Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[musicguy856]

My family was visiting this week and stayed at the Riviera. At 2pm, they took the skyliner from Epcot to HS. The Skyliner was down from CBR to Hollywood Studios. All guest from POP/AA/CBR and Riviera were told to take the Skyliner to Epcot then onto the Friendship boats. No busses would be provided from any resort to HS because it was mechanical not lighting causing the shutdown.

When they arrived back to Epcot, the Friendship boat line cue was 4-5 boats deep and they didn't arrive to HS till 4:15pm, the skyliner was still shut down. It was very hot, blazing heat and have a few in the party over 60 so the walk would have been too much. Some people walked to the Boardwalk hoping to get on there but the whole thing was a mess.

It is a shame that they can't use the parking lot trams to load people onto from that CBR station to Hollywood Studios for emergencies. For when it shuts down, There is a traffic light there. But when you are only a couple of hundred yards from the entrance, it shouldn't take that long to get there.

Reason #100 why I prefer to just drive my own car and not rely on Disney transportation…

 

[musicguy856]

What would happen if you got on at Boardwalk to head to Epcot? Would they make you get off before the boat started heading back to HS?

 

[WEDWDW]

My family was visiting this week and stayed at the Riviera. At 2pm, they took the skyliner from Epcot to HS. The Skyliner was down from CBR to Hollywood Studios. All guest from POP/AA/CBR and Riviera were told to take the Skyliner to Epcot then onto the Friendship boats. No busses would be provided from any resort to HS because it was mechanical not lighting causing the shutdown.

When they arrived back to Epcot, the Friendship boat line cue was 4-5 boats deep and they didn't arrive to HS till 4:15pm, the skyliner was still shut down. It was very hot, blazing heat and have a few in the party over 60 so the walk would have been too much. Some people walked to the Boardwalk hoping to get on there but the whole thing was a mess.

It is a shame that they can't use the parking lot trams to load people onto from that CBR station to Hollywood Studios for emergencies. For when it shuts down, There is a traffic light there. But when you are only a couple of hundred yards from the entrance, it shouldn't take that long to get there.

Unacceptable,they should have provided buses to DHS from CBR Station.

I guess Skyliner Resorts Guests who were leaving DHS were supposed to go all they way to the IG Station and get on the Skyliner to return to their Resorts.

Disney should really provide a walkway from CBR to DHS and also from CBR to POP/AoA.

I would say that it is very unlikely that they ever will but there is some hope in that it was once thought that the Grand Floridian to MK Walkway would never happen.

 

[subtchr]

No busses would be provided from any resort to HS because it was mechanical not lighting causing the shutdown.

This makes ZERO sense, and I wonder if it was just a miscommunication?

How/why the shutdown happened should have no impact on whether alternate (bus) transportation is offered.

I am skeptical that no buses were offered.

 

[honeymo78]

This makes ZERO sense, and I wonder if it was just a miscommunication?

How/why the shutdown happened should have no impact on whether alternate (bus) transportation is offered.

I am skeptical that no buses were offered.

I'm surprised there weren't buses to HS as well, both from outlying resorts as well as from CBR. I've been at Pop when the HS line only was down (not weather related). I hadn't left Pop yet and there was a sign letting people know to use the bus for HS.

 

[LisaRay]

This exact same thing happened when we were there in Oct. and it was the sky liner to HS that was down. We were going to Epcot but wondered why there was a line for it in the middle of the day and it was because everyone had to go to Epcot and then those heading to HS had to boat there. I would not have been happy there was quite a line at the Epcot boat area!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Not convenient but in the case of going from DHS to Epcot, if the line for the boat is extremely long, an option is to bus to a resort then back to Epcot but, far from convenient!! I'm guessing waiting for a boat would take less time.

 

[lovethattink]

Not convenient but in the case of going from DHS to Epcot, if the line for the boat is extremely long, an option is to bus to a resort then back to Epcot but, far from convenient!! I'm guessing waiting for a boat would take less time.

Or a 25 minute walk between the two parks. Not bad in the winter. But hit, hot, hot now.

 

[brockash]

This makes ZERO sense, and I wonder if it was just a miscommunication?

How/why the shutdown happened should have no impact on whether alternate (bus) transportation is offered.

I am skeptical that no buses were offered.

This makes ZERO sense, and I wonder if it was just a miscommunication?

How/why the shutdown happened should have no impact on whether alternate (bus) transportation is offered.

I am skeptical that no buses were offered.

It's so odd to me how some ppl. doubt a posters experience when it's not in favor of Disney. I'm not surprised at all that they didn't have buses. Disney is a mess when it comes to the skyliner not working in perfect condition. The advance communication is non-existent; once you talk to a CM you often get different answers and it's slow. I can totally see them not having buses or things organized for a good chunk of time when it first went down.

