Here Now!

[PalmettoPath]

Yes, I will report on how testing went on return home, ArriveCAN app etc. My plan is to go through the Walgreens drive thru for the NAAT test. I’m planning on doing it 2 days before travel. I have a friend here that lives in Orlando and it taking me.

As much as I grouse about the queues, Im still glad I’m here.

Today was Blizzard Beach. another odd overcast weather day. Not the usual stinking hot blazing sun. But was surprised no T-storms today. This was my relax day. We got here shortly after 11:00 opening. No problem finding a spot under cover. Id say park was half full if that.

Tomorrow AK

Thank you -- that is what I was hoping to hear about BB and validates what I had heard a couple of weeks ago.

 

[MainStreetMouse]

Yes, I will report on how testing went on return home, ArriveCAN app etc. My plan is to go through the Walgreens drive thru for the NAAT test. I’m planning on doing it 2 days before travel. I have a friend here that lives in Orlando and it taking me.

As much as I grouse about the queues, Im still glad I’m here.

Today was Blizzard Beach. another odd overcast weather day. Not the usual stinking hot blazing sun. But was surprised no T-storms today. This was my relax day. We got here shortly after 11:00 opening. No problem finding a spot under cover. Id say park was half full if that.

Tomorrow AK

Thank you so much for all your helpful information.
Enjoy the rest of you vacation. Safe travels.

 

[samsteele]

Nothing was under an hour, for rides.

What's your sense why almost all rides have long waits? A mix of high summer attendance, revenge travel, no FP to relieve the standby lines, fewer CMs (staff shortage) to push the lines ahead and maybe still some social distancing in line? Sounds very frustrating esp in the Florida humidity.

Re showing up for rope drop 45 mins to 1 hr before park opening and still waiting in line nearly 1 hr line for eg FOP at AK is sobering. That's my strategy and 2 yrs ago waited less than 20 mins for FOP at rope drop by showing up 45 mins before opening.

I have no plans to buy FP in the future and thought I could maximize early morning to at least get the headliners done. Will have to rethink whether this will work.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I have no plans to buy FP in the future and thought I could maximize early morning to at least get the headliners done. Will have to rethink whether this will work.

I have a feeling the " precovid" way of doing Disney World is gone. This is the great Disney Reset - in a manner of speaking. I have a feeling there will be a new way to tour the parks in the coming months to couple of years.

Have a great rest of your trip Sue....stay healthy and safe please. I can't wait to hear your take on this...and maybe some wisdom for others who are visiting the mouse house soon.

 

[Susan2771]

Enjoy your holiday! Relax, get your vacation on, and stay safe! Thank-you for taking the time to share what you are experiencing.

 

[Sue M]

What's your sense why almost all rides have long waits? A mix of high summer attendance, revenge travel, no FP to relieve the standby lines, fewer CMs (staff shortage) to push the lines ahead and maybe still some social distancing in line? Sounds very frustrating esp in the Florida humidity.

Re showing up for rope drop 45 mins to 1 hr before park opening and still waiting in line nearly 1 hr line for eg FOP at AK is sobering. That's my strategy and 2 yrs ago waited less than 20 mins for FOP at rope drop by showing up 45 mins before opening.

I have no plans to buy FP in the future and thought I could maximize early morning to at least get the headliners done. Will have to rethink whether this will work.

I think it’s the combo of busy summer crowds and no FP. I’m adju my strategy! There’s a difference between 45 min and 60 min before park opening I’ve found.
There have been an adequate number of CMs IMO.

 

[Tanooki]

We are also here now! We arrived yesterday late evening so today was our first park day. We got to MK around 9:45am and were able to do Under the sea, Buzz, Space and Haunted Mansion before pausing for lunch (love mobile ordering!). Hubby went back to the hotel since he was tired and hot but I stayed with the kids and we did Big Thunder and Pirates before calling it a day with ice cream around 2:00pm. We were all hot and tired from our previous day of travel so we wanted (and needed) a break by then. We were still able to go shopping for a little food at Walmart at the end of the afternoon and we even went out to Disney Springs for dinner at T-Rex. All I have to say is DON’T BELIEVE THE POSTED WAIT TIMES! Absolutely everything was less than posted, some by a long shot. Lines are sometimes long but they move quite rapidly. We are having a blast! Husband and oldest son are going back on Sunday but I’m staying with the other 2 kids (one stayed home) for another week. We are planning on getting the Covid test at Walgreens for them on Friday morning when we move to Universal (we arranged that with our driver). I’ve been checking availability and it seems to open up around 10-10:30pm 2 days ahead. I’ll let you all know how this fans out if you want. You all have been very helpful with the planning, even if I don’t post often. Thanks!

