The Magic is Back - Share your Experience! Superthread

[DontSpamMe]

My cousin and his family are there and said the same thing. I'm surprised!

So happy to see this thread in action! I love watching the 'here and back' thread for WDW so makes me so happy we'll have a DLR one too.

As I expected, I did not think Disney would make the ID thing a big deal at the gates. Regardless, I think most people will respect the rules and not travel.

Very cool to see the park back open. I bet it was an emotional day for many people. I'm guessing after the last 14 months a lot of people really need some magic.

I randomly checked the app and saw ride times were very reasonable.

Did anyone here arrive later in the morning? I'm curious if the lines to get in were long after the initial rush.

 

[midnight star]

We did. Parking was a breeze! We also entered via the flyover.

Did the same just now. Parking was super easy! Thanks!!

 

[BlueRibbon]

I know I already replied in another thread about my day, but figured I write again to see if I remembered anything else.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Waited until 8 in the tram route when they allowed us the proceed to the esplanade. The lines at the turnstiles were great where 1 line fed each grouping of 2 turnstiles. I love this. It'll help avoid getting stuck behind the "Tickets? Oh yeah <then proceeds to start fishing through backpack looking for tickets>" guy. ID Checking was a spot check. Not everyone got asked, but some people did, which should be enough of a deterrent but still keep things moving nicely.

Walking down Main St was surreal. All the CMs waving and welcoming everyone back was phenomenal. Most CMs said "Welcome Back!" y but some said "Welcome Home!" The elitist blue card holding DVC member that I am said "They should only say that to DVC members, hmmmph!" Lol!!!

I saw Josh D'Amaro and Bob Chapek at the end of Main St and wanted to get a selfie with them, but I had two very excited kids who wanted to head over to rides.

The crowds were very manageable and I didn't experience a wait longer than 30 minutes(for Snow White).

The biggest tip I can give for folks going today or later is: Hit the longer wait rides before 1pm. After the park-hoppers came in, the rides in high demand - Snow White, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc.. had their wait times jump up quite a bit.

 

[bwvBound]

Walking down Main St was surreal. All the CMs waving and welcoming everyone back was phenomenal. Most CMs said "Welcome Back!" y but some said "Welcome Home!" The elitist blue card holding DVC member that I am said "They should only say that to DVC members, hmmmph!" Lol!!!

Ha, Ha, Ha! DH and I were riding the horse-pulled trolley down Main Street wearing DVC lanyards covered in our best (and locked) DVC pins. I thought that "Welcome Home" comment was triggered by someone's eagle eye on our lanyards/pins!!

 

[JWelch62]

We rolled over from the GCH at 9:30 am after having a delicious breakfast at Craftsman Grill. Walked right in. No waiting. Wait times are phenomenal. Plenty of shaded seating areas, so that you can take a break from your mask and drink water/have a snack.

I love hearing the laughter of children having a great time and saying “Wow, that ride was soooo fun!” THE MAGIC IS BACK!!View attachment 571601

A Mickey pretzel and a beer from the Karl Strauss kiosk is one of our favorite things to do in DCA. Was this pretzel from there? When we were there for ToD pretzels weren't available at the kiosk.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Sounds totally magical! Did your DD get her birthday solo ride on GOTG? What a memorable day and a birthday celebration worth waiting for!

You have a good memory! My husband and I wanted to ride GOTG, too, but she did ride Jumpin’ Jellyfish and Gadget’s Go-Coaster 100% on her own (we never entered the queue), and she delighted in riding in her own vehicle/row anytime possible. My husband and I kept saying it was weird riding everything together again.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Reports from people on the ground that were there. Please do not derail this thread any more with discussion of ways that border on finding a loophole to break the rules.

I reported our experience in another thread about admission so as to keep this thread on track!

29 rides in 11 hours! That sounds like HEAVAN!

