Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Gary Stocker]

Just arrived and taking the Sunshine Flyer...weird they threw us Boardwalk guests with guests staying at Pop and Art of Animation. Hoping we're first!
The good news.. the little moments commencing.

 

[Gary Stocker]

So after a few at Boardwalk Joe's (watermelon margarita is yum) and lunch at Beaches and Cream my family passed out...we have Hoop de Doo tonight so probably wise.
However there is no rest on vacation..especially here...so decided to take the skyliner around and have some beverages..first stop Riviera...Bar Riva. Coco de Paradiso..

 

[Gary Stocker]

Release the...kraken punch..at the Banana Cabana at CBR..

 

[Gary Stocker]

Poly..Tambu..back scratcher...

 

[Gary Stocker]

Unexpected food trucks at fort wilderness campground...not partaking due to hoop de doo.

 

[Gary Stocker]

A beautiful morning at the Boardwalk as the sun rises behind spaceship earth. I have "Disney energy" that I don't have at home. After yesterday's consumption, culminating with Hoop De Doo..this old body would normally curl up into fetal position until someone mercifully provides caffeine...yet I am up and about...headed to Muscles and Buscles to sweat it out and hopefully get a good Guardians VQ.
Epcot and Hollywood today using DAS...will try to post updates as often as I can.

 

[GBRforWDW]

A beautiful morning at the Boardwalk as the sun rises behind spaceship earth. I have "Disney energy" that I don't have at home. After yesterday's consumption, culminating with Hoop De Doo..this old body would normally curl up into fetal position until someone mercifully provides caffeine...yet I am up and about...headed to Muscles and Buscles to sweat it out and hopefully get a good Guardians VQ.
Epcot and Hollywood today using DAS...will try to post updates as often as I can.
View attachment 770686

Early morning at Disney World is the best. Looks like a great start to the day

 

[lovethattink]

Good morning, and a friendly reminder.

Years ago, we allowed the start of this thread. And we had a sticky for rules. The rules were unpinned a while back. So I just want to hop in and post a reminder of what they are.

What you can post in this thread:
1.Please keep it brief.
2. Please keep topics to those appropriate for TPAS (share your "in park" and Disney Springs experiences and opinions covering topics such as MDE, MagicBands, Rides/Attractions, CMs, Memory Maker, PPO ADRs, VQ, ILL$, LL, and Pixie Dust moments).
3. Please post a brief account of the day, relating to topics in 2.
4. If you want to post additional topics, post them on the appropriate boards. (Ex. Trip report, dining, etc.)

 

[Gary Stocker]

Keeping it brief.
The VQ for GotG was done within 5 seconds...so bought an ILL for $15 each. Nickled and dimed. Yes. Worth every penny? Also yes. Disco inferno baby.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Keeping it brief.
The VQ for GotG was done within 5 seconds...so bought an ILL for $15 each. Nickled and dimed. Yes. Worth every penny? Also yes. Disco inferno baby.

You are welcome to post information about your trip that shares your experiences about the parks, LL, VQ, ILL$ etc. That is the intent of this thread. Sharing summaries of experiences that will assist others who are planning their trips or also there now.

 

[Gary Stocker]

So we did the Mama Melrose Fantasmic package last night.
Mama Melrose steak continues to be among the best on property and only costs one arm as opposed to other steaks which also cost a leg.
As for the show..we had second row from the water and let me tell you the impact of seeing Fantasmic up close...you get a mist of the fountains blowing on you the whole time...which after a day melting was pretty awesome.
Also Magic Band + changes colors with the lights of the show!
Amazing show...if you can get up close with the meal package or by waiting it is a completely unique perspective of the show.

 

[disneyAndi14]

After the show it wasn’t too awful going to the Terrace. The food itself was fine, but it was 100% worth it to sit down and enjoy desserts while the mass exodus from the park happened outside. I made myself a couple of pog-mosas. We went home afterwards.

If people preparing for a trip read your posts they would really be prepared!
Thank you for all the great info. I read it because I enjoy hearing about other’s experiences! My daughter and I have been traveling to WDW for 12+ years and I agree with everything you say!
I am bummed I didn’t think to make POG Mimosas at our dessert party in April!
What a great idea!

 

[mmouse50]

Has anyone ever tried parkhopping on a holiday weekend? Looking at hopping from AK (morning) to Epcot (hopefully at 2:00) during the Columbus Day weekend. Do you think that if we bought Genie+ and ILL for Avatar we would be able to do the big rides + safari in AK and when we hopped over to Epcot we would be able to do and of the following Test Track/Remy/Frozen with Genie+?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Has anyone ever tried parkhopping on a holiday weekend? Looking at hopping from AK (morning) to Epcot (hopefully at 2:00) during the Columbus Day weekend. Do you think that if we bought Genie+ and ILL for Avatar we would be able to do the big rides + safari in AK and when we hopped over to Epcot we would be able to do and of the following Test Track/Remy/Frozen with Genie+?

