train behind us. We definitely felt like maybe we were the test dummies! Lol Because there was no music we were offered to ride again which we did. Then my daughter rode again with her dad because we had done the rider swap. Lucky child was able to ride 3 times in less than 15 minutes!! I also rode Space Mountain for the very first time with ZERO wait. We rode a few other rides (speedway, Winnie the Pooh, teacups) with the kids during the extended time and took pictures in front of the castle with all the pretty lights. It was a late night, but it was very much worth it.
Thursday - HS: This was our short day because we were checking out of our hotel and heading up to Jacksonville Beach to see the Atlantic Ocean. We got there before the main opening and went to Toy Story Land where we rode Toy Story Mania. My 2yo son LOVED this ride!! He wanted to ride again and one of the CMs heard him as we were getting off the ride and offered some pixie dust to let us ride again. Because it is a 3D ride, my daughter didn’t really like it so my son and I rode again. Everything about Toy Story Land the queue for TS Mania was just so detailed and wonderful. We felt like we were in a toy box!! We had late breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Jr. characters which my kids loved. I felt like the characters didn’t come around quite as often as the other two character meals, but it was still a fun experience. I also found out they have an “infant meal” which consists of scrambled eggs and fruit and doesn’t cost anything extra. We purchased Genie+ but only used it for Tower of Terror which broke down and caused our time window to be moved. We also used Genie+ for the Frozen Sing-A-Long which was wonderful!! Highly recommend going to that show! It was also nice to have the photographers in the animation courtyard taking pictures with the character meets there. My husband enjoyed visiting Star Wars Land too.
Overall, we enjoyed the trip and are exhausted. We chose to drive the 16 hours instead of trying to fly with a 2yo. With a couple pit stops at the beaches along the way it was a bearable drive. If you are able to attend the extended hours at night I highly recommend it!! The park emptied out and we really enjoyed the ability to walk around freely and just walk onto the rides. If you are able to do some character meals, do it! We were able to have the kids stand by our table and take pictures with the characters. Definitely recommend Genie+ if you can swing it. The LL waits for the rides were very short and made for a much better experience especially with us having young kids who have zero patience to wait for a long periods of time. The crowds were higher than we expected, but we adjusted and made the most of the time there. Get the popcorn bucket; it's an easy snack to refill especially for the kids. We also carried Kool-Aid drops and our kids' Disney sipper cups with us and got cups of ice water to make the kids Kool-Aid to drink with their popcorn snacks. I did miss having my purchases sent back to the resort and am hoping that returns before our next trip. We planned accordingly so we weren't carrying a bunch of purchases all around the parks. If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin be sure to contact Guest Relations and they can make sure your reservation number is actually attached to your magic band/tickets for early entry and extended hours. Even though it looked to be attached on my end, it actually wasn't when we scanned the band so I ended up showing our room key for a couple days.
My family returned on Tuesday from a 5 day trip, starting Thursday staying offsite, then checking into AKL Kidani Saturday for three nights. We consider ourselves WDW vets at this point, taking multiple trips per year since 2017 (skipping 2020...we ended up at Universal in July 2020 as the timing on that trip didn't line up with being able to do Disney upon reopening). I wanted to share some overall thoughts as a lot has changed since recent trips in June, July, and September.
New Shows: So I never saw any of these shows on Youtube, but I've read the feedback on these and other forums.I'm not speaking to the nighttime shows specifically due to Kite Tails, but I wanted to include it in my comments.
First, the hate I've seen on Kite Tails is way overblown. The show was...fine. My kids (8 and 11) really enjoyed it, as did my wife. The media coverage early on acting as if this show was completely off the rails is a joke IMO. I'm assuming the "what comes up, must come down" message before the show is a newer add, but regardless, it seemed very obvious to me that the kites coming down in the marked off section of the stands is intentional, and it's just bad reporting that anyone every portrayed this as accidental. The show was fun and a nice use of 15 or so minutes to sit down and see some pretty kites flying around. Did it wow me? Of course not. But there's nothing inhereintly wrong with the show.
