If, you have questions about Wilderness Lodge or Riviera let me know, or anything else.
Hi! How did you find the pool at Riviera? Any issues with getting chairs? Did you do any of the resort activities? Any issues with long skyliner waits or bus waits?
 
Hollywood Studios (April 5)
so pro tip - if you have a teen, let them do it!
So true! I had practiced for days and days to get a boarding group before our last trip. On the big day, my heart was beating fast, my palms were sweating, and I thought I was going to throw up. When the clock ticked down to go time, I was pushing things as fast as I could. I almost cried when I didn't get anything. Then DD shouts BG #3. She hadn't practiced at all!
 
We arrive on the 16th and currently it looks like it's supposed to rain/thunderstorm most every day we are there. I see today was also stormy. I live in OK and when we have a weather forecast that says 70% chance of rain that means it's going to rain all day. Is this how Florida forecasts work? Should I expect it to rain ALL day? or will it be a storm and then done?
There is literally no way to predict the weather a week in advance

Summer it’s usually brief. Winter it’s more typically all day. We’re kinda inbetween right now. But forecasts are extremely unreliable, even the night before. The exception is days like today when a huge system is coming towards us- the exact times it rains change but we know it will be an all day off and on affair.
 
Hi! How did you find the pool at Riviera? Any issues with getting chairs? Did you do any of the resort activities? Any issues with long skyliner waits or bus waits?
We loved to pool at the Riviera! Never had any issues getting chairs or capacity issues. There were people there and busy, but not so much that you felt crowded. We spent most of our pool time in the small kids splash area and it was usually just a few kids. Once it had lots of bigger kids and the lifeguard came over and measured the big kids and told them they could use the slides if they were taller than the lifeguard floaty. It worked and I was secretly happy because those bigger kids were running around and not paying close attention to the littles.
They had movies at night and I think I saw a sign about posted activities. We talked with an activities person at the movie because we commented how cool it was that they set it up and had blankets for people since it was a cooler night.
The skyliner was awesome! We only used it to Hollywood studios one day so the transfer wasn't great but also not terrible, about 10 minutes in line at CBR. We got there early for Epcot at 9:30 AM each day and they posted 10 AM to start running. We were overly eager because the line when they started boarding both mornings wasn't bad at all, but we were already up and ready so it worked out for us.
The skyliner leaving at park closing is nuts! The line at HS was SO LONG, but it moved fast, just lots of walking to find the end of the line. We left Epcot before closing each night but the line was longer than we expected one night. It moved though and I thought better than a typical bus wait can be in the past.
 
Back from my trip the past week (4-5 thru 4-11) and want to give some overall impressions.

We went in October and I felt there was much less presence by Disney this week in ensuring mask enforcement. Key areas such as the hub in MK had tons of roaming people holding signs in October that discouraged walking drinking and eating. This week, it wasn't uncommon to see someone go from Aloha Isle to Splash Mountain area eating away on a Dole Whip without any acknowledgement from CMs. I preface that to just say that if you are still an individuals that is very apprehensive about being in public, this is still not the right time to go.

3 Positives from the Trip:

1. Late Nights: Having younger kids that get up at 7 at the latest, rope dropping isn't usually an issue for us. This trip really tilted that strategy as we did RD but saw that you had at best around 2-3 big rides to maximize before the crowds came in whereas before you could get in around 4-5. An example of this was MK. In previous trips we have been able to do 7DMT>Peter Pan>Small World>Splash>Pirates all within the first 90 minutes of opening and with a maximum ten minute wait. Friday at rope drop we did 7DMT>Peter Pan> Small World> Jungle Cruise>Pirates and Jungle Cruise was a 30 minute wait and Pirates a 20. We got into the Jungle Cruise line around 20 minutes after "official" park opening. On the contrary, the last 2 hours of the night in each park were glorious. There were usually a few headliner attractions that didn't relent much (Slinky, Test Track, Splash, FOP) but overall you could do so much in those final few hours in a minimal amount of time. Another tip for FOP is that I think the best window if you can't get early in the morning is to do it around 5-6ish before the other attractions close (Safari, Walking Trails, etc). We got in line at 7:45 for FOP and still had a 70 minute wait as it seemed like everyone else around the park had nothing else to do and decided to close down the park doing FOP.