 

[Sue M]

Adjusting my touring planing!
8/6 another AK day! We decided not to do FOP, everyone is queued up for that, all the way to Festival of Lion King! Rest of park is empty! Lol. So we went to Safari twice, Everest x2, Dinosaur, all with minimal waits. Saw Festival of Lion King- still good although a cut down version due to Covid protocol. Always our fav show. ate at the Sauill Canteen or however you spell it in Pandora. Love the bowls.
saw Bugs Life. Did the Gorilla Falls trail. Didn’t do the boat ride in Pandora. It’s just ok for me and I wanted to do other things more.
All in all a good day. But hot left around 2ish for pool break.

8/7 DHS day- sooo today we planned to leave resort at 7:30 for 9:00 park opening. We were pretty far up front for opening. First up was Mickey’s Runaway Train. I think we were in first grouping to ride. Park opened early at 8:30ish. Then went to ToT (tower of terror) and daughter did Mickey’s train again. We then re-grouped and went to Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours. By then it was getting close to 11:00 am Brown Derby lunch. Cobb salad there is the best. After lunch did the Starwars walk thru museum. Was so cold we had to leave, but had some interesting stuff.
** By 1:00 we tried again to get a time for Rise of the Resistance. Success finally. I turned off WDW wifi and used cellular. $10/day roaming ugh but was worth it! The rest of the time it’s on airplane mode. And use WDW crappy wifi.
So if you want to get in Ride of the Resistance WDW wifi is too slow and you’ll never get in. This morning by 7:01 all times were full.
I calculated 6ish return time so after watching Muppet Vision and Frozen Show we headed to EPcot and went to Mexico, rode Three Caballeros and looked at the shops.
Then boated back to DHS for Rise of Resistance and dinner at ABC Commissary. On the way out we noticed it was only 30 min wait for Mickey’s Train. One last kick at the can.

Tomorrow Blizzard Beach again, then meeting a friend for dinner in Disney Springs House of Blues. Never been.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Adjusting my touring planing!
8/6 another AK day! We decided not to do FOP, everyone is queued up for that, all the way to Festival of Lion King! Rest of park is empty! Lol. So we went to Safari twice, Everest x2, Dinosaur, all with minimal waits. Saw Festival of Lion King- still good although a cut down version due to Covid protocol. Always our fav show. ate at the Sauill Canteen or however you spell it in Pandora. Love the bowls.
saw Bugs Life. Did the Gorilla Falls trail. Didn’t do the boat ride in Pandora. It’s just ok for me and I wanted to do other things more.
All in all a good day. But hot left around 2ish for pool break.

8/7 DHS day- sooo today we planned to leave resort at 7:30 for 9:00 park opening. We were pretty far up front for opening. First up was Mickey’s Runaway Train. I think we were in first grouping to ride. Park opened early at 8:30ish. Then went to ToT (tower of terror) and daughter did Mickey’s train again. We then re-grouped and went to Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours. By then it was getting close to 11:00 am Brown Derby lunch. Cobb salad there is the best. After lunch did the Starwars walk thru museum. Was so cold we had to leave, but had some interesting stuff.
** By 1:00 we tried again to get a time for Rise of the Resistance. Success finally. I turned off WDW wifi and used cellular. $10/day roaming ugh but was worth it! The rest of the time it’s on airplane mode. And use WDW crappy wifi.
So if you want to get in Ride of the Resistance WDW wifi is too slow and you’ll never get in. This morning by 7:01 all times were full.
I calculated 6ish return time so after watching Muppet Vision and Frozen Show we headed to EPcot and went to Mexico, rode Three Caballeros and looked at the shops.
Then boated back to DHS for Rise of Resistance and dinner at ABC Commissary. On the way out we noticed it was only 30 min wait for Mickey’s Train. One last kick at the can.

Tomorrow Blizzard Beach again, then meeting a friend for dinner in Disney Springs House of Blues. Never been.

Sounds like you had a pretty successful two days!