Harmonious was, in my family's opinion, amazing. I don't understand any negative attitude towards this show. It's a technical masterpiece and a sight to behold. We got a great spot between Disney Traders and Port of Entry so we could see the stargate. I was never a big fan of Illuminations (boring to me) and I hated Epcot Forever. I think the show did a decent enough job demonstrating the cultural impact of Disney IP worldwide, so I understand the theming and the story they are trying to tell. Anti-IP people won't like it, sure, but the show was extremely enjoyable. I will watch this show every single trip. It was that good.
Enchantment...oh boy. I won't say it's terrible, but man is it a drop off from Wishes and HEA. It's as described in many of the reviews online. A poorly thought out mis-mash of Disney songs and projections. Nothing celebrating the 50th. No Fab 5, no Walt. A lot of the cool effects from HEA, all gone. The only "cool" factor was the Elsa scene shooting fireworks from the castle. No crescendo to Tink's flight. All the sudden, she's there. No build up at all. I have no idea what they were trying to achieve with this show. My kids liked it...it's fireworks. But they agreed it pales in comparison to HEA. I can't really say enough bad things about the show. It's that bad. I was one that felt emotion with HEA. Nothing with this show. My jaw was dropped, but not in a good way. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I'll go ahead if my kids want to, but the most miserable part of a WDW vacation is leaving MK after the fireworks. I'll avoid that moving forward if I can and spend my nights at another park, or spend that time riding rides and waiting out the Main Street rush.
Staffing: The staffing shortages are very evident. Not nearly as many photopass photographers as I'm used to. My son got a Savi's saber on Friday night and I brought mine, wanting to get some pictures with us together with our sabers. At 7 pm, there was ONE photographer in GE. That said, the current ones that ARE there are fantastic. Some of the best CMs in the whole park. That makes up for the lack of them because they are all so good.
We had massive delays with meals this trip and normally haven't had many issues. We had LTT on Thanksgiving, and despite checking in early, we waited for 45 minutes after our reservation time. The meal took FOREVER, and caused us to miss Enchantment on that first day. Our reservation was 2.5 hours before Enchantment and it started as we were paying our bill. Ohana normally gets a bad rap for making folks feel rushed. I've never had that experience but it was never slow. Another 2.5 hour meal. We were going to go to DS after the meal, but since we missed DE the first MK day, we went back to view it. We had to rush to MK to get to see it and go a spot towards the front of Main Street with a decent view about 10 minutes before it started.
G+ and ILL$: We did G+ 2 days, and I was not a fan. You have to book so much in advance as it is today, and working around ADRs, Savi's, etc. is a massive pain. We were FP+ pros and rarely ever waited in standby. I got very, very little value out of G+. We missed many reservations as so much else in the park took SO LONG (like the meals), and the inability to pick times. Also, you're running around the park far more now, wasting time walking. I know the idea is "spend more time in the park to buy more stuff" but that wasn't us. We were just friggin walking. That said ILL$ worked great for us. Yes, paying extra for rides sucks, but it was nice to schedule a time to ride and avoid standby. We only used it for RotR and FOP, but in the future, I'd be more inclined to use ILL$ and rope drop the other rides that you'd typically use G+ for. As many others have said, no point in G+ for AK. AK is our favorite park, and we did everything in one day using the ILL$ for FOP. We rode Everest 4 times the Saturday after Thanksgiving, not using ILL$ for it once.
Lastly, first stay at AKL in a Savannah room, and it was amazing. Well worth the price of admission. We didn't have many troubles with the buses as others have there. The only negative is the very long ride to MK.
New Shows: So I never saw any of these shows on Youtube, but I've read the feedback on these and other forums.I'm not speaking to the nighttime shows specifically due to Kite Tails, but I wanted to include it in my comments.