2. Maskless Photos: Being there the week of this policy changing, it was incredible to see the energy shift from the beginning of the week to the end. I think there was a clear enthusiasm by guests as well as photo pass photographers that helped permeate across the park. Truthfully or not, it felt like some progress was a made and was a welcome change that seemed minor in retrospect but paid huge dividends.

3. All Star Movies: Pop has the Skyliner but I contend that everything else about the results gives the advantage to All Star Movies and when for our trip we were looking at a $40 per night price difference, the choice was pretty easy. Food Court mobile order worked much better than at Pop in October and I enjoy the Food Court offerings more. THey aren't reinventing the culinary wheel with what they serve but it is done well and the food is fresh. Rooms, pools and activities were all well presented.

3 Negatives from the Trip:

1. Inconsistency among CMs: This has been a prevailing issue with our two post COVID trips. I try to be understanding and appreciative. I know the CMs have been through a lot of stress and there are many moments within the day where they have to make judgement calls. Saying that though, I had more negative encounters with CMs this trip than my previous four combined. I will be glad when mandates and needing for those CM judgement calls are negated. The second safari we went on in AK is the encapsulation of this. An individual on the ride was being pretty blatant on their mask being below their nose. Therefore, the 20 minute safari turned into a dialogue between the safari driver and the individual on proper use of the mask. I don't blame the CM per say as the individual was certainly being defiant with the rules, but in a 20 minute attraction it ruined the experience for the rest of of the vehicle and was the most uncomfortable I have been on a Disney ride. The other instances I do place the blame at CMs in general being overzealous in their approach. Wednesday was the day before the maskless policy for pictures took affect but it was being encouraged by Photo Pass photographers. Approach goes a long way and berating my family and threatening to kick us out with me simply inquiring why Photopass Individuals were encouraging the removal of masks is a standard I do expect from Disney CM's and that they present when setting a premium on their vacations. Another instance I saw more of was CMs in uniform fraternizing outside the ride and socializing in an unprofessional manner. Theming is everything in Disney and a differentiator for the vacation. Coming off the HM and seeing 4-5 CMs in uniform talk about the party they went to last weekend is a buzz kill for the ride and overall aesthetic. There just seems to be less acts of kindness or professionalism that evaporate with each passing trip.

2. Transportation: We are used to having that one bus ride from hell each trip. Buses break down, something doesn't work.... we get it. In our five park days, we had four instances of this which to me speaks of a bigger overall communication and maintenance problem. I don't know if the charter buses muddle that up as communication can be iffy between whom is picking up whom but it was frustrating than before and had us to revaluate that barring MK, we will probably drive to the park from now on. I am still iffy on the Charter buses in general. I do go to Disney to escape from the real world and like feeling in the bubble. The charter buses with nondescript drivers not wearing a uniform and the buses having no personality do take away from that. It is a case of at 10:00 at night after a long park day, I don't care how I get back to my room, just get me there, but there was definitely some magic lost with my kids in not being able to ride Disney buses for 70% of the time on the trip.

3. Still not enough open: Some restaurants and attractions that possibly could be opened are still closed which causes the middle of the day to become pretty unbearable when parks are at their capacity. Mobile ordering options in the parks for DHS and Animal Kingdom were tough to come by for desirable locations. I am just ready for more options and still feels like to a degree you are paying for 70% Disney at 100% of the price.

Overall, we had a better trip than in October but were in agreeance we are going to wait and see and probably shoot for a 2022 return where hopefully a return to "new normalization" has occurred.
 
We just got home from a 16 hour drive that started yesterday. Since I relied so much on everyone's accounts before my trip I wanted to post about our trip. I'm not trying to write a trip report, but if it ends up that way I apologize, I just don't want to leave out any helpful information.

Trip was April 2 - 10.
April 2 & 3 was Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek (Studio) and 4-10 Riviera Resort (1 Bedroom).
Family of 5. Myself, Husband, Two 17 year-old boys and 1 almost 2 year old (got her in right before she had to mask up 24/7). We are DVC and have gone to Disney many times but our last trip was October 2019. Learned this trip that we can't share a studio as a family anymore, just not enough space. It was a rough two nights at Wilderness Lodge!

