sdk1231
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2017
Just back from a Spring Break trip with my girls ages 16 and 20. We do an annual "girls' trip" during Spring Break, leaving dad at home. We're experienced WDW travelers and go a few times a year. This was my first trip post Covid, and I was a bit apprehensive. End result - still had an awesome time. My observations:
1. Masks - I retired last year and have spent the bulk of the past year at home, only wearing a mask on the rare occasion that I run to the store or whatever. Kids wear masks regularly and have no issues with them. I was dreading wearing the mask in the heat for extended periods of time. To my surprise, I got used to wearing it really quickly and had no problem with it. A couple of times I took advantage of the Relaxation Stations located in the parks. There are several in each park, and they are in handy locations. They gave me the "break" I needed. Some were air conditioned and I took advantage at hot times of the day. I honestly could have made it without the Relaxation Stations but liked having the option. Wearing the mask was not a big deal.
2. Fireworks - Lack of fireworks had me worried, because I'm a big fireworks fan. On the plus side, I didn't miss having to congregate in a big crowd waiting for fireworks. I didn't miss having to be on the fireworks timetable. I spent more evening time enjoying the lights and ambiance of the parks at night. The lack of fireworks was not as big a deal as I thought it would be.
3. Rides: No Fast Passes & Wait Times - I thought this would be a big deal, but it wasn't. We rode everything we wanted to ride, and everything I'd typically get fast passes for. We rode on our own schedule and enjoyed immensely the fact that we weren't tied to the Fast Pass schedule. We didn't wait more than 20 min for any ride. We rode rides in the morning and in the evening (after 5pm). Afternoon wait times were horrible, so we spent the hot afternoons at the pool or just touring around World Showcase. In all cases, we opted to skip rides with long wait times and return to them when wait times were lower. At DHS - we rope dropped and rode Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers, ROTR. By that time, lines were very long. As an example, the wait time for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway was 45 min or more from quite early on (and the queue looked horrible, in the courtyard in the hot sun). By 6pm, wait was 5 minutes. Not kidding. The kids walked on rides at DHS all evening until close. For Magic Kingdom (we went multiple days) - we used the same strategy. Example - Peter Pan was 45-60 min in the morning and afternoon, but got down to 20 min each evening. We were able to walk on Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Little Mermaid, Carousel, Aladdin, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Carousel of Progress, Speedway, Teacups multiple mornings/evenings multiple times. We rode Big Thunder, Pirates and Space with posted waits of 20 min (and in reality they were a walk through the queue). The exceptions at MK were Splash Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - those rides had very high wait times all day and into the evening. As a result, we hit Splash at rope drop and skipped SDMT altogether. We like the ride, but have been on it many times. It's 3 minutes of fun and cuteness, but for us it's just not worth a wait of more than 20 minutes and certainly not worth a wait of an hour or more. Animal Kingdom - I didn't go, but my daughter hopped over there one day at 2pm while I was having a pool break. She rode Everest, Safari and N'avi then met back us back at the resort by 5:30. She said that FOP and Dinosaur had ridiculously long wait times, so she skipped those. Bottom line - avoid riding in the afternoon if possible. If not possible, bring sunhats, sunscreen, or be like me and bring an umbrella for instant-shade, especially at DHS.
4. Food - I booked us one table service restaurant per day and we did quick-serve mobile order otherwise. I liked the whole mobile order thing. In fact, I preferred it, and I'm not the biggest phone fan. It was super easy to do. It sure beat waiting in line for quick service items. Table service didn't scare me. Tables were well spaced and cleaning procedures were evident.
5. Transportation - Monorails were awesome, with partitions in place. Buses were not crowded, and the longest I waited for a bus was 15 minutes. Skyliner was fabulous. I didn't use the boats this time because of the new GLORIOUS Grand Floridian Walkway to the Magic Kingdom. The awesomeness of the GF Walkway to the MK can not be overstated. It was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. I have a Poly rezzy for October and might switch it to GF because of the awesomeness of the walkway. (Although you can walk from the Poly to the GF and then take the walkway if you wanted to).
6. Characters / Parades - I expected to see no characters this time, but to my surprise, I saw a TON of characters. I saw multiple cavalcades in the MK, lots of characters at SWGE, a cavalcade at Epcot. I saw way more characters than I expected to see. The cavalcades were cool little mini parades. I saw the Dapper Dans, the marching band. I was totally satisfied with the character/cavalcade experience.
Bottom line, for me, the trip was a success and the magic was there. I enjoyed myself, enjoyed being on no schedule, didn't hate wearing the mask, and still felt the magic. My daughters agreed. Both of them loved not being on any regimented schedule and having a flexible approach to each day. We all experienced lots of fabulous cast member interaction, almost more so than at any other time. It seemed that cast members were going out of their way to make the experience magical for guests.