Your PH should not be a problem.

Being honest, I don’t feel your genie+ selections will work, especially on a holiday weekend.

You’re choosing FoP as your first LL which means you cannot book another LL until either you have used that one or, 2 hours after AK has opened.

You would most likely be able to get one of your Epcot G+ selections and possibly 2 but not likely all 3.

Please see this website to see when LL’s have been filling on average. I would recommend you check that site next week during a busier time to get times more comparable to Columbus Day weekend.

I’m not saying you couldn’t ride all of these attractions, just saying you’d need to do one or 2 of them standby unless you possibly catch a cancellation.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

Has anyone ever tried parkhopping on a holiday weekend? Looking at hopping from AK (morning) to Epcot (hopefully at 2:00) during the Columbus Day weekend. Do you think that if we bought Genie+ and ILL for Avatar we would be able to do the big rides + safari in AK and when we hopped over to Epcot we would be able to do and of the following Test Track/Remy/Frozen with Genie+?

We went just a few days after Memorial Day this year when crowds were still high. We started in DHS one morning and hopped to Epcot. We were able to pull LL for Remy's, Frozen, and Soarin (I couldn't get TT). It took a little time (a few minutes each), but was able to make it work for us!

 

[lovethattink]

So we did the Mama Melrose Fantasmic package last night.
Mama Melrose steak continues to be among the best on property and only costs one arm as opposed to other steaks which also cost a leg.
As for the show..we had second row from the water and let me tell you the impact of seeing Fantasmic up close...you get a mist of the fountains blowing on you the whole time...which after a day melting was pretty awesome.
Also Magic Band + changes colors with the lights of the show!
Amazing show...if you can get up close with the meal package or by waiting it is a completely unique perspective of the show.

We’ve sat in the front row a couple times. Got very wet from the spray, but the perspective up close is pretty amazing!

I’m sure the spray felt great, it was a scorcher yesterday! My son was filming outside in Orlando and it was hot!

 

[Nice Work Pal]

First time back in 2 years:
Rode Cosmic rewind 3 times (Tears for fears twice September once). Smoothest Rollercoaster ever. Funnest ride ever.

Rode Tron twice. Short but intense. Wouldn’t recommend if you have the slightest back or neck issues.

Rode Remy’s twice, not my favorite but my daughter loves the movie so it was worth it.

Crowds weren’t bad when we arrived on the 18th…but our last day at the parks was this past Saturday, never seen AK so crowded. We hopped to Epcot and left around 6 and it was crazy packed.

 

[NavyDad]

Just got back from a week long trip that included 5 park days (with hoppers) and 2 water park days. We purchased Genie Plus on the first park day and last park day. We rope dropped every morning and most days left the parks in the middle of the day with some late nights. The early entry and extra evening hours were pretty great but the parks were super crowded (and hot as the surface of the sun) during pretty much every day this week. I'm going to give a quick summary of our days and then some observations and tips:

Day 1 (Genie Plus)
AK early admission was great. The park opened at 8 AM, early admit was 7:30 and we got to the tap-style area around 7:15 just as they were letting people in. Picked a middle line and then went left to re-scan for early admission. We walked on FOP and then River Journey before the park opened to public and we were just ahead of a large wave of people heading to safari. Had a great early safari with lots of animals out and then went straight to Everest where we were able to ride twice at virtually a walk-on. We walked on Dinosaur and then had an early lunch at the Dino restaurant. At some point I made a LL for Lion King and right after we tapped in for that I started stacking LL's for DHS that night, starting with Slinky Dog which I got for 5:30 PM.

I kept stacking LL's for DHS that night including Smugglers Run & TSMM and purchased $ILL for Rise. Our plan was to do all of Toy Story and Star Wars since our older daughter had not seen either land yet and then head to Fantasmic. This worked pretty much exactly how I expected and we were also able to snag RnR and Tot LL's later that night. We then walked into Fantasmic about 5 minutes before show time and got seats all the way at the far end section. We watched about 5 minutes of the show and then they stopped it for some reason so we left instead of waiting to see if it would re-start. (Each member of our family gets a little anxious sometimes in very large, packed crowds)

It was a great day. Rope dropping AK and then stacking LL's at DHS worked out really well and we were able to do everything we wanted at both parks. We honestly could have gotten an used more LL's in the morning at AK but just didn't need them...

Day 2: (No Genie)
The plan was to Rope Drop Mine Train at MK and then head to Epcot later for EEH.

