Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[cdurham1]

Here is rhe crowd trying to get on the monorail at 10pm. We just took a boat to GF and there was no wait for that.

 

[Chaitali]

The second part of our day was great! The rain in the afternoon really cooled things down for the evening. We started out with an early dinner at Bluezoo. The food was great but again, no distancing. They had plenty of room but still sat us right next to another party.

We took the boat back to Hollywood Studios and got there around 6:45. We saw a cavalcade as soon as we got in the park. We went straight to Mickey and Minnie’s Railroad after that. It was posted at 45 but it only took around 20 minutes. Then we did Star tours in 5 minutes. I hadn’t seen the recent scenes so that was fun and new for me.

We got a bunch of photo pass shots after that and went back to Baatu for playing the games on the data pad. I really enjoyed the hackings And various missions. I love the interactivity it gives the land. We also rode smuggler run again. Posted as 30 minutes and took 20. Baatu was beautiful at night. We slowly strolled out at 9 and got the boat back to out hotel. The evening really worked out better thank the afternoon. Morning and evening really seems to work out well. Epcot tomorrow!

 

[disny_luvr]

wow you and I had opposite experiences on the same day.
We found it unbearably hot and insane crowds. 100 min wait for slinky at 9am??
Got in line for MMRR at 8:51 and waited 45 min. In crazy heat.

glad you had a good day-
I’m never coming back in august w out fast passes. EVER AGAIN.

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that! We were talking on the way home from DHS and today was one of our favorite Disney days ever! I’m almost afraid to say that since we are here until August 14th and I really hope things don’t turn south, but we truly had a fun day!

 

[disny_luvr]

We arrived Saturday and i was kinda dreading this trip because of Covid ramping back up and the crowds and heat. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

We were at MK yesterday and did everything we wanted. Park was crowded and hot but we managed expectations, wore our masks in crowds and went back to the resort during the day. Ate at Cali Grill at 5 and went back to MK after dinner did rides instead of fireworks and did HM, SW, 7DMT and PoC between 9 and 10

Today was Epcot. We started at IG at 11 and stayed through the day. It was hot but we had a rain shower at around 1 and it somehow actually cooled down. Did everything at a leisurely pace and had a fantastic time. First time we didn’t go back to the resort mid-day in forever.

So, please don’t get too discouraged reading these trip reports. Yes, it’s hot and crowded. Yes, there’s still a pandemic and I was very nervous watching the numbers rise, but I’ve felt pretty good about things (if we were in crowds: we masked and we just avoided things that were crazy crowded like Main Street at closing. We definitely have felt the magic and don’t regret our trip at all.

We got here yesterday and today was probably our favorite Disney day ever! Yes, the magic is still here! All the CMs have been great, but two in particular were absolutely awesome today! We are here until the 14th so who knows what the rest of the days have in store, but today was so fun!

 

[cakebaker]

For those following our saga- We have stopped in Mobile for the night. Traffic has been awful and we didn’t get near as far as we hoped. My grandsons temp was rising again and it’s hard to get it under control in the car for some reason, always has been when he’s gotten sick on trips. My daughter, who is vaccinated, now has a sore throat- that’s the first symptom my grandson had.

We’ve already gotten our doctors to order covid tests, but most likely we won’t be home in time to get it done tomorrow, we still have 11 hrs of driving ahead of us. I still hold out hope that he just caught a bug of some kind and will be glad to get answers soon. I truly appreciate those who have expressed well wishes and concern. I just want to be home where we can control our environment again.

 

[cakebaker]

View attachment 594216

Here is rhe crowd trying to get on the monorail at 10pm. We just took a boat to GF and there was no wait for that.

We saw crowds much like that on our nights at the MK. It’s stunning to see so many people crowded together right now. Nothing good can come from that. I was very glad we had chosen a resort with boat service.

 

[disny_luvr]

*Part one of our day is up thread.

After resting at our resort this afternoon, we went back to DHS. We ate ronto wraps from Docking Bay 7 and then headed into Toy Story Land. We rode Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers and then it was time for our ADR at Oga’s. We absolutely loved our server, Heather. She was amazing. If you go to Oga’s, do yourself a favor and ask for her. How do I acknowledge her? After leaving, we got some great photos taken in front of the Millennium Falcon. Around 8:30, we got in line for SDD. We were off at 9:14. We rode the Skyliner back to the BC. That’s a fun mode of transportation!

We were able to ride everything in DHS today except for Smuggler’s Run, which we’ll ride on our next day there later this week. We thought today was very successful and fun!