First, the hate I've seen on Kite Tails is way overblown. The show was...fine. My kids (8 and 11) really enjoyed it, as did my wife. The media coverage early on acting as if this show was completely off the rails is a joke IMO. I'm assuming the "what comes up, must come down" message before the show is a newer add, but regardless, it seemed very obvious to me that the kites coming down in the marked off section of the stands is intentional, and it's just bad reporting that anyone every portrayed this as accidental. The show was fun and a nice use of 15 or so minutes to sit down and see some pretty kites flying around. Did it wow me? Of course not. But there's nothing inhereintly wrong with the show.
Harmonious was, in my family's opinion, amazing. I don't understand any negative attitude towards this show. It's a technical masterpiece and a sight to behold. We got a great spot between Disney Traders and Port of Entry so we could see the stargate. I was never a big fan of Illuminations (boring to me) and I hated Epcot Forever. I think the show did a decent enough job demonstrating the cultural impact of Disney IP worldwide, so I understand the theming and the story they are trying to tell. Anti-IP people won't like it, sure, but the show was extremely enjoyable. I will watch this show every single trip. It was that good.
Enchantment...oh boy. I won't say it's terrible, but man is it a drop off from Wishes and HEA. It's as described in many of the reviews online. A poorly thought out mis-mash of Disney songs and projections. Nothing celebrating the 50th. No Fab 5, no Walt. A lot of the cool effects from HEA, all gone. The only "cool" factor was the Elsa scene shooting fireworks from the castle. No crescendo to Tink's flight. All the sudden, she's there. No build up at all. I have no idea what they were trying to achieve with this show. My kids liked it...it's fireworks. But they agreed it pales in comparison to HEA. I can't really say enough bad things about the show. It's that bad. I was one that felt emotion with HEA. Nothing with this show. My jaw was dropped, but not in a good way. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I'll go ahead if my kids want to, but the most miserable part of a WDW vacation is leaving MK after the fireworks. I'll avoid that moving forward if I can and spend my nights at another park, or spend that time riding rides and waiting out the Main Street rush.
Staffing: The staffing shortages are very evident. Not nearly as many photopass photographers as I'm used to. My son got a Savi's saber on Friday night and I brought mine, wanting to get some pictures with us together with our sabers. At 7 pm, there was ONE photographer in GE. That said, the current ones that ARE there are fantastic. Some of the best CMs in the whole park. That makes up for the lack of them because they are all so good.
We had massive delays with meals this trip and normally haven't had many issues. We had LTT on Thanksgiving, and despite checking in early, we waited for 45 minutes after our reservation time. The meal took FOREVER, and caused us to miss Enchantment on that first day. Our reservation was 2.5 hours before Enchantment and it started as we were paying our bill. Ohana normally gets a bad rap for making folks feel rushed. I've never had that experience but it was never slow. Another 2.5 hour meal. We were going to go to DS after the meal, but since we missed DE the first MK day, we went back to view it. We had to rush to MK to get to see it and go a spot towards the front of Main Street with a decent view about 10 minutes before it started.
G+ and ILL$: We did G+ 2 days, and I was not a fan. You have to book so much in advance as it is today, and working around ADRs, Savi's, etc. is a massive pain. We were FP+ pros and rarely ever waited in standby. I got very, very little value out of G+. We missed many reservations as so much else in the park took SO LONG (like the meals), and the inability to pick times. Also, you're running around the park far more now, wasting time walking. I know the idea is "spend more time in the park to buy more stuff" but that wasn't us. We were just friggin walking. That said ILL$ worked great for us. Yes, paying extra for rides sucks, but it was nice to schedule a time to ride and avoid standby. We only used it for RotR and FOP, but in the future, I'd be more inclined to use ILL$ and rope drop the other rides that you'd typically use G+ for. As many others have said, no point in G+ for AK. AK is our favorite park, and we did everything in one day using the ILL$ for FOP. We rode Everest 4 times the Saturday after Thanksgiving, not using ILL$ for it once.