 

[Selket]

Not convenient but in the case of going from DHS to Epcot, if the line for the boat is extremely long, an option is to bus to a resort then back to Epcot but, far from convenient!! I'm guessing waiting for a boat would take less time.

What's it like to get an uber if that happened at the CBR or Rivera station? That would be my first thought rather than trying to get a bus or boat or whatever.

 

[lovethattink]

What's it like to get an uber if that happened at the CBR or Rivera station? That would be my first thought rather than trying to get a bus or boat or whatever.

My daughter-in-law use to drive Uber in that area. There are lots of drivers.

Back in 2021 there was a storm and they got us off at CBR and a bus was right there waiting to take us.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I cannot imagine how awful it would be to have to walk all the way back to the front when you're just ready to get out of there at the Skyliner...that's a very. long. walk. when you're done.

We walk to BC and use Lyft to our Riviera if Skyliner is down.

 

[gottalovepluto]

What's it like to get an uber if that happened at the CBR or Rivera station? That would be my first thought rather than trying to get a bus or boat or whatever.

My first thought too- but a lot of folks have little kids or an ECV in the group making it not practical unless they order a MV.

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

August 2022 started storming we were at the CBR station. Told a bus was on our way to get us to our resort...45 mins later... Would have just ubered but there were quite a few of us of all ages and we really kept thinking any minute, any minute lol

 

[pvj1970]

Just back from my 10th trip since 2009, and I never thought I'd say this, but the cons outweigh the pros. I didn't even consider the 25% bounceback email today before hitting delete. It's still fun, but it's not as fun as it used to be, and I'm not consumed today by trying to figure out how to get back.

I was a WDW fanatic, and don't be fooled by my low post count. I had an account long ago and was an active board user before I made some screen time lifestyle adjustments and returned recently for tips on changes since my last (2019) trip.

- Rides stop/break/temporarily close consistently. Old rides, new rides, it doesn't matter. Expect to leave a line daily, and if you waited 40 minutes (because LL is sold out, or it's only ILL, or you couldn't afford G+. Then, when a ride comes back, LL is backed up so if you're stand by, expect to do a lot of standing if you don't have G+.
- Cast members are amazing, but there are too many entitled guests. I never saw so many people barging past us in line to catch up to their party, or being rude to cast members asking them to follow rules.
- This likely relates to the above point. WDW is not affordable to the regular family. I'd be willing to wager that it's not a very economically diverse guest group. The sense of entitlement is palpable, and if Disney is actually interested in true diversity, family means is just as important as all other aspects of diversity. Disney should look at some income based pricing models that promote economic diversity.
- Inconsistent policies are frustrating. Go to E at 7:20 and the parking attendent will make you loop through and exit and wait to enter the parking lot until 7:30. Then show up at HS at 7:30 expecting the same policy and you'll find out that you are VERY late. E and MK have an actual rope drop where you're corralled, but at HS you can go right to the queue to RoR, and even ride and exit before 8:30. In E, where there are 2 entrances and the (arguably) better rides are at the back of the park (until they discontinue virtual queue at GoG) it's particularly frustrating to get held in a pen way back by the Sea's pavilion.
- Inconsistent food quality is frustrating when you don't have a park hopper. This was my first trip without a park hopper (expense), and the very low quality food at MK is difficult to strategize around. Star Wars has thankfully greatly stepped up the food quality at HS, otherwise, I'd strongly consider the park hopper when I go back.
- G+ has some advantages and disadvantages to all of the old systems, and there is plenty to read on here about those. Concensus is that it's beneficial at MK and HS, not so much at E and AK. I did one MK day with it, one without it. If you're rope dropping and staying until 10p, you can go without it and still ride almost everything, but expect to spend a lot of the day in queues and not enjoying the park. The frustration for me is that you go ahead and spend the extra money on G+, but oh, by the way you still need to wait in line for 60 to 90 minutes or spend even more money on ILL FoP, RoR, or 7DMT. Comeon Disney.
- Measure how much time you spend on your phone while you're on vacation. Especially if you're the group planner. It's too much like work.
- I really miss the later park hours for planning purposes. Closing at 9p in the busy summer months is too early.
- WOW is it expensive

Disney as a company is missing the mark in too many places, and when this happens businesses lose loyal customers. I'm not an every other year customer any more - I'll go back, but once every 5 years is my guess. Too much has changed in the value proposition for me.

 

[mrd7896]

how are/were the crowds this week? I thought schools are back this week and the crowds should start declining? Is that not until next week? (Or are the wait times, as always, exaggerated)? Like 100 right now for PPF, 35 for Spaceship Earth, 115 for RnRC.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Just back from my 10th trip since 2009, and I never thought I'd say this, but the cons outweigh the pros. I didn't even consider the 25% bounceback email today before hitting delete. It's still fun, but it's not as fun as it used to be, and I'm not consumed today by trying to figure out how to get back.