1. Masks - I retired last year and have spent the bulk of the past year at home, only wearing a mask on the rare occasion that I run to the store or whatever. Kids wear masks regularly and have no issues with them. I was dreading wearing the mask in the heat for extended periods of time. To my surprise, I got used to wearing it really quickly and had no problem with it. A couple of times I took advantage of the Relaxation Stations located in the parks. There are several in each park, and they are in handy locations. They gave me the "break" I needed. Some were air conditioned and I took advantage at hot times of the day. I honestly could have made it without the Relaxation Stations but liked having the option. Wearing the mask was not a big deal.
2. Fireworks - Lack of fireworks had me worried, because I'm a big fireworks fan. On the plus side, I didn't miss having to congregate in a big crowd waiting for fireworks. I didn't miss having to be on the fireworks timetable. I spent more evening time enjoying the lights and ambiance of the parks at night. The lack of fireworks was not as big a deal as I thought it would be.
3. Rides: No Fast Passes & Wait Times - I thought this would be a big deal, but it wasn't. We rode everything we wanted to ride, and everything I'd typically get fast passes for. We rode on our own schedule and enjoyed immensely the fact that we weren't tied to the Fast Pass schedule. We didn't wait more than 20 min for any ride. We rode rides in the morning and in the evening (after 5pm). Afternoon wait times were horrible, so we spent the hot afternoons at the pool or just touring around World Showcase. In all cases, we opted to skip rides with long wait times and return to them when wait times were lower. At DHS - we rope dropped and rode Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers, ROTR. By that time, lines were very long. As an example, the wait time for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway was 45 min or more from quite early on (and the queue looked horrible, in the courtyard in the hot sun). By 6pm, wait was 5 minutes. Not kidding. The kids walked on rides at DHS all evening until close. For Magic Kingdom (we went multiple days) - we used the same strategy. Example - Peter Pan was 45-60 min in the morning and afternoon, but got down to 20 min each evening. We were able to walk on Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Little Mermaid, Carousel, Aladdin, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Carousel of Progress, Speedway, Teacups multiple mornings/evenings multiple times. We rode Big Thunder, Pirates and Space with posted waits of 20 min (and in reality they were a walk through the queue). The exceptions at MK were Splash Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - those rides had very high wait times all day and into the evening. As a result, we hit Splash at rope drop and skipped SDMT altogether. We like the ride, but have been on it many times. It's 3 minutes of fun and cuteness, but for us it's just not worth a wait of more than 20 minutes and certainly not worth a wait of an hour or more. Animal Kingdom - I didn't go, but my daughter hopped over there one day at 2pm while I was having a pool break. She rode Everest, Safari and N'avi then met back us back at the resort by 5:30. She said that FOP and Dinosaur had ridiculously long wait times, so she skipped those. Bottom line - avoid riding in the afternoon if possible. If not possible, bring sunhats, sunscreen, or be like me and bring an umbrella for instant-shade, especially at DHS.
4. Food - I booked us one table service restaurant per day and we did quick-serve mobile order otherwise. I liked the whole mobile order thing. In fact, I preferred it, and I'm not the biggest phone fan. It was super easy to do. It sure beat waiting in line for quick service items. Table service didn't scare me. Tables were well spaced and cleaning procedures were evident.
5. Transportation - Monorails were awesome, with partitions in place. Buses were not crowded, and the longest I waited for a bus was 15 minutes. Skyliner was fabulous. I didn't use the boats this time because of the new GLORIOUS Grand Floridian Walkway to the Magic Kingdom. The awesomeness of the GF Walkway to the MK can not be overstated. It was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. I have a Poly rezzy for October and might switch it to GF because of the awesomeness of the walkway. (Although you can walk from the Poly to the GF and then take the walkway if you wanted to).
6. Characters / Parades - I expected to see no characters this time, but to my surprise, I saw a TON of characters. I saw multiple cavalcades in the MK, lots of characters at SWGE, a cavalcade at Epcot. I saw way more characters than I expected to see. The cavalcades were cool little mini parades. I saw the Dapper Dans, the marching band. I was totally satisfied with the character/cavalcade experience.
Bottom line, for me, the trip was a success and the magic was there. I enjoyed myself, enjoyed being on no schedule, didn't hate wearing the mask, and still felt the magic. My daughters agreed. Both of them loved not being on any regimented schedule and having a flexible approach to each day. We all experienced lots of fabulous cast member interaction, almost more so than at any other time. It seemed that cast members were going out of their way to make the experience magical for guests.