Lastly, first stay at AKL in a Savannah room, and it was amazing. Well worth the price of admission. We didn't have many troubles with the buses as others have there. The only negative is the very long ride to MK.
So this is the first time I’ve had this experience....was just lying down in resort room because I had a bad headache. There was a knock at door and when I answered I was told told I had to step out of my room and wait outside so the CM/housekeeping person could come in and inspect she then closed the door in my face and was inside for several minutes....what is being inspected??? are they going through my things? It doesn’t take several minutes to walk in and walk back out...during previous visits I have had a knock at door by housekeeping person who asks if I need anything while looking into the room but I’ve never been told to leave the room so they can go in...
GBRforWDW
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2020
Uggh that's unfortunate timing when dealing with a headache.
I would guess it has to do with room security checks as described in this thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/daily-security-checks-at-resorts.3822273/
I would guess it has to do with room security checks as described in this thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/daily-security-checks-at-resorts.3822273/
Naomeri
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2019
That is a bit weird, but maybe it’s an extra covid precaution?? I’m at BCV right now, and they’ve knocked a couple times to ask if I want trash taken (and my trash has been taken while I’ve been out) but they’re happy to take “no” for an answer and leave me be.
I’ve found I have more trouble with security checks if I leave the “room occupied” sign up when I’m not there, so I always make sure to take it down when I’m leaving for a while.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Wow! I've been in the room for security checks (pre-Covid) but have never been asked to leave the room. I would be tempted to contact Guest Services to confirm that this is their normal practice.
That is bizarre…why do you have to leave? And what takes that long? We were at SSR in May and they only knocked to ask if we wanted any trash taken out or fresh towels.
EPCOT-O.G.
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2019
DumboDash2006
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
We are people who stay off site. We are doing so again in early March (6-11). Normally we use touring plans, rope drop and FP to do what we need to do. Dh is also not a huge Disney fan so he prefers to get there early and head back to our condo mid/late afternoon.
I fear our normal tactics will not work. We can rope drop, but on site guests will already be in and lines already long. We Genie+ and ILL return times may be later in the day.
I guess I'm just wondering what to expect and if we should even bother with Genie+ and ILL.
If anyone has stayed offsite recently, I would love feedback! Good or bad.
I fear our normal tactics will not work. We can rope drop, but on site guests will already be in and lines already long. We Genie+ and ILL return times may be later in the day.
I guess I'm just wondering what to expect and if we should even bother with Genie+ and ILL.
If anyone has stayed offsite recently, I would love feedback! Good or bad.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
What? This is new too!
You mean if you wished to avoid Mousekeeping cleaning your room it would cost you an additional $5? Which resort were you staying at?
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Your question has been merged with the 'Here Now and Just Back thread'. As you are waiting for people to share their experiences, taking time to read the past 5 or so pages will show people's experience with your question.
Future_WorldPhonencian
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 25, 2017
I think/ hope this is a joke/ otherwise what is the point? 5 bucks to pay off disney from making sure you arent up to no good/ or Not clean your room is ridiculous
EPCOT-O.G.
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2019
Sorry this was a joke, given the current trends towards monetizing everything
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Sorry, just wasn't sure as so much is happening right now. The fact that someone was asked to leave their room has me concerned! I'm almost afraid it was someone impersonating a Cast Member and I've never heard of guests being asked to leave their room!
I think I will do that....I just don’t understand why I would be asked to step out of my own room ...I wasn’t even wearing my shoes!
I think the poster is joking...
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Yes, they explained that they were and I responded but after the shock of someone being asked to leave their room when a CM went in today, I was concerned. There is just too much happening right now that it's sometimes hard to tell when someone is joking. Until a couple of hours ago I would have thought someone was joking when they were resting, a CM knocked, asked them to leave their room, closed the door and did who knows what inside their room at a time when Disney is not cleaning rooms. That's not normal so this 'joke' was concerning to me. A case of poor timing.
I am definitely not joking about being told to step out of my own room....and I’m definitely going to go to front desk first thing in the morning.
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