General Observations:
Crowds were surprising lower than we expected. It wasn't by any means empty, but very manageable. We had the early rope drop strategy and then took mid-day breaks. It wasn't always easy to get up at 6/7 AM for a 8/9 AM park opening, but we got a lot done those early mornings. The one park we slept in was Animal Kingdom and that was a big mistake!

Magic Kingdom (April 3 & 8)
It was cooler weather the 3rd and that may have helped us crowd wise. We arrived a little before 8 AM park opening, but not much due to us missing the bus and having a 20 minute wait (see travel party of 2 teens and a toddler - very inefficient group). We started at pirates which was a walk-on but should have done Jungle Cruise first since that line jumped from a walk on to 30 minutes in the time we were on pirates, which was still a walk on when we were done. Then walked on Aladdin (for the baby), walked on Haunted Mansion despite a quoted 30 minute posted time.) We waited about 15 minutes for Peter Pan and thought about Small World, but the line looked long and we thought it would get better (it didn't, only worse so that was another mistake). We waited for the carousel (for the baby) and then the teens were done with us (they lasted a surprisingly long time before ditching us - the carousel was their breaking point. They love their sister but they don't ride "up down horsies" anymore! We did Little Mermaid as a walk on and then Dumbo as a walk on. It was around 11 at this point so we accomplished a ton! We went back to the hotel to nap.

We went back to Magic Kingdom around 3 PM and did Big Thunder Mountain (about 20 minute wait) and baby swapped. Got a dole whip, rode Pooh (30 minute wait - ouch), Mermaid and Dumbo (walk on). It felt busy and we were tired so we left around 7 PM.

Mask and line spacing was good with the exception of Big Thunder Mountain, people just weren't keeping spaced. I also saw more faces at the exit waiting area of BTM when I was waiting with baby. People were spaced out and had drinks, but I think it was more an excuse to take off their mask. I wasn't bothered because we had space (plus we are vaccinated) and I just kept baby in stroller and lots of distance from others.

April 8 we had breakfast at the Wave and then walked over to MK from Contemporary. The guard at the Contemporary gave us no trouble about parking. He had a list and we had a reservation so it wasn't trouble. We weren't trying to be the first in the park and we enjoyed the breakfast. We got MK at 8:45 AM.

We saw the Fab 5 at the train station and since baby doesn't know any different, she LOVED seeing them, even at a distance. We did Small World (post 30 minutes, took 30 minutes) and then stood in line for a baby swap for Mine Train. Low point, I took baby (who was napping in stroller) to get iced coffee from Joffery's in Tomorrowland and stood in line for 20 minutes on to find out they didn't have any non-dairy options (I'm high-maintenance that way) and I was kinda mad. Wish they had put up a sign or something. Anyway, by the time I didn't get my coffee the guys were off Mine Train and it was my turn to ride with teens. The teens decided they wanted iced coffee so we went to Main Street Starbucks. Wait times were more accurate this day and the park was crowded so we didn't stick around long. We swam at the hotel and went back in the evening. High point was in the evening we took baby on Dumbo and it was a walk on to the point they let everyone stay on and ride again since there was no one in line! Pretty fun bonus!

Hollywood Studios (April 5)
Woke up at 6:45 AM to try for a boarding group. I read on this board awhile back to make sure the teens tried because they have fast fingers and that was a great tip! Myself, husband and one teen all were prepped and ready while the other teen gave the countdown. I thought I had it but it and as I was exclaiming my victory saying "I think I'm going to get it!" my teen says "boarding group 31, I already did it," so that was good. Meanwhile, my husband still hadn't figured out how to 'join' in the app so pro tip - if you have a teen, let them do it!

We got ready to skylined over for early entry. So, I thought I read that Riviera would skyline to Carribean Beach and then enter a different line to transfer, but we were sent to the end of the line at Caribbean Beach. It only took about 10 minutes, but I spent about 4 of those silently stewing about not having a seperate line for transfers! :-) We still got to Studios before they were even letting cars in and were able to keep ahead of crowds since skyliner had separate temperature check/security.

We did Slinky Dog in about 20 minutes tops and baby swapped. We waited maybe 5 minutes for Toy Story Mania and then headed to Star Wars. We waited probably 30-40 minutes for Millennium Falcon and rode with baby swap. Our boarding group was called during the first Falcon ride so we hurried right over to Rise of the Resistance and rode it with Baby swap. I would like to say now that baby swap is really an awesome, I wouldn't have done either of these rides without the swap option and it is a thoughtful program for parents.