 

[KNovacovschi]

Adjusting my touring planing!
8/6 another AK day! We decided not to do FOP, everyone is queued up for that, all the way to Festival of Lion King! Rest of park is empty! Lol. So we went to Safari twice, Everest x2, Dinosaur, all with minimal waits. Saw Festival of Lion King- still good although a cut down version due to Covid protocol. Always our fav show. ate at the Sauill Canteen or however you spell it in Pandora. Love the bowls.
saw Bugs Life. Did the Gorilla Falls trail. Didn’t do the boat ride in Pandora. It’s just ok for me and I wanted to do other things more.
All in all a good day. But hot left around 2ish for pool break.

8/7 DHS day- sooo today we planned to leave resort at 7:30 for 9:00 park opening. We were pretty far up front for opening. First up was Mickey’s Runaway Train. I think we were in first grouping to ride. Park opened early at 8:30ish. Then went to ToT (tower of terror) and daughter did Mickey’s train again. We then re-grouped and went to Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours. By then it was getting close to 11:00 am Brown Derby lunch. Cobb salad there is the best. After lunch did the Starwars walk thru museum. Was so cold we had to leave, but had some interesting stuff.
** By 1:00 we tried again to get a time for Rise of the Resistance. Success finally. I turned off WDW wifi and used cellular. $10/day roaming ugh but was worth it! The rest of the time it’s on airplane mode. And use WDW crappy wifi.
So if you want to get in Ride of the Resistance WDW wifi is too slow and you’ll never get in. This morning by 7:01 all times were full.
I calculated 6ish return time so after watching Muppet Vision and Frozen Show we headed to EPcot and went to Mexico, rode Three Caballeros and looked at the shops.
Then boated back to DHS for Rise of Resistance and dinner at ABC Commissary. On the way out we noticed it was only 30 min wait for Mickey’s Train. One last kick at the can.

Tomorrow Blizzard Beach again, then meeting a friend for dinner in Disney Springs House of Blues. Never been.

Sounds like you are having an amazing time!!! If you have another HS day planned then I would suggest you close all apps on your phone, turn off wifi, use an additional device to pull up the world clock, close and reopen your app and then when the world clock shows 6:58 start refreshing the virtual queue page, do not choose anyone for the group it will do it automatically and just click join. Boarding groups are usually gone by a few secs after 7.

 

[Sue M]

Sounds like you are having an amazing time!!! If you have another HS day planned then I would suggest you close all apps on your phone, turn off wifi, use an additional device to pull up the world clock, close and reopen your app and then when the world clock shows 6:58 start refreshing the virtual queue page, do not choose anyone for the group it will do it automatically and just click join. Boarding groups are usually gone by a few secs after 7.

Yesterday was our last DHS day. But that’s what I did at 1:00pm the next opening to get a time and was successful when we turned off wifi. Glad we got to go on it.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Adjusting my touring planing!
8/6 another AK day! We decided not to do FOP, everyone is queued up for that, all the way to Festival of Lion King! Rest of park is empty! Lol. So we went to Safari twice, Everest x2, Dinosaur, all with minimal waits. Saw Festival of Lion King- still good although a cut down version due to Covid protocol. Always our fav show. ate at the Sauill Canteen or however you spell it in Pandora. Love the bowls.
saw Bugs Life. Did the Gorilla Falls trail. Didn’t do the boat ride in Pandora. It’s just ok for me and I wanted to do other things more.
All in all a good day. But hot left around 2ish for pool break.

8/7 DHS day- sooo today we planned to leave resort at 7:30 for 9:00 park opening. We were pretty far up front for opening. First up was Mickey’s Runaway Train. I think we were in first grouping to ride. Park opened early at 8:30ish. Then went to ToT (tower of terror) and daughter did Mickey’s train again. We then re-grouped and went to Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours. By then it was getting close to 11:00 am Brown Derby lunch. Cobb salad there is the best. After lunch did the Starwars walk thru museum. Was so cold we had to leave, but had some interesting stuff.
** By 1:00 we tried again to get a time for Rise of the Resistance. Success finally. I turned off WDW wifi and used cellular. $10/day roaming ugh but was worth it! The rest of the time it’s on airplane mode. And use WDW crappy wifi.
So if you want to get in Ride of the Resistance WDW wifi is too slow and you’ll never get in. This morning by 7:01 all times were full.
I calculated 6ish return time so after watching Muppet Vision and Frozen Show we headed to EPcot and went to Mexico, rode Three Caballeros and looked at the shops.
Then boated back to DHS for Rise of Resistance and dinner at ABC Commissary. On the way out we noticed it was only 30 min wait for Mickey’s Train. One last kick at the can.

