First time posting here – this site was a big help to us in our trip prep so we wanted to return the favor and add some notes that may be useful. We visited all 4 parks last week, Tuesday-Friday and stayed off property – tons of good hotel deals out there right now. Wife and I, plus 4yo and 1.5yo (who looks much older – more on that later). We are the overachieving, “make the most of the time and money we are investing” types so it was a very fast paced few days. I’ll go chronologically and rather than break down the whole day (which I could do if that’s of interest) just hit the points that might be helpful. Apologize if I don’t follow the conventions of the forum – again first time posting.
First, I should mention the other source that helped us a great deal – Twitter account @WDWWait posts wait time summaries at the end of each day. It helped us identify trends for specific rides and also which park to visit each day of the week to try and avoid the longest lines. For the most part, it lined up and we made good decisions (except Epcot – below) although our week was busier than average with the holiday.
Epcot, Tuesday – First piece of advice – don’t forget about Mardi Gras when choosing which day to visit the park known for “drinking around the world”.
In what will be a common theme, we tried to rope drop the park to get some of the big rides in early. This is difficult when staying off property (and frankly in hindsight I don’t know how beneficial at Epcot) but we sorted it out. For all parks, you can’t currently even line up at the parking booths until about 1 hour before opening. Then, parking opens when the temperature checkpoints and security are ready (45 min out in most cases). At this point, it goes from completely closed to all types of transportation arriving – so the first wave of Disney buses arrives before the cars. Most rides start running at this point too – on several days we had ridden 1 or more rides before the official opening time. So, to really get a jump you need to be one of the first cars at the booths, but that is mostly luck because if you arrive too early they turn you away and you have to drive around a long loop and come back – which many other cars are also doing. At Epcot though, there is a work around. Epcot is opening at 11:00 officially, which really means 10:15 parking line and 10:30 parking lot and front gate.
Hollywood Studios however opens at 9:00 – so we parked there instead. It’s a fairly easy walk from the Studios Lot to the International Gateway Entrance of Epcot – which opens at the same time as the main entrance. The walk is about a mile but pleasant along the water and past several resort hotels. Skyliner does not run to Epcot until 10:30a (too late for rope drop). Boats may have been running, it looked like it but we didn’t notice that until half way the walk. We parked about 9:30, reached International Gateway before 10:00. Temperature check at 10:15, into the park shortly after. We were in line at Test Track about 10:30 with a little hustle, very near the front and also set up rider swap since the littlest wasn’t tall enough.
At the end of the day, Skyliner from the International Gateway had almost no wait and was a very pleasant and restful ride back to the Studios parking lot. You do have to transfer buckets once at a resort but it’s very straight forward.
Overall lines were longer than we expected based on the previous few Tuesdays, but again that probably had to do with President’s Day and mostly Mardi Gras.
The only other real note from this day regards Grande Fiesta Tour, which was the kids’ favorite. There are really 2 lines – first a line to get into the Mexico pyramid (limited due to social distancing) and then the line within the pyramid to get to the ride itself. Neither was ever all that long, but it was a little confusing initially.
Food recommendation – egg rolls at Joy of Tea (China), school bread at Kringla bakery (Norway)
Magic Kingdom, Wednesday – The parking line for this one started at 7:50am for a 9:00 official opening. We were towards the front and after screening, monorail, all that were in the park at 8:35, just in time to catch the start of Buzz Lightyear (4yo’s favorite - we chose to make this day exclusively what the kids wanted to do since we have ridden the big rides plenty over the years). Monorail line looked long but they have added plexiglass partitions in the cars so that they basically run at full capacity. We rode Buzz 3 times in a row with no line and had also done Winnie the Pooh twice by 9:15.
Although a lot of shows aren’t running, I understand this to be mostly about actors’ union conflict – Country Bears and Tiki Room were functioning as usual with distancing guidelines and the kids loved both.
