Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[ctl]

Thanks for the info, but I’m trying to get to AK! Any thoughts on whether is better to bus or Uber there?


We did this yesterday from CBR. I got in the Skyliner line at 8:07am and there were maybe 50 families ahead of me. The gates were closed so the line started just past the Joffrey’s stand, and I was in line around the corner right by the bus depot. They brought us up to the platform around 8:45 and started the gondolas maybe a minute or two before 9am. We were exiting the Skyliner at 9:18 and had no wait at all to get into the park. Ended up with boarding group 11!

ETA: People coming from Pop and Riviera were sent to the back of the DHS line at CBR. Not sure what time those lines start running, but I would say they are at a disadvantage because the line at CBR was quite long by the time they started running it.

Does anyone know if Uber is allowed on WDW right now? And on the skyliner ...
Gee, why don't they all start at the same time?

 

[ckmommy]

Plus they often have buses running from the TTC in the morning and I have read of many being successful using this option too.

Are they running the buses from the TTC now? We are going rope drop MK next week Sunday and are trying to decide which mode of transportation from the TTC is the fastest. I have heard it is the buses. Which makes since--many people would want the iconic monorail. Looking for advice on this.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We returned home last night (Oct 30th) from our stay at the Yacht Club. We took Southwest Airlines out of Chicago Midway on Sunday morning, Oct 25th. Midway was empty and everyone wore masks. Orlando airport was also empty, including the Magical Express area in the airport. Our bus was half full and we were the second stop, after Pop Century.

In short, our experience at WDW felt very safe. We noticed that mask compliance was excellent for the most part, especially at our resort. We also noticed that when people were eating and drinking with masks off they tended to be stationary and sitting. But we mostly left the parks by noon because it was so very hot while we were there. So that reduced our exposure.

In general, the parks had low crowds. For example, we went to Epcot on Thursday when park hours were 11am to 7pm and we have never seen it that empty. There were 17 people in the American Experience 11:45am show, for example. We went back in the park around 4pm and Soarin', Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth and Test Track were all walk ons. When we were there Sunday afternoon and evening, it was a lot more crowded.

What I missed most from the pre-Covid days was seeing people's faces, talking to strangers, and feeling free to interact with the people around us. Instead, it was as if people were dangerous and you had to stay away from them. You couldn't see people's smiles.

Bottom line for us was that Disney did a very good job at minimizing risks from Covid. But success relied on people volunteering to comply with the rules. We got lucky and had a great experience. But we also were very careful, too. We haven't decided if we will be back again during the Covid restrictions. We have annual passes that expire in May, so we can wait awhile.

 

[yulilin3]

Do you mind to give a little more detail? We will be coming from AofA and I have my own car. I assume you're referring to the toll plaza at TTC? I've actually never driven to the parks before so I'm a little unfamiliar with all of this lol. Once parked at TTC, we get on the monorail to the MK, correct? Thanks!

So they will hold you at the tpll plaza until around 8:10-8:15, basically 45 minutes befor park official opening
That day they opened at 8:10am i had been waiting at the toll plaza since 8am, i was first in my lane, they opened up and i was 3rd car parked, walked to the temp check and bag check at ttc and headed to the ferry, that day they were offering all 3 alternatives, ferry, monorail or bus.
Got to mk 8:25 park was open , i walked around m.s. usa for a while before heading to PP and Pooh which were walk on

 

[KM82]

Does anyone know if turkey legs are available in MK right now? We have tried looking but come up short so far. Thanks!

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Really appreciate the reports! Has anyone had experience with 7am AK or 8 MK openings since covid? we were planning on bussing but then they expanded hours and we will have a car so i think we might as well drive now, Im assuming car toll booths will open 45mins early but I dont see them running rides much earlier than posted openings right?

 

[KM82]

Does anyone know if turkey legs are available in MK right now? We have tried looking but come up short so far. Thanks!

Found them at Liberty Market if anyone else ends up looking!

 

[disneyseniors]

Thank you. Their website said they would confirm with me the day prior but if they dont, I will call and call again in the morning of Epcot and day of dinner.

Also, did they charge you? I gave my credit card and the invoices (three) all have the information and payments. Did you get charged for the no show?