I was a WDW fanatic, and don't be fooled by my low post count. I had an account long ago and was an active board user before I made some screen time lifestyle adjustments and returned recently for tips on changes since my last (2019) trip.

- Rides stop/break/temporarily close consistently. Old rides, new rides, it doesn't matter. Expect to leave a line daily, and if you waited 40 minutes (because LL is sold out, or it's only ILL, or you couldn't afford G+. Then, when a ride comes back, LL is backed up so if you're stand by, expect to do a lot of standing if you don't have G+.
- Cast members are amazing, but there are too many entitled guests. I never saw so many people barging past us in line to catch up to their party, or being rude to cast members asking them to follow rules.
- This likely relates to the above point. WDW is not affordable to the regular family. I'd be willing to wager that it's not a very economically diverse guest group. The sense of entitlement is palpable, and if Disney is actually interested in true diversity, family means is just as important as all other aspects of diversity. Disney should look at some income based pricing models that promote economic diversity.
- Inconsistent policies are frustrating. Go to E at 7:20 and the parking attendent will make you loop through and exit and wait to enter the parking lot until 7:30. Then show up at HS at 7:30 expecting the same policy and you'll find out that you are VERY late. E and MK have an actual rope drop where you're corralled, but at HS you can go right to the queue to RoR, and even ride and exit before 8:30. In E, where there are 2 entrances and the (arguably) better rides are at the back of the park (until they discontinue virtual queue at GoG) it's particularly frustrating to get held in a pen way back by the Sea's pavilion.
- Inconsistent food quality is frustrating when you don't have a park hopper. This was my first trip without a park hopper (expense), and the very low quality food at MK is difficult to strategize around. Star Wars has thankfully greatly stepped up the food quality at HS, otherwise, I'd strongly consider the park hopper when I go back.
- G+ has some advantages and disadvantages to all of the old systems, and there is plenty to read on here about those. Concensus is that it's beneficial at MK and HS, not so much at E and AK. I did one MK day with it, one without it. If you're rope dropping and staying until 10p, you can go without it and still ride almost everything, but expect to spend a lot of the day in queues and not enjoying the park. The frustration for me is that you go ahead and spend the extra money on G+, but oh, by the way you still need to wait in line for 60 to 90 minutes or spend even more money on ILL FoP, RoR, or 7DMT. Comeon Disney.
- Measure how much time you spend on your phone while you're on vacation. Especially if you're the group planner. It's too much like work.
- I really miss the later park hours for planning purposes. Closing at 9p in the busy summer months is too early.
- WOW is it expensive

Disney as a company is missing the mark in too many places, and when this happens businesses lose loyal customers. I'm not an every other year customer any more - I'll go back, but once every 5 years is my guess. Too much has changed in the value proposition for me.

Ugh, that's a bummer. I definitely get it and can see how all that can spoil a trip.

I def agree on closing time over the summer- MK stayed open till 10pm when we were there last week but the 9pm closing is lame and 7pm for AK is awful. It's still light out so you can't even see AK all lit up at night which is part of the reason we avoided AK on our last trip. On our MK day, pirates was down the whole day. They put a notification in the app that they were working on it but it never came back online the whole day Kind of bummed, combine that with no splash, that part of the park was a ghost town.

As far as rides, we had a GoG boarding group, guardians went down so we just came back when it worked for us and it was fine. We waited about 40 min but it wasn't bad since the whole queue for us was indoors, most of the iLL$ line was outside which would have been awful. Had similar issue with Rise and our iLL$, it went down during our return time, it became an anytime LL and we waited about 25 min. Again, not a ton of waiting for us, maybe we got lucky but yes, rides do go down, it's the nature of theme parks. No other major issues in 3 park days, it's all just luck of the draw I suppose.

I agree, MK has some of worst food on property. We usually snack/eat lighter and bypass any real meals. Margarita pizza at Pincocchio, Breakfast tots at Friar's Nook, cheeseburger egg rolls, nachos at Pecos bills. Again, none are mind blowing but pretty solid when compared to the options at cosmic rays, lunching pad, etc. It's never had great food so we've kind of found what we like and stick with it.

 

[Narcoossee11]

Take a break from Disney.
Explore another part of the USA. Heck, the world.
use your points in another way.

 

[han22735]

how are/were the crowds this week? I thought schools are back this week and the crowds should start declining? Is that not until next week? (Or are the wait times, as always, exaggerated)? Like 100 right now for PPF, 35 for Spaceship Earth, 115 for RnRC.

Its sure looks busy still based on posted waits. Last year it didn't quiet down till the last week of August.

 

[lovethattink]

Polk County starts back to school tomorrow. It might affect tomorrow’s crowds.