Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[jimim]

Either June 2021 or June 2022 we rope dropped Frontierland at MK and the CMs led everyone almost all the way to the attractions walking with the rope. What a much better experience. I'm not sure if they're still doing that but it was great!

No they aren’t. Well the 2 weeks I was there from what I saw they were not on the 4 days we were at mk
Mehta morning for remy was the most stress free easy rope drop I ever did.

 

[Leigh L]

No they aren’t. Well the 2 weeks I was there from what I saw they were not on the 4 days we were at mk
Mehta morning for remy was the most stress free easy rope drop I ever did.

Ah, bummer. The IG experience sounds great.

Just curious, did you start in Frontierland? From what I could tell it wasn't happening at Fantasyland or Tomorrowland (our group often splits up at rope drop for the coaster riders vs non-coaster riders)

 

[jimim]

I started each day at fantasyland causexthe kids wanted to do mine train 4 times. Cattle stampede each day there.

International gateway is on point! Extra Mickey ice cream for that crew over there!

 

[brentm77]

for me like i said up above I'm really on the fence about it. i go back and forth with it. i said above even that it doesn't really impact anything but more the fact that so many others are putting in the time to be there early and wait it out and would prob enjoy coffee themselves.

what really got me going. . . and we all have seen it over the years. . . is the 1 person standing at a tap point and then bringing up a bunch of people. it just isn't right.

my whole point to both points is i would really like to see implemented across all ropes drops is what international gateway and the remy cast members have going on.

Agreed. It feels terrible when you have "paid the price" to be upfront for something and others just cheat the system. It's particularly frustrating when a company like Disney creates systems where it's really easy to do, or where they look the other way when they know it's happening.

 

[emilymad]

Just back from a super quick, last minute trip. Overall we had a great time. We did EE every day and did no G+ or ILL. We got pretty much everything we wanted to do done with minimum waits. We were just there last year so we didn't feel the need to do every single thing. I would say the key was the EE because even if we only got one ride done we were well positioned for the next ride.

We also really liked being able to cancel ADR's 2 hours in advance. Being tied down to ADRs is not our idea of fun anymore.

We saw the first showing of F!. We went in about an hour in advance as there was nothing else we wanted to ride. We easily could have walked in 10 minutes before hand and got a seat. We got a seat at the 2nd Candlelight show 5 minutes before hand as we were just walking by.

Now for the few negatives. The number of rides down for the entire day or hours at a time is inexcusable. I had read enough before hand to not be surprised but it is completely ridiculous when you are there. At MCO yesterday, we actually heard people behind us in the Starbucks line complaining about this exact thing.

The number of people who are flat out sprinting at rope drop is also ridiculous and dangerous. At HS especially it was out of control. People sprinting past many, many CM and not one CM said anything
We also had numerous rides were 10-15+ people cut in the line saying their group was right up "there" although they never were. This is something that is completely unacceptable. It was so bad at Rise. Maybe 20+ people all skipped the line to the point where they literally kicked the person in a wheelchair in front of us. It was very shocking to see the poor guest behavior in every park.

 

[Ricguz]

Just back from a super quick, last minute trip. Overall we had a great time. We did EE every day and did no G+ or ILL. We got pretty much everything we wanted to do done with minimum waits. We were just there last year so we didn't feel the need to do every single thing. I would say the key was the EE because even if we only got one ride done we were well positioned for the next ride.

We also really liked being able to cancel ADR's 2 hours in advance. Being tied down to ADRs is not our idea of fun anymore.

We saw the first showing of F!. We went in about an hour in advance as there was nothing else we wanted to ride. We easily could have walked in 10 minutes before hand and got a seat. We got a seat at the 2nd Candlelight show 5 minutes before hand as we were just walking by.

Now for the few negatives. The number of rides down for the entire day or hours at a time is inexcusable. I had read enough before hand to not be surprised but it is completely ridiculous when you are there. At MCO yesterday, we actually heard people behind us in the Starbucks line complaining about this exact thing.

The number of people who are flat out sprinting at rope drop is also ridiculous and dangerous. At HS especially it was out of control. People sprinting past many, many CM and not one CM said anything
We also had numerous rides were 10-15+ people cut in the line saying their group was right up "there" although they never were. This is something that is completely unacceptable. It was so bad at Rise. Maybe 20+ people all skipped the line to the point where they literally kicked the person in a wheelchair in front of us. It was very shocking to see the poor guest behavior in every park.

Disney needs to do something about this problem they created. Thank you for letting me know. It will be helpful on our upcoming trip

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

Totally agree about HS, what the heck is going on with their rope drop? People were cutting in front of each other constantly because there were no defined lines, just a mob trying to organize itself.