We ate lunch via mobile order at Docking Bay. If we had wanted another option we should have ordered earlier but we didn't care so we just picked the place that had immediate availability.

Mickey and Minnie Railway was super cute, but the wait was outside in the sun. We waited about 30 minutes but later in the evening it was a walk on. The drawback of the line is it's outside but you can't bring your stroller through the line so baby was hard to wrangle. With the sun high in the sky it was warm in line so it was probably the worst line of the week just because of layout and timing.

We left and came back in the evening and roade Rock'n Rollercoaster with 20 (posted 40) minute wait and walked on M&M Railway.

EPCOT (April 7 & 9)
We got in line for skyliner a 9:30 AM and they started boarding at 9:45 AM (9:50 AM on the 9th). They hold the line off skyliner at temperature check and waited for park opening to let people through. We headed straight to Frozen (teens to Test Track). They were on and done in 20 minutes and we rode Frozen twice in that time. We went to Mexico and did the boat ride before walking the world showcase.

Not crowded at all. We are used to Food and Wine crowds so it felt great. However, April 9 was busy. We did the same strategy of Frozen twice which worked, but after that is got busy.

We had a lunch Garden Grill reservation and left the park after we were done. The evening were great walking the World Showcase, but ride times were busy. We were only interested in Frozen because of baby so it wasn't an issue for us.

Animal Kingdom (April 6)
Big mistakes were made today. We didn't try for rope drop/early entry. The bus times was over 30 minutes so we drove over and arrived around 9 AM. This park was CRAZY BUSY! Every ride was over an hour except Everest which quoted 30 minutes but the line was past Nemo so I'm not sure I believed it. It was insanely busy. While we debated what we wanted to do Safari closed temporarily. We just weren't feeling the crowd. It felt like wall to wall people so we left. We basically burned a park ticket because we didn't even go back in the evening since the wait times never went down.

Disney Springs was a mess! I saw lots of faces, noses, walking and eating/drinking and just CROWDS! Sunday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon were busy, we didn't go in the evening.

Takeaways:
I didn't make any advanced dining reservations. I just didn't want to be scheduled (toddlers laugh in the face of advanced plans) but I was able to pick up a few dining reservations during the week so if you want a place (Garden Grill for us) just keep checking the app and you may get lucky. We also joined virtual walk up lines and got tables immediately each time even though it was a quoted hour wait. We even got a table Easter morning at Whispering Canyon by joining walk up line.

Covid compliance was good. I wasn't bothered by much and lines were generally spaced out. Little kids have trouble keeping distance, but parent do their best. If you are super worried then you should wait because it's not perfect, but probably as safe as most places you go at home. Resorts were clean, very clean, and sanitizer was everywhere.

Character cavalcades and radom sightings were fun, but sad for the littles who don't get the full experience. My toddler was so excited to see her favorite 'friends' even at a distance, but I can only imagine what she would have done if she had gotten to get close. In the grand scheme not a big deal.

I miss the fireworks and shows and I didn't think I would. I am not big for that stuff, but when it isn't there you definitely notice.

I had read accounts from others of cast members looking like they weren't feeling the magic. I get it. Most looked like they were forcing it at least a little bit, but I can't really blame them. It's our vacation, but it's their every day, so I didn't think much of it.

If you have questions about Wilderness Lodge or Riviera let me know, or anything else.

Great write-up! We are going later in May and I hope to use your tips for the ROTR boarding groups as we have two teens with us. One question though, was everyone logged into one MDE account at the same time or do you all have separate accounts linked together? I've always been the only one interested in using MDE while there but this time we all need to be in it for the boarding groups and I don't know what the best method is to be honest.
 
Great write-up! We are going later in May and I hope to use your tips for the ROTR boarding groups as we have two teens with us. One question though, was everyone logged into one MDE account at the same time or do you all have separate accounts linked together? I've always been the only one interested in using MDE while there but this time we all need to be in it for the boarding groups and I don't know what the best method is to be honest.
You can all use the same MDE account.
 