 

[disny_luvr]

We're just back from a 4 night stay. I'll keep it short. We LOVED not having fast passes. It was awesome. The longest we waited was 90 minutes for Smuggler's Run. Everything else was less than the time posted. We often waited for 1/2 of the time that was posted. The park felt crowded but the lines did not. Mobile ordering was great. EPCOT food and wine was the best we've ever experienced. The food was especially good this year. Transportation was fast except for the night we left EPCOT and the monorail was not working. We were stuck at the TTC waiting for a bus. It took forever and it was not a great way to end the evening. Cast members were all very helpful and friendly with a few exceptions. During the last two days when the mask rules changed, we saw the stress in some of their faces. We even heard one CM say "oh great, I'm going to get yelled at again" when she had to remind families to put on their masks. We felt bad for a few CMs since my dd has also experienced this at her part time retail job. Our experience was overall positive. Here's my tip - try the cheeseburger spring rolls near Adventureland in the MK!

Today was our first park day and we loved not having fast passes, too! My mind might change in the days to come, but so far, so good!

 

[yaya74]

For those following our saga- We have stopped in Mobile for the night. Traffic has been awful and we didn’t get near as far as we hoped. My grandsons temp was rising again and it’s hard to get it under control in the car for some reason, always has been when he’s gotten sick on trips. My daughter, who is vaccinated, now has a sore throat- that’s the first symptom my grandson had.

We’ve already gotten our doctors to order covid tests, but most likely we won’t be home in time to get it done tomorrow, we still have 11 hrs of driving ahead of us. I still hold out hope that he just caught a big of some kind and will be glad to get answers soon. I truly appreciate those who have expressed well wishes and concern. I just want to be home where we can control our environment again.

I am hoping that your grandson and you daughter caught the same cold virus as my kids did when we were there in early July. First sore throat, followed by a day of fever, then the fever went away but runny nose and coughing persist for 5-7 days. I hope your family will get home as soon as possible and your grandson and daughter will feel better soon.

 

[preemiemama]

After resting at our resort this afternoon, we went back to DHS. We ate ronto wraps from Docking Bay 7 and then headed into Toy Story Land. We rode Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers and then it was time for our ADR at Oga’s. We absolutely loved our server, Heather. She was amazing. If you go to Oga’s, do yourself a favor and ask for her. How do I acknowledge her?

You can tweet (or DM) a #castcompliment to @WDWGuestService on Twitter or you can email WDW at wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. You'll get a much faster response from the Twitter account!

 

[stiirfry]

Hey guys!! This is my first post here and also my sister and I's first trip together to Disney by ourselves I booked this trip back in April and was a little worried to go on it due to COVID. However, crowds are relatively easy to avoid (for now, it's our first day lol) plus we're both vaccinated adults.

We left STL ~6:30am and landed at 9:30. Got to CBR by around 12 and was told we were too early for check in so we dropped our luggage off and went to Art of Animation resort mostly because we wanted to check out the skyliner. We had lunch there and then our room was ready about 2pm.

We went to MK and the lines from 4-7:30pm were pretty bad... Most rides we wanted were 100+ minutes. We rode the buzz lightyear shooter and the line took around 35 minutes and carousel of progress (which we got stuck on and had to watch the first sequence FOUR TIMES).... Afterwards we had dinner and got out around 8:20 we managed to ride three rides in the last hour of the night Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain! Their wait times all said ~35 minutes however thunder and space mountain maybe took 20 min and HM was walk on. Honestly, we could have probably squeezed in one more ride but we wanted to sneak out a bit before close. The biggest crowd we inevitably had was taking the bus back to CBR and exiting the MK at around close. From what I've seen masks in lines that are inside are pretty consistent and most people I saw actually followed the rules.

Tomorrow is Epcot, we're planning on drinking around the world Any tips or suggestions for Epcot we'd love! We're planning on mostly eating and drinking tomorrow but will probably ride a few rides.

 

[Eastern]

Same, we fly down Saturday. My teens don’t understand how hot it’s going to be. They started to pack black t-shirts. Lol

I see this all the time in the FL heat: people wearing dark tops and dark jeans. It's much cooler if you wear lighter fabric/colors. Performance/exercise type clothing is best because it dries so quickly.

 

[hvanes]

We loved not having FP as well when we went in June. However, the mobile ordering was not that great for us. We had to wait up to 30 minutes after our window ended for food that we ordered when we entered each park in the morning. This was before the college program CMs came back so I'm sure they were very short handed and that led to the delays.

We didn't try the cheeseburger spring rolls, but had the buffalo chicken ones instead. I'm so addicted to them now I'm making them in my airfryer and then freezing them for quick lunches. Maybe I should try making the cheeseburger ones as well.

I'm so sorry; my in-laws went in April and orders were scheduling out 2-3 hours. It was really hard for them because hungry kids = angry kids. I was really nervous about mobile ordering going in. But I think things are better now. I didn't have to "order ahead" at any site, I just did it because I wanted to have it off my mind. And I never waited longer than 5 minutes for our meal to be prepped on this trip. Usually I pressed "I'm here now, prepare my order" when we were on our way over and it timed out nicely.

 

[cdurham1]

I see this all the time in the FL heat: people wearing dark tops and dark jeans. It's much cooler if you wear lighter fabric/colors. Performance/exercise type clothing is best because it dries so quickly.

This trip i made sure we brought