I also worry about crowds getting unruly in some of the more closed in lines. One group cuts, another gets mad cuts, then what if everyone starts to get upset and push - you obviously don’t want a crowd surge in places where people could get pushed up against a hard wall.

Overall had a good trip but that aspect made me a bit anxious.

 

[jimim]

Agreed. It feels terrible when you have "paid the price" to be upfront for something and others just cheat the system. It's particularly frustrating when a company like Disney creates systems where it's really easy to do, or where they look the other way when they know it's happening.

Right like the morning in HS where a single lady got to the tap along side us when they let us through security. She told the guy she was with to go to another tap. 45 mins later they let and I counted 15 people up front with them. The people behind them were shocked. The cast members saw it causexthey were literally standing in front of those taps. They said nothing. Literally watched the whole thing. Didn’t say a word. The lady they cut said something to the cast members. They said nothing. It was shocking. I have seen it so many times but not ever right at the front of a tap with 2 cast members standing right in front with everyone.

Crazy. Completely crazy. People are nuts.

 

[jimim]

Totally agree about HS, what the heck is going on with their rope drop? People were cutting in front of each other constantly because there were no defined lines, just a mob trying to organize itself.

I also worry about crowds getting unruly in some of the more closed in lines. One group cuts, another gets mad cuts, then what if everyone starts to get upset and push - you obviously don’t want a crowd surge in places where people could get pushed up against a hard wall.

Overall had a good trip but that aspect made me a bit anxious.

My HS days were nutty. We never went towards rise cause we did it 3 nights instead with no more than 35 min waits and thst was thanksgiving week. But even going to slinky and friends was crazy. Full on sprints. Cast members don’t do a thing. It’s causexthey don’t want to have a situation that ends up on social media. Simple as that.

Someone is going to get seriously hurt and that’s what it is going to take for something to get done. Simple as that.

 

[snikki]

We didn’t do RD at DHS at all during our 9 day trip. We used G+ to stack for later arrivals and it worked great. We would stay until close and the wait times do overly inflated. TSM had a 50 minute wait and there was no one in standby when we went through. You went straight on the ride. Same with SDD. No line yet showed an over inflated wait time.

We did RD MK and found it fine since we were going to space. Nothing too crazy. A few people trying to run but it was necessary. We also did Epcot the day TS Nicole was coming in and we went to frozen so didn’t find it insane since most were going to Remy.

Other than that we consider “RD” arriving 5-10 minutes before or after opening. Either for EE or regular opening. We find staying until closing to be better than RD.

 

[emilymad]

My HS days were nutty. We never went towards rise cause we did it 3 nights instead with no more than 35 min waits and thst was thanksgiving week. But even going to slinky and friends was crazy. Full on sprints. Cast members don’t do a thing. It’s causexthey don’t want to have a situation that ends up on social media. Simple as that.

Someone is going to get seriously hurt and that’s what it is going to take for something to get done. Simple as that.

Completely agree but so easily fixed if they walked people with a rope like they used to.

We were there super early so the ground was very wet. I kept waiting for someone to fall as we thought it was a little slippery walking. 30+ people flat out sprinting seemed like a recipe for disaster.

 

[Ricguz]

We didn’t do RD at DHS at all during our 9 day trip. We used G+ to stack for later arrivals and it worked great. We would stay until close and the wait times do overly inflated. TSM had a 50 minute wait and there was no one in standby when we went through. You went straight on the ride. Same with SDD. No line yet showed an over inflated wait time.

We did RD MK and found it fine since we were going to space. Nothing too crazy. A few people trying to run but it was necessary. We also did Epcot the day TS Nicole was coming in and we went to frozen so didn’t find it insane since most were going to Remy.

Other than that we consider “RD” arriving 5-10 minutes before or after opening. Either for EE or regular opening. We find staying until closing to be better than RD.

Good to know. Thanks

 

[jimim]

Good to know. Thanks

I have said multiple time now over our trip that nights were very productive. In 2 hours over in HS we did rise, Falcon, and Mickey railroad 2 nights. Times were always way way inflated. Nights have always been good for us over the past 20 plus years.

I refuse to pay for genie or Ills so I’ll stick with rope drop like we always have. We don’t like being in the parks peek time of the day. It’s just way too busy and just not as productive. Nights and rope drop is where it’s at. Always has been always will be in my opinion.

We still did every headliner multiple times with ease. And that 1000 dollars I saved on genie and Ills will buy my kids and myself 4 new reels for during bass season. My wife said “there ya go merry Xmas”.

 

[Gary Stocker]

I have said multiple time now over our trip that nights were very productive. In 2 hours over in HS we did rise, Falcon, and Mickey railroad 2 nights. Times were always way way inflated. Nights have always been good for us over the past 20 plus years.