It was a lot! We were fortunate to be first in the gates and knock out a few with literally zero wait. Longest wait was 35 minutes for Indiana Jones - that queue is crazy and takes up the entire Jungle Cruise queue, as someone else mentioned. Not sure what they’ll do when Jungle Cruise reopens if they can’t do indoor lines by then... (not to mention, Jungle Cruise will draw large lines of its own as a refresh).

I’ll work on a list of what we did for my own records and share it!

 

[evilmommie]

.

 

[Iron Dan]

We had DCA-only tickets for Friday. Arrived on the Harbor side at 5:30 a.m. By the time we were brought in to the holding area on the tram route, we were standing by La Brea Bakery. They let us in to the Esplanade at 7:30 a.m., but of course everyone went over to the DL side and hardly anyone was at the DCA gates. We got into the park right at 8:00 a.m. (the final 10-second countdown was so exciting!) and got to walk through a completely empty park.

We walked right on RSR, then headed over to Soarin which had a short wait, then GotG. At GotG, we walked right through the Collector's Office with no preshow, and we raised our hands for the biological clearance (normally a part of the queue) right before boarding the ride.

We ended up experiencing every ride (except Monsters Inc which kept breaking down), and several rides twice, plus Philharmagic. We didn't do Turtle Talk, but that is open as well -- the show times are advertised on the marquee.

We had lunch at Sonoma (grilled cheese and tomato soup, like at Jolly Holiday) and found plenty of seating at the next door Wine Country Trattoria patio. This was a great place to take a break in the shade and enjoy the ambiance.

A few pro tips:

Keep checking attraction wait times throughout the day. When lines for some rides got too long (between 30 - 45 minutes at the most), we skipped them and decided to check back later "when the lines are shorter." Later in the day, the lines would suddenly be 10 - 15 minutes again (or even a walk-on). Meal times, and park hopping, seemed to be affecting the wait times. Lots of people seemed to be hopping from DCA to DL.

Be prepared for mobile order lines. A lot of Guests seemed to think they could just go right to the window to pick up their order when it was ready, and some were unhappy that they still had to wait in line.

Do the frozen bottled water trick - freeze some bottled water the night before, so you'll have ice water the whole day (it will get everything in your backpack wet though, so wrap the bottles in a towel).

Bring more water than you think you need. In addition to the heat, wearing a mask all day makes your mouth very dry - all the time!

There are alternatives to Starbuck's. You can also get your coffee fix at the Cappuccino Cart (mobile order) or Ghirardelli's (walk up). Ghirardelli's has their full menu of sundaes and shakes available, but they have coffee options too, including cappuccino, and hot or iced mochas and lattes.

 

[Mathmagicland]

FWIW, I was queued on the tram track at 7:00 and BGs were all gone in about 20 seconds. In short, have low expectations and you’ll be fine. I’ve yet to go on Haunted Mansion or Snow White because of the wait times (and it’s hot). Perhaps I’ll try them again first thing on Sunday. But for me, I had to do PP first .

i’m looking forward to your Sunday report to see how things may be different.

 

[LoriLovesMickey]

@Kender, thanks so much for starting this thread. I definitely shed some tears reading through the pages. My sister and I go to the parks May 24-26 and I am beyond excited. All these on the ground reports are so helpful.

 

[WonkaKid]

i’m looking forward to your Sunday report to see how things may be different.

Thanks! I'll post a report later today about my experience yesterday .

 

[dizneedoll]

Can anyone report if the Boysen Apple Freeze cart is open? Those are my favorite!

 

[Kender]

Can anyone report if the Boysen Apple Freeze cart is open? Those are my favorite!

Sorry! Still working on the food available lists!

Maurice's Treats? Sadly not open according to the reopening list

 

[Kender]

Still working on the first page, sorry!

But since I'm working on open food locations right now, I checked mobile order on the app for fun. I was hearing people say mobile order was difficult (times often well in advance of when people wanted to order), but right now almost every location is an immediate pick up. Some are a little further out (about 20 minutes from now for most of them). Looks like the furthest out one is Tropical Hideaway, but that's for 4:25pm as of this post. So still not awful.