Great write-up! We are going later in May and I hope to use your tips for the ROTR boarding groups as we have two teens with us. One question though, was everyone logged into one MDE account at the same time or do you all have separate accounts linked together? I've always been the only one interested in using MDE while there but this time we all need to be in it for the boarding groups and I don't know what the best method is to be honest.
I had them all download the app but sign in as me. I just told them not to mess around in the app and cancel any park reservations! :-)
 
I had them all download the app but sign in as me. I just told them not to mess around in the app and cancel any park reservations! :-)

Got it and thanks to both of you for the quick replies! Good to know that it works with just the one main MDE account. Does anyone have any other experiences with using multiple accounts? Does that give you better chances possibly? We have a pass for HS 3 of our 7 days but I want to get this over with early on so it's not hanging over our heads all week.
 
Got it and thanks to both of you for the quick replies! Good to know that it works with just the one main MDE account. Does anyone have any other experiences with using multiple accounts? Does that give you better chances possibly? We have a pass for HS 3 of our 7 days but I want to get this over with early on so it's not hanging over our heads all week.
The more people trying, the better your chances. 2 weeks ago I had myself, DH, and 2 kids all trying under my account. 14 year old was fastest and got the BG. We also had 2 of us on park Wi-Fi and 2 of us on cell service (AT&T). Park Wi-Fi won (I was surprised).
 
Anyone that has been there in the last couple of weeks that was also there between Christmas and New Years? Just wondering how the crowds compare.
 
Got it and thanks to both of you for the quick replies! Good to know that it works with just the one main MDE account. Does anyone have any other experiences with using multiple accounts? Does that give you better chances possibly? We have a pass for HS 3 of our 7 days but I want to get this over with early on so it's not hanging over our heads all week.
I think you have the best chances if you all sign into the same account, but use multiple phones/devices and all try simultaneously. As far as I know, there is no advantage to having multiple MDE accounts, and it just complicates things. We have done this many times, and we just all sign into my account on our different phones and all try simultaneously. And the teenagers always, always get the BG first!!! So hopefully you have a teenager with you!

We have even helped friends who were in the parks (we are in Texas) get their BG. We signed into their MDE account from our phones here at home, and they were signed in at the parks to the same account, on their phones. Speed tests showed our phones on wifi at home were smoking fast compared to theirs either on cell or parks wifi. We all tried, and we got the BG from our phones at home both days (and one day, it was BG 1!). So if you trust someone at home to be logged into your MDE, they can also try and may have better internet speed than you and thousands of other in the resort/park all trying from there.
 
Thanks for all the great boarding group tips everyone. We will have 2 teens with us and I guess the real challenge will be getting them up that early in the morning! Our last visit was in 2018 a week before Toy Story Land opened so we have a lot of new stuff to see and the quicker we get on Rise the better.
 
I am the trip planner and do multiple yearly trips so my “friends” list that I manage is lengthy. The last time I tried for a BG it took too long to go through and pick the 6 traveling with me. Any suggestions on how to move the current friends traveling to the top of the list? That might increase my chances I hope!
 
I am the trip planner and do multiple yearly trips so my “friends” list that I manage is lengthy. The last time I tried for a BG it took too long to go through and pick the 6 traveling with me. Any suggestions on how to move the current friends traveling to the top of the list? That might increase my chances I hope!

If you have no more than 4 in your party? Just hit "join" and don't worry about who gets added to your boarding group. If you get a boarding group, immediately go to Guest Services when you enter the park and tell them which people you forgot to click. As long as they have a park reservation (as in a park reservation before 7 AM), they should be able to add them to your boarding group.

Parties between 1 and 4 people will be given their own row due to COVID restrictions. This happened to me in October and in January where a person wasn't "clicked" and Guest Services was very kind about it.

I haven't had to do it, but if you add 5 or more people to a boarding group and miss someone, they should be able to help there as well since each row seats 4 people.
 
I am the trip planner and do multiple yearly trips so my “friends” list that I manage is lengthy. The last time I tried for a BG it took too long to go through and pick the 6 traveling with me. Any suggestions on how to move the current friends traveling to the top of the list? That might increase my chances I hope!

I have dozens of people on my list. I don't even look at who is chosen when I get a boarding group, and it has always been only the correct people, who have HS park reservations for that day. You don't have to select them.
 

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