Tomorrow Blizzard Beach again, then meeting a friend for dinner in Disney Springs House of Blues. Never been.

Thank you for the update, sounds like a great couple of days! Enjoy!

 

[azrivest]

** By 1:00 we tried again to get a time for Rise of the Resistance. Success finally. I turned off WDW wifi and used cellular. $10/day roaming ugh but was worth it! The rest of the time it’s on airplane mode. And use WDW crappy wifi.
So if you want to get in Ride of the Resistance WDW wifi is too slow and you’ll never get in. This morning by 7:01 all times were full.

Thank you for this advice. Americans keep writing to turn off wifi and use data, but was wondering how we Canadians should handle this.

 

[Sue M]

Thank you for this advice. Americans keep writing to turn off wifi and use data, but was wondering how we Canadians should handle this.

Gonna have to do it if you want to ride. WDW wifi is too slow. Now back on airplane mode And using WDW wifi. I was surprised to hear Fido roaming increased rate to $10/day + tax

 

[Sue M]

Perfect day today to spend at Blizzard Beach. Hot day. We got there around 15 min before opening. Had no problem finding lounges under the roofed shelters.

 

[Sue M]

Today was MK day. (Yesterday was BB, but I must have fallen asleep before I posted it)
Didn't start off great, got up extra early to get to park early to ride Mine Train. Bus wait: 45 min at Jamaica stop. Turns out 2 busses had left without coming over to Jamaica or Aruba. They weren’t running seperate busses for each side until our bus. It stopped at Jamaica first.
So we did Space Mtn first. Then we went over to Adventure Land and rode Jungle Cruise. I heard they changed some things so wanted to see. Wait was under posted time as was Pirates. But after getting off Pirates I could tell the wait was now accurate.
We lucked out, I think we were just ahead of the crowds, but crowds caught up. Lunch at Skippers Canteen! Yummy.

Haunted Mansion was down, but after lunch I saw it was back up running. 15 min wait. By the time we got there it was up to 60min. Umm, no. So we went to Hall of Presidents, Laugh Floor then called it a day. Left MK at 3:00 lines were getting crazy.

Our last day is Mk too, so I think we’ll go to Main bus stop!

Some thoughts about WDW- it’s a lot different than how it was in the past. We’ve never NOT been able to do all our fav rides in a day. Now unless you’re willing to wait 70,80,90 min you can’t do it. Have to choose major ride and do it at rope drop. This was first time I’ve not done all the mountains at MK. I probably could have gotten in Big Thunder at 40 min wait, but when I saw Haunted Mansion opened we went there, then saw the wait and didn’t feel like doubling back to Big Thunder.
And my hip was killing me! That factored into it too. But we always take mid day breaks and have been able to get everything done without horrendous wait times using FP system.

Mask wearing leaves much to be desired here. Mandatory on transportation, queues, and stores. Too many people flaunting rules and leaving their nose sticking out or pulling it down as a chin strap until they get near a CM then pull it back up .

Tomorrow have to make my appt for Covid test at Walgreens ugh.

 

[wdwmom3]

Today was MK day. (Yesterday was BB, but I must have fallen asleep before I posted it)
Didn't start off great, got up extra early to get to park early to ride Mine Train. Bus wait: 45 min at Jamaica stop. Turns out 2 busses had left without coming over to Jamaica or Aruba. They weren’t running seperate busses for each side until our bus. It stopped at Jamaica first.
So we did Space Mtn first. Then we went over to Adventure Land and rode Jungle Cruise. I heard they changed some things so wanted to see. Wait was under posted time as was Pirates. But after getting off Pirates I could tell the wait was now accurate.
We lucked out, I think we were just ahead of the crowds, but crowds caught up. Lunch at Skippers Canteen! Yummy.

Haunted Mansion was down, but after lunch I saw it was back up running. 15 min wait. By the time we got there it was up to 60min. Umm, no. So we went to Hall of Presidents, Laugh Floor then called it a day. Left MK at 3:00 lines were getting crazy.

Our last day is Mk too, so I think we’ll go to Main bus stop!

Some thoughts about WDW- it’s a lot different than how it was in the past. We’ve never NOT been able to do all our fav rides in a day. Now unless you’re willing to wait 70,80,90 min you can’t do it. Have to choose major ride and do it at rope drop. This was first time I’ve not done all the mountains at MK. I probably could have gotten in Big Thunder at 40 min wait, but when I saw Haunted Mansion opened we went there, then saw the wait and didn’t feel like doubling back to Big Thunder.
And my hip was killing me! That factored into it too. But we always take mid day breaks and have been able to get everything done without horrendous wait times using FP system.