It does seem a good idea to still make plans earlier in the day if you need to eat at certain times, but it certainly currently looks better than I've seen reported.

I'll make sure to add a blurb about mobile ordering to the front page.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Still working on the first page, sorry!

But since I'm working on open food locations right now, I checked mobile order on the app for fun. I was hearing people say mobile order was difficult (times often well in advance of when people wanted to order), but right now almost every location is an immediate pick up. Some are a little further out (about 20 minutes from now for most of them). Looks like the furthest out one is Tropical Hideaway, but that's for 4:25pm as of this post. So still not awful.

It does seem a good idea to still make plans earlier in the day if you need to eat at certain times, but it certainly currently looks better than I've seen reported.

I'll make sure to add a blurb about mobile ordering to the front page.

Good point on mobile orders, at wdw, people were suggesting adding mobile orders before heading to the parks in the morning. I believe new orders were allowed starting at 5 or 6 am. I am in cst time zone, so if I remember in the morning, I can check and let you know when it’s available on the DL app if you’re interested.

 

[dizneedoll]

Sorry! Still working on the food available lists!

Maurice's Treats? Sadly not open according to the reopening list

Bummer. Thank you for checking. I'm sure they will bring it back eventually. Hopefully. Fingers crossed!

 

[Kender]

Good point on mobile orders, at wdw, people were suggesting adding mobile orders before heading to the parks in the morning. I believe new orders were allowed starting at 5 or 6 am. I am in cst time zone, so if I remember in the morning, I can check and let you know when it’s available on the DL app if you’re interested.

Oh, yes please! I'm usually not up early unless I stayed up late lol! Would definitely be interested in someone checking the app to see if mobile ordering opens early/what time. I know for ToD I could mobile order before the gates opened so should be the same with the parks.

I don't personally think placing mobile orders for the day as soon as one can is super important based on what I'm seeing, but it's good information to know if someone has their heart set on something at a certain time/has to eat at a certain time. Like with littles or something who can't wait too long for food. In that case booking mobile orders early in the day for later might be a good strategy.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Oh, yes please! I'm usually not up early unless I stayed up late lol! Would definitely be interested in someone checking the app to see if mobile ordering opens early/what time. I know for ToD I could mobile order before the gates opened so should be the same with the parks.

I don't personally think placing mobile orders for the day as soon as one can is super important based on what I'm seeing, but it's good information to know if someone has their heart set on something at a certain time/has to eat at a certain time. Like with littles or something who can't wait too long for food. In that case booking mobile orders early in the day for later might be a good strategy.

Ok, I'll definitely take a look and let you know. I'm sure with as low as capacity is now, it's probably not that big of a deal, but I'm sure DL will be similar to WDW in that park capacity will increase without additional dining options, making mobile ordering a bigger issue in the future.

I'm loving the thread by the way. Was hoping something would be available for people to give their experiences during reopening. You've done a great job adding all the additional info as far as what's opened, etc. Keeping that up to date will be a chore I'm sure, but great info for visitors to have!

 

[Kender]

Ok, I'll definitely take a look and let you know. I'm sure with as low as capacity is now, it's probably not that big of a deal, but I'm sure DL will be similar to WDW in that park capacity will increase without additional dining options, making mobile ordering a bigger issue in the future.

I'm loving the thread by the way. Was hoping something would be available for people to give their experiences during reopening. You've done a great job adding all the additional info as far as what's opened, etc. Keeping that up to date will be a chore I'm sure, but great info for visitors to have!

Still a lot more to add too. Going to take me a bit to get things up, but it's getting there. At least it should be easier to keep up with than to get the initial stuff up. Focusing on facts right now and will start throwing in anecdotal reports in more places where necessary (like where lines are being held for the "no indoor queues" restriction).

I appreciate everyone bearing with me and having patience while I slowly work my way through each section