No thank goodness, we didn't get charged, but it was irritating to just not show when the concierge person made the reservation the night before. Lots of others on here have had no problem with them, but we are one and done.
Have a great trip

 

[lorileahb]

Well - the open time for AK just popped up as 7 AM for our scheduled day in a couple of weeks. I've always gone during the off season and roped dropped... never participated in a 7 a.m. official open time... Any tips? We are staying at POP - will we really need to get in a bus line at 530 a.m.? Seriously rethinking our strategy. Also considering UBER, but would they really open the park 30 or 40 mins early if the official time is 7 a.m.?

 

[Tess]

Well - the open time for AK just popped up as 7 AM for our scheduled day in a couple of weeks. I've always gone during the off season and roped dropped... never participated in a 7 a.m. official open time... Any tips? We are staying at POP - will we really need to get in a bus line at 530 a.m.? Seriously rethinking our strategy. Also considering UBER, but would they really open the park 30 or 40 mins early if the official time is 7 a.m.?

Depends on the crowd size at the gate. At least that is what we have found with the social distancing measures. You need to weigh that against how many people will actually want to make a 7:00 a.m. rope drop.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Well - the open time for AK just popped up as 7 AM for our scheduled day in a couple of weeks. I've always gone during the off season and roped dropped... never participated in a 7 a.m. official open time... Any tips? We are staying at POP - will we really need to get in a bus line at 530 a.m.? Seriously rethinking our strategy. Also considering UBER, but would they really open the park 30 or 40 mins early if the official time is 7 a.m.?

Same with us too. What time will the buses start running for an early open like that?

 

[lorileahb]

Same with us too. What time will the buses start running for an early open like that?

I have no idea, but I kind of wish it hadn’t opened an hour earlier… LOL. Hoping somebody has some great advice otherwise will just pick how early we want to get up.

 

[Tess]

Same with us too. What time will the buses start running for an early open like that?

It should be one hour before opening, then again, when we were there a couple of weeks ago, we were in the queue for a bus to AK at 7:15 thinking we would have an 8:00 a.m. bus for the 9:00 a.m. opening. In fact, an administrative type came out to the bus queue to let everyone know the buses would begin at 8:00 a.m. At that point the queues for MK and AK were from the bus stop to the entrance of the lobby.

Guess what--the bus didn't arrive until 8:20 a.m. and we were behind the crowds all day including all the folks who were queued behind us but opted for Uber instead. We were at BC and our kids at YC--we met them at YC thinking with the shared situation that we would have a better chance of getting the first bus. We got the first bus, but as I said--we were behind the crowds who drove, Ubered and other resorts that actually had buses at 8:00 or earlier. That said, our first visit to AK that week went off without a hitch--caught the first bus at BC and we were in the parks before the crowds including those who drove and/or Ubered.

It just depends on how Disney dispatches the buses. I feel that they rotate bus deployment to lessen the crush at opening. Just our bad luck on day 2 that YC and BC weren't the first buses sent and arriving at AK.

With regard to how I know we were behind the Uber crowd--while in the FoP queue, we saw folks who Ubered from YC in the line way ahead of us. They were distinctively dressed and we took note as we watched family after family opting out of the YC queue when it was apparent our buses were not arriving before 8:00 a.m. Luck of the draw.

 

[nkereina]

Does anyone know if Uber is allowed on WDW right now? And on the skyliner ...
Gee, why don't they all start at the same time?

Yes, we used Uber/Lyft multiple times this past week. The thing is that you have to know what time the parking lots open so you can be dropped off by Uber. MK has a separate drop off at TTC, but for the rest of the parks, Uber has to enter the lot with all the other cars and traffic waiting to get in. You also can’t get dropped off at a nearby resort to walk over unless you have an ADR or mobile dining order.

Does anyone know if turkey legs are available in MK right now? We have tried looking but come up short so far. Thanks!

I wasn’t looking for them at MK, but the America pavilion at Epcot definitely has them.

 

[nkereina]

The first 10 gondolas from pop are not sent to the back of the line. That's why I got in line by 715. I know that happens later. Youll make it by 10 but not in time to ride MMRR first. We left CBR around 845 and were at HS before they started temp screening at 9. Only people in front of us were some of the first buses and walkers. No cars allowed in, including uber's, before gondolas started arriving.