Mask wearing leaves much to be desired here. Mandatory on transportation, queues, and stores. Too many people flaunting rules and leaving their nose sticking out or pulling it down as a chin strap until they get near a CM then pull it back up .

Tomorrow have to make my appt for Covid test at Walgreens ugh.

The lines remind me of what Disney was like when I was teenager. We were spoiled with FPP.

And the lack of following mask rules is exactly why we decided not to go this fall. It’s like a large amount of the population just don’t care. I’m glad we didn’t have that experience at Wonderland.

 

[mshanson3121]

Sorry to here about the very long lines. Unlike another poster, I was sitting in my nice cool office and thinking man I would not be having much fun standing in line all the time with the heat index right around 100 degrees, just to get in 5-6 rides. Sorry, to me, that is not enjoying Disney. I sure hope your waits get shorter and you can get on more rides. The funny part is that you seemed to have enjoyed the skyliner over the parks. LOL

Haha, I was thinking the same. There is no way we would enjoy that.

 

[Carolynleanne]

Today was MK day. (Yesterday was BB, but I must have fallen asleep before I posted it)
Didn't start off great, got up extra early to get to park early to ride Mine Train. Bus wait: 45 min at Jamaica stop. Turns out 2 busses had left without coming over to Jamaica or Aruba. They weren’t running seperate busses for each side until our bus. It stopped at Jamaica first.
So we did Space Mtn first. Then we went over to Adventure Land and rode Jungle Cruise. I heard they changed some things so wanted to see. Wait was under posted time as was Pirates. But after getting off Pirates I could tell the wait was now accurate.
We lucked out, I think we were just ahead of the crowds, but crowds caught up. Lunch at Skippers Canteen! Yummy.

Haunted Mansion was down, but after lunch I saw it was back up running. 15 min wait. By the time we got there it was up to 60min. Umm, no. So we went to Hall of Presidents, Laugh Floor then called it a day. Left MK at 3:00 lines were getting crazy.

Our last day is Mk too, so I think we’ll go to Main bus stop!

Some thoughts about WDW- it’s a lot different than how it was in the past. We’ve never NOT been able to do all our fav rides in a day. Now unless you’re willing to wait 70,80,90 min you can’t do it. Have to choose major ride and do it at rope drop. This was first time I’ve not done all the mountains at MK. I probably could have gotten in Big Thunder at 40 min wait, but when I saw Haunted Mansion opened we went there, then saw the wait and didn’t feel like doubling back to Big Thunder.
And my hip was killing me! That factored into it too. But we always take mid day breaks and have been able to get everything done without horrendous wait times using FP system.

Mask wearing leaves much to be desired here. Mandatory on transportation, queues, and stores. Too many people flaunting rules and leaving their nose sticking out or pulling it down as a chin strap until they get near a CM then pull it back up .

Tomorrow have to make my appt for Covid test at Walgreens ugh.

OY. I am sorry This is why we're going to give it a year or two!

 

[Sue M]

Tuesday we had AK day. Got there early enough to have short wait for Flight of Passage. Love that ride. We did everything we wanted to do. It was a good day!
Yesterday was Epcot. Again got there early enough and went straight to Test Track! We decided to do single rider and had a car to ourselves! I guess the regular line was still cycling people thru design lab and hadn’t started riding yet! Rode Mission to Mars. Daughter decided to do Orange side and I did Green. I didn’t want to be put in a cabin with strangers so asked to be by myself. No problem. Then we regrouped and went to Soarin, Living the Land, (Lunch was at Sunshine Seasons), Seas, and Spaceship earth. It went down while we were in line so got a FP to return. we just sat on a bench for awhile and it was back up.
Then headed to Mexico, I was planning on eating QS dinner but one look at queue and I went into La Hacienda to see if they could fit in 2. They could. Had a delicious meal. I think their food is way better than inside Mexico Pavillion. We did go ride Three Caballeros after! Another good day!

Today is Covid test day. Have noon appointments at Walgreens. My Orlando friend is driving us. Then we’ll go to lunch at Deluxe Burger. After that we’ll go back to room and pack. Have some pool time….
Friday is last park day, has to be MK!