This was an epic Rope Drop fail for us. We got to the tap-style area about 20 minutes prior to early entry time. As we got there they were already letting people through the tap-styles. By the time we got to the bridge heading to Fantasy Land we were probably 300-400 people back and when the stampede ensued we realized Mine Train was not going to work for us. We tried a last minute detour to Peter Pan but by the time we got in line, it took us about 30 minutes to get through the queue. After that everything had super long wait periods. We tried to head to Haunted Mansion but it was already at 65 minutes when we walked up. We actually found Haunted Mansion to have higher wait times the entire trip for some reason. At this point we are starting to get frustrated by the heat, crowds and long wait times for everything. We knew we had 2 more days at MK so we watched a couple of shows, got some amazing fruit and nutella waffles near Hall of Presidents and left the park to relax for our late Epcot night.

After some pool time and a nap we got to Epcot around 5:30. I scored a VQ for Guardians at the 6 PM drop for EEH. We did everything at the Land and Seas pavilion and then made it to Mission Space just before EEH was supposed to start. While our kids were on MIssion Space a really bad storm kicked up. We fled into the Connections eatery and ordered some great milkshakes. Our kids met us there since Test Track had shut down with the storm. Just as the rain stopped (around 9 PM) our Boarding Group was called and we actually walked right through the entire queue for Guardians with no wait at all. That was our first time riding and it was mind-blowing. We skipped Test Track since it had been down so long and did Frozen, then Remy. We were some of the last people out of Epcot that night which made for some great pics.

Tip: if you are going to RD Magic Kingdom, get there 35-45 minutes prior to early admission and then be prepared for the running of the bulls if you are headed to Mine Train.

We got a lot done and visited all 4 parks in those first two days. The third day was a Typhoon Lagoon and we all had forgotten how much we loved that place. That day was a Tuesday and the park was maybe half full. We had very little lines at any slides and the lazy river was not busy. We returned to Typhoon Lagoon on Saturday before we left the area and the park was totally different. Way more locals showed up and the place was packed 30 minutes prior to open. We had teenage kids literally throwing their belongs on chairs as they run people over to start the day. The parking was so bad that people were parking in the grass. Every tube was taken in the lazy river and it was just packed with people to the extent we kept getting stuck. It was a totally different atmosphere from Tuesday to Saturday.

I'm not going to go through every day of the trip. The last 3 park days were all about re-riding our must-do's and filling in some things we hadn't done yet. We had 2 more days without Genie Plus and it was a bit hard to do even with rope drop. Lines at MK, DHS and Epcot seemed to get longer much earlier than we expected. Our last day was MK only and we had Genie Plus that day. We rop dropped Space Mountain and just kept booking LL's as fast as we could use them. We had a lot of luck getting quick return times for whatever land we were in at the time with the exception of Haunted Mansion which I just had to finally bite the bullet and wait out the 120 minute period after I snagged that. We filled that time with lunch and then watching Hall of Presidents again. After that we were back on track getting very quick LL's with almost zero back tracking around MK.

Final thoughts and observations:
Rope drop can still be helpful but you better get there early. With the exception of AK, lines build much quicker than they used to prior to COVID. When we did spend the extra money for Genie Plus it worked great. We had a lot of success stacking rides at DHS again. Using Rope Drop and Genie Plus you really can got a lot done at MK in one day. Genie Plus also gives you a lot of flexibility if you want to stack rides at one park for afternoon or evening.

I always see a lot of comments about cleanliness and bathrooms. It seemed like even with massive crowds the CM's really worked hard at keeping everything pretty clean including the bathrooms.

Mobile ordering food is so great. We used that exclusively this trip. It's so nice to order your food and know that it is being prepared as you walk towards your restaurant and having it ready to go just seconds after you walk in the door. Highly recommend.

 

[NavyDad]

Something I wanted to add:

We rode Tron 3 times and Guardians 3 times. Both are fantastic additions to the park. Tron is a really neat ride. It's fast and smooth. Visually impressive atmosphere as you ride. Guardians is just on an other level. It's absolutely amazing. Give yourself every opportunity to ride that as many times as you can.

The queue for Tron was quite long each time that our boarding pass was called. The first time took 45 minutes and the second took 35 minutes. Don't assume that the VQ will be like using a LL or old FP. It's still a pretty long wait so be prepared.

 

[mmouse50]

My major game plan was not do early entry but get there around 8:30 - buy ILL for FoP and book Gemie+ for safari - ride Everest and Dinosaur and that is really all I wanted to do at AK. Hopefully that could be done before noon. Eat lunch and head back to AoA to leave car and get on skyliner for Epcot. Buy ILL for Guardians (will do that in the morning) and hopefully I will be able to get LL for test track after my safari pass. Then I will open for Frozen or Remy when I actually get into Epcot. I guess I am asking if that is doable on a holiday weekend during good and wine. Only getting to do 3 park days but wanting to see all 4 parks.