We were at CBR, but got in the Skyliner line for DHS around 8:10 both days. On the first day, they started running right around 9 and we were in the park by 9:20. We did MMRR and were just stepping into the ride car at 10am when boarding groups came up. On the second day, they started running the Skyliner around 8:50, we were held at the DHS entrance until about 9:10, and we were able to do Slinky Dog, Aliens, and Smugglers Run before 10am with 5 minutes to spare. So, we found 8:05-8:10 to be the ideal time to line up at the Skyliner at CBR.

 

[js]

No thank goodness, we didn't get charged, but it was irritating to just not show when the concierge person made the reservation the night before. Lots of others on here have had no problem with them, but we are one and done.
Have a great trip

Yikes! Thank you. I wasn’t aware that lots of others on here have problems with them too.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

So since we don’t really know what AK will do with an early 7AM opening (is this a normal time? seems like a magic hour time to me) does getting an uber around 6AM sound like a good plan if we want to make rope drop?

 

[gamecock]

We are staying at CBR next week for a trip that's been postponed at least 3 times due to health reasons (stupid cancer) and covid. We plan on taking Skyliner to DHS and Epcot (we did this in January with no issues) and prefer this seeing as we will be the only family in a gondala. We are debating how to make pre RD for AK and MK? We will have our car and would prefer to avoid the buses if at all possible given my cancer treatments. I say all this to ask the following questions.
1. Does the parking at AK and MK open at the same time as the drop offs for Uber/ lyft?
2. Do the buses still get to AK prior to when the parking lots open? thus being disadvantaged by driving instead of taking bus?
3. Is bus or driving quicker for getting to front gate of MK? Or is Uber to CR still the best option ( I would like to avoid this if possible).
4. Has anyone riding buses felt uncomfortable with the social distancing etc. while on the bus?

Thank you in advance, and i am sorry if these questions have been previously asked.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We are staying at CBR next week for a trip that's been postponed at least 3 times due to health reasons (stupid cancer) and covid. We plan on taking Skyliner to DHS and Epcot (we did this in January with no issues) and prefer this seeing as we will be the only family in a gondala. We are debating how to make pre RD for AK and MK? We will have our car and would prefer to avoid the buses if at all possible given my cancer treatments. I say all this to ask the following questions.
1. Does the parking at AK and MK open at the same time as the drop offs for Uber/ lyft?
2. Do the buses still get to AK prior to when the parking lots open? thus being disadvantaged by driving instead of taking bus?
3. Is bus or driving quicker for getting to front gate of MK? Or is Uber to CR still the best option ( I would like to avoid this if possible).
4. Has anyone riding buses felt uncomfortable with the social distancing etc. while on the bus?

Thank you in advance, and i am sorry if these questions have been previously asked.

remember at MK if you drive you will still have to take transportation to the gate you can not walk there. from what I have read you can bus, monorail or ferry and that includes Uber, if you use CR plan on making order at CS to pick up as you might not be let in without from what I have read

 

[bad91922]

Animal Kingdom (10/30) opened at 8, we arrive a few minutes after 9. Husband got a phone call so we didn’t even go through the gates until after 915. Headed straight to FOP, had to do a rider swap. Personally the ride makes me nauseous and my husband didn’t care to ride it again so that expired. I had brought the two smaller kids to do triceratops spin x2, didn’t have to get off. Followed by A Bugs Life. I was going to do NRJ with them but the line grew as we set up rider swap and I wasn’t about to wait in line for 40 ( per the sign) by myself. Hindsight, maybe I should have. I figured we’d ride it with my husband and and DD but never went back to that area.
Did Dinosaur x 2, Everest (got a rider swap but didn’t use), Safari, Bugs Life, ate mobile order and decided to call it quits at 130.
Seriously wish we would have done a second day at HS instead of AK. There’s a lot missing from AK and my son is just over 40 inches and not to the 44 mark yet so not riding Everest was hard for him. So there wasn’t many rides for him to do and he likes roller coasters.
we did come to the hotel and rest, swim and dinner at the hotel, so that worked out good to have an afternoon break.