I refuse to pay for genie or Ills so I’ll stick with rope drop like we always have. We don’t like being in the parks peek time of the day. It’s just way too busy and just not as productive. Nights and rope drop is where it’s at. Always has been always will be in my opinion.

We still did every headliner multiple times with ease. And that 1000 dollars I saved on genie and Ills will buy my kids and myself 4 new reels for during bass season. My wife said “there ya go merry Xmas”.

That last point about saving genie money and reallocating to gifts was part of a discussion my wife and I had...but replace "reels" with food and beverages around the world showcase..

 

[maryj11]

Thank you for that information. I too already have Genie Plus added every day to our vacation package and I was wondering this same question.

You can add genie plus before your trip?

 

[Ricguz]

You can add genie plus before your trip?

I also have genie plus on my vacation package. I was grandfathered in prior to the change. My plan based upon what everyone has been saying is to stack rides more toward evening. I’m at YC CL so we are going to enjoy the resort CL, Stormalong bay, skyliner rides then parks later. We are older so rides are not the end all. I love the Christmas decorations plus candlelight, fantasmic, Mickey parade at MK so plenty to do. I don’t need to get run over at rope drop plus we can use the orderly transition at the international gateway for Epcot in the morning plus we have at least three late nights since we are deluxe resorts guest

 

[scrappinginontario]

You can add genie plus before your trip?

This is no longer an option.

 

[jimim]

That last point about saving genie money and reallocating to gifts was part of a discussion my wife and I had...but replace "reels" with food and beverages around the world showcase..

lol I hear yah. that adds up quick. yah know. I mentioned in one post above that our meals were sooooo good. our typical signature places in the hotels and morimoto, homecoming, and polite pig. portions are no different like others have said, but sign meals were always smaller. homecoming is just bizarre with the amount of food. they give you. actually unnecessary. lol the only decrease in sizes I saw was quick serve maybe? less fries? we both said that. sandwiches seemed the same. snacks added up quicker in price. that's all I noticed.

2 nights we went around Epcot for the holiday festival. drinks were good. the food overall was a C for us. We were really disappointed form the last time we were at food and wine or the holiday festival. it was so much better. none of the cookies did it for us. my kids said thier moms cookies were way better. I was kinda sad about this, but it was still 2 very fun nights. oh. . . the yeast donut and the cronut at the donut hut were really good.

 

[Leigh L]

I started each day at fantasyland causexthe kids wanted to do mine train 4 times. Cattle stampede each day there.

International gateway is on point! Extra Mickey ice cream for that crew over there!

Oh, I agree. 7DMT rope drop was def a one-and-done for us due to that stampede. Crazy! DD (12 at the time) and I did it in 2019. After that experience, she said she never ever wanted to do that again. And she's always usually game for any kind of rope drop.

We did RD fantasyland earlier this year during Early Entry but scooted up to Peter Pan, Small World instead, and then did the back of the park at 9. That was easy since the crowd headed towards Mine Train.

There was one time, I was in the Soarin' building for Extra Magic Hours when they had that system in place - and coming out of the ride and noticed up ahead a woman had fallen at the bottom of the steps. Literally, everyone was walking over her to get to Soarin' at regular rope drop time (and she was alone with two small children). We were stunned no one stopped and went right over to try to help her.

As everyone mentions above, this is a huge safety hazard and something Disney should consider looking at in its parks during EE and regular gate entry. Sounds like a lot of things haven't changed over the years and maybe even gotten worse. DHS earlier this year was definitely no picnic. I think we ended up skipping it for our other reserved DHS day.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Hey All writing from the Poly arrival day was yesterday. We checked in around 11, our room was ready but we politely asked if they could move our room as we wanted to be away from construction. CM was lovely and was able to move our room to a more desirable location.

We had a quick lunch at Captain Cooks and set off for Epcot. We had a very productive day at Epcot despite it being a short day (1pm-7:30)

We logged on to the app from our plane at 7am, secured a boarding group (53) for GOTH. I had to wait until about 8:30am for a 3-4pm return to frozen. We booked the rest of our attractions using the “drops” which seemed to consistently occur at the :47 past the hour. Drops have more of an immediate return time which is great because then you can book another LL.

In our short day we rode Test Track, Remy, Frozen, GOTG and Living of the Land. Had some cookies from the cookie stroll, met some characters, watched some performances (Mariachi Cobre (sp?)was the best!) Had a sit down dinner at Via Napoli and watched the show on spaceship earth.

Heading to MK today. We are not rope dropping and plan to arrive to park around 8:30/9.