Character meet and greet of course isn’t happening but the mini-parades or “Cavalcades” are a decent alternative. The challenge is that there is no schedule published because lining up in advance might defy social distancing. If it is important to see Mickey, etc., you probably want to hang around Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, or Main Street in the early afternoon – you will hear the music and can head over to check it out. Otherwise, very tough to even know they are happening. (Best option in our opinion is Animal Kingdom for characters – see below).
Food recommendation – Chicken & Waffles at Sleep Hollow (Liberty Square)
Animal Kingdom, Thursday – After visiting the park 3 times without making it onto FOP, wife and I were determined to ride Avatar Flight of Passage on this trip. With an official opening time of 8:00am, this was an EARLY morning for us central time zone folks. Cars can’t line up at the parking booths until right at 7:00 – we were lucky to time it up and be second in our line. Frustrating sidenote from other days – some booths have 2 staff working the right and left lines respectively, some only have 1 working both and there’s no way to tell in advance that we noticed. So being 6th for example can become like being 12th if you get unlucky. Anyway, even after hustling there were 70-80 people in front of us at FOP – from resort buses or walking from nearest hotels I assume. In this case, they did not start allowing people into the actual interior queue until about 7:45. We were able to do rider switch and each ride, while the other took the kids on Navi River, and both be done by about 8:15 and headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris. In our opinion this park has suffered the most from the lack of live shows. Both Lion King and Nemo were fantastic and without them, it’s a little more like a half day park. We declined Dinosaur and Tough to Be a Bug (little scary in both cases) and were done around noon and left for a lunch outside the park (although we could have spent more time on the animals and stayed longer).
Best part of this park for us was the characters. By this point we had yet to find Mickey Mouse and the kids were becoming concerned. We were at his “house” after all – why wasn’t he around? At Animal Kingdom, the cavalcades are on boats that loop around the park’s waterway. They originate near Everest and loop around clockwise. We noticed one about 10:00 and posted up in the amphitheater near Everest that is usually for the nighttime show. In a 30 minute span (while parents rider swapped Everest), we saw at least 5 different ones, including Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Rafiki, Timon, and a talented group of drummers. On their way back to the starting point, the boats passed very close to the amphitheater and the kids got as close to “personal” attention from their favorites as we could hope for in the current situation.
Last note for this day – “Disney Gifts” was a decent little discount souvenir place by Marshall’s off I-4 near Disney Springs. Does have licensed stuff. Was very close to our hotel, helped us kill a little time in the afternoon and grab the kids’ a couple things they wanted without having to get them in park and carry them around.
Food recommendation – from a previous trip, the slushie in Pandora was very good, Night Blossom I think.
Hollywood Studios, Friday – This day was set for us, the only day in our trip window that had reservations available when we booked a month out. We were up and ready well before 7:00am… and whiffed on reservations for Rise of the Resistance. Devastating start and a little tough to rebound from but we knew the park is still probably the best for us and the kids would have fun. We timed it poorly arriving to park – 7:45 is too early – and were one of many cars turned away and sent off on the 3.1 mile or so loop to try again. Right at 8:00 is when they began to allow a line and the booths opened at 8:15 almost on the dot. We were in pretty quickly despite the whole one attendant two lines deal and parked on the front row of standard. We were in the park about 8:35 and headed for Mickey/Minnie Railway… which was out of service. Blow number 2 to the morning. Quick redirect to the Millennium Falcon… where we watched dozens of people get in line ahead of us as they attempted to train someone on the use of the rider swap function. Finally son and I were headed into the line and wife and too short daughter over to her favorite, Aliens… which was also out of commission (as well as Slinky Dog). To say rough morning is an understatement. We rebounded though, Aliens came back up, and by 10:00 were had hit both it and both done Millennium Falcon (twice for son – lucky guy) and in line for Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, the only thing on property with a line shorter than 30 min at that point. The kids really enjoyed it and I thought it was well done. Lunch, Muppets, and Aliens after that and at 1:00 the day turned around. Standing under an overhang while it rained, my wife snagged a boarding group for us – 140. Higher than we’d hoped but the ride had been up all day and the estimated time until boarding was a little over 4 hours- which meant about 1.5 hours of leeway. Then after Toy Story, she struck again. Daughter needed to nap so she let her do so while standing in line for the still out of service Mickey/Minnie. Son and I headed for Star Tours and caught a great cavalcade with all the standard characters except Donald (?). We had just gotten in line when she called – Mickey/Minnie was finally up, the line was moving quickly. We rushed back and were on within 20 minutes (after discreetly sliding in line with her). From there, another major point for the little ones – Disney Junior Something Party Something. There are 2 names for it on the Disney app and one says it is unavailable. Don’t be fooled like we were, they have just renamed it. We just happened to walk by and see it in time to get in line for the 2:50. Cast member said it fills up as early as 40 minutes beforehand for the morning shows but we were only 5 min early and got in. Two final points for this day – our boarding group did get called about 5:15, great for the 140s from what I understand. We rider swapped and son got to go twice again (jealous). Also, if your 4 year old gets halfway through the line and really has to go potty, find a cast member and they are great about helping you to a bathroom and then back into line… even if you’re already aboard a Star Destroyer. Lastly, don’t forget that if you are in a line when the park closes, you will get to ride. We hopped in at 6:40 for one last Mickey/Minnie and boarded at 7:05, a perfect ending to the day.
Food recommendation - didn't brave the lines in Star Wars and Woody's Lunchbox booked up real quick, but Pizzarizzo was solid and Backlot Express was quick and easy.
Overall, we felt safe for the most part, couple instances of folks getting too close, a bunch of time spent explaining that 1.5 year old isn’t 2 just yet and therefore isn’t expected to wear a mask (only one cast member in 4 days was at all rude about it, calling that a win) and a few reminders not to let ours sag off our noses but good. If you are concerned at all, make sure to sanitize before/after each ride – they provide it but you will definitely touch lap bars, etc. that other people have touched. We were genuinely surprised at the number of “high risk population” folks in attendance, but to each their own.
Again, I don’t know how helpful this will be to anyone but if there are questions we can answer or points to clarify, I will try to check back and do so. Hope you have a magical time.
First, I should mention the other source that helped us a great deal – Twitter account @WDWWait posts wait time summaries at the end of each day. It helped us identify trends for specific rides and also which park to visit each day of the week to try and avoid the longest lines. For the most part, it lined up and we made good decisions (except Epcot – below) although our week was busier than average with the holiday.
Epcot, Tuesday – First piece of advice – don’t forget about Mardi Gras when choosing which day to visit the park known for “drinking around the world”.
In what will be a common theme, we tried to rope drop the park to get some of the big rides in early. This is difficult when staying off property (and frankly in hindsight I don’t know how beneficial at Epcot) but we sorted it out. For all parks, you can’t currently even line up at the parking booths until about 1 hour before opening. Then, parking opens when the temperature checkpoints and security are ready (45 min out in most cases). At this point, it goes from completely closed to all types of transportation arriving – so the first wave of Disney buses arrives before the cars. Most rides start running at this point too – on several days we had ridden 1 or more rides before the official opening time. So, to really get a jump you need to be one of the first cars at the booths, but that is mostly luck because if you arrive too early they turn you away and you have to drive around a long loop and come back – which many other cars are also doing. At Epcot though, there is a work around. Epcot is opening at 11:00 officially, which really means 10:15 parking line and 10:30 parking lot and front gate.
Hollywood Studios however opens at 9:00 – so we parked there instead. It’s a fairly easy walk from the Studios Lot to the International Gateway Entrance of Epcot – which opens at the same time as the main entrance. The walk is about a mile but pleasant along the water and past several resort hotels. Skyliner does not run to Epcot until 10:30a (too late for rope drop). Boats may have been running, it looked like it but we didn’t notice that until half way the walk. We parked about 9:30, reached International Gateway before 10:00. Temperature check at 10:15, into the park shortly after. We were in line at Test Track about 10:30 with a little hustle, very near the front and also set up rider swap since the littlest wasn’t tall enough.
At the end of the day, Skyliner from the International Gateway had almost no wait and was a very pleasant and restful ride back to the Studios parking lot. You do have to transfer buckets once at a resort but it’s very straight forward.
Overall lines were longer than we expected based on the previous few Tuesdays, but again that probably had to do with President’s Day and mostly Mardi Gras.
The only other real note from this day regards Grande Fiesta Tour, which was the kids’ favorite. There are really 2 lines – first a line to get into the Mexico pyramid (limited due to social distancing) and then the line within the pyramid to get to the ride itself. Neither was ever all that long, but it was a little confusing initially.
Food recommendation – egg rolls at Joy of Tea (China), school bread at Kringla bakery (Norway)
Magic Kingdom, Wednesday – The parking line for this one started at 7:50am for a 9:00 official opening. We were towards the front and after screening, monorail, all that were in the park at 8:35, just in time to catch the start of Buzz Lightyear (4yo’s favorite - we chose to make this day exclusively what the kids wanted to do since we have ridden the big rides plenty over the years). Monorail line looked long but they have added plexiglass partitions in the cars so that they basically run at full capacity. We rode Buzz 3 times in a row with no line and had also done Winnie the Pooh twice by 9:15.
Although a lot of shows aren’t running, I understand this to be mostly about actors’ union conflict – Country Bears and Tiki Room were functioning as usual with distancing guidelines and the kids loved both.
Character meet and greet of course isn’t happening but the mini-parades or “Cavalcades” are a decent alternative. The challenge is that there is no schedule published because lining up in advance might defy social distancing. If it is important to see Mickey, etc., you probably want to hang around Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, or Main Street in the early afternoon – you will hear the music and can head over to check it out. Otherwise, very tough to even know they are happening. (Best option in our opinion is Animal Kingdom for characters – see below).
Food recommendation – Chicken & Waffles at Sleep Hollow (Liberty Square)
Animal Kingdom, Thursday – After visiting the park 3 times without making it onto FOP, wife and I were determined to ride Avatar Flight of Passage on this trip. With an official opening time of 8:00am, this was an EARLY morning for us central time zone folks. Cars can’t line up at the parking booths until right at 7:00 – we were lucky to time it up and be second in our line. Frustrating sidenote from other days – some booths have 2 staff working the right and left lines respectively, some only have 1 working both and there’s no way to tell in advance that we noticed. So being 6th for example can become like being 12th if you get unlucky. Anyway, even after hustling there were 70-80 people in front of us at FOP – from resort buses or walking from nearest hotels I assume. In this case, they did not start allowing people into the actual interior queue until about 7:45. We were able to do rider switch and each ride, while the other took the kids on Navi River, and both be done by about 8:15 and headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris. In our opinion this park has suffered the most from the lack of live shows. Both Lion King and Nemo were fantastic and without them, it’s a little more like a half day park. We declined Dinosaur and Tough to Be a Bug (little scary in both cases) and were done around noon and left for a lunch outside the park (although we could have spent more time on the animals and stayed longer).
Best part of this park for us was the characters. By this point we had yet to find Mickey Mouse and the kids were becoming concerned. We were at his “house” after all – why wasn’t he around? At Animal Kingdom, the cavalcades are on boats that loop around the park’s waterway. They originate near Everest and loop around clockwise. We noticed one about 10:00 and posted up in the amphitheater near Everest that is usually for the nighttime show. In a 30 minute span (while parents rider swapped Everest), we saw at least 5 different ones, including Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Rafiki, Timon, and a talented group of drummers. On their way back to the starting point, the boats passed very close to the amphitheater and the kids got as close to “personal” attention from their favorites as we could hope for in the current situation.
Last note for this day – “Disney Gifts” was a decent little discount souvenir place by Marshall’s off I-4 near Disney Springs. Does have licensed stuff. Was very close to our hotel, helped us kill a little time in the afternoon and grab the kids’ a couple things they wanted without having to get them in park and carry them around.
Food recommendation – from a previous trip, the slushie in Pandora was very good, Night Blossom I think.
Hollywood Studios, Friday – This day was set for us, the only day in our trip window that had reservations available when we booked a month out. We were up and ready well before 7:00am… and whiffed on reservations for Rise of the Resistance. Devastating start and a little tough to rebound from but we knew the park is still probably the best for us and the kids would have fun. We timed it poorly arriving to park – 7:45 is too early – and were one of many cars turned away and sent off on the 3.1 mile or so loop to try again. Right at 8:00 is when they began to allow a line and the booths opened at 8:15 almost on the dot. We were in pretty quickly despite the whole one attendant two lines deal and parked on the front row of standard. We were in the park about 8:35 and headed for Mickey/Minnie Railway… which was out of service. Blow number 2 to the morning. Quick redirect to the Millennium Falcon… where we watched dozens of people get in line ahead of us as they attempted to train someone on the use of the rider swap function. Finally son and I were headed into the line and wife and too short daughter over to her favorite, Aliens… which was also out of commission (as well as Slinky Dog). To say rough morning is an understatement. We rebounded though, Aliens came back up, and by 10:00 were had hit both it and both done Millennium Falcon (twice for son – lucky guy) and in line for Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, the only thing on property with a line shorter than 30 min at that point. The kids really enjoyed it and I thought it was well done. Lunch, Muppets, and Aliens after that and at 1:00 the day turned around. Standing under an overhang while it rained, my wife snagged a boarding group for us – 140. Higher than we’d hoped but the ride had been up all day and the estimated time until boarding was a little over 4 hours- which meant about 1.5 hours of leeway. Then after Toy Story, she struck again. Daughter needed to nap so she let her do so while standing in line for the still out of service Mickey/Minnie. Son and I headed for Star Tours and caught a great cavalcade with all the standard characters except Donald (?). We had just gotten in line when she called – Mickey/Minnie was finally up, the line was moving quickly. We rushed back and were on within 20 minutes (after discreetly sliding in line with her). From there, another major point for the little ones – Disney Junior Something Party Something. There are 2 names for it on the Disney app and one says it is unavailable. Don’t be fooled like we were, they have just renamed it. We just happened to walk by and see it in time to get in line for the 2:50. Cast member said it fills up as early as 40 minutes beforehand for the morning shows but we were only 5 min early and got in. Two final points for this day – our boarding group did get called about 5:15, great for the 140s from what I understand. We rider swapped and son got to go twice again (jealous). Also, if your 4 year old gets halfway through the line and really has to go potty, find a cast member and they are great about helping you to a bathroom and then back into line… even if you’re already aboard a Star Destroyer. Lastly, don’t forget that if you are in a line when the park closes, you will get to ride. We hopped in at 6:40 for one last Mickey/Minnie and boarded at 7:05, a perfect ending to the day.
Food recommendation - didn't brave the lines in Star Wars and Woody's Lunchbox booked up real quick, but Pizzarizzo was solid and Backlot Express was quick and easy.
Overall, we felt safe for the most part, couple instances of folks getting too close, a bunch of time spent explaining that 1.5 year old isn’t 2 just yet and therefore isn’t expected to wear a mask (only one cast member in 4 days was at all rude about it, calling that a win) and a few reminders not to let ours sag off our noses but good. If you are concerned at all, make sure to sanitize before/after each ride – they provide it but you will definitely touch lap bars, etc. that other people have touched. We were genuinely surprised at the number of “high risk population” folks in attendance, but to each their own.
Again, I don’t know how helpful this will be to anyone but if there are questions we can answer or points to clarify, I will try to check back and do so. Hope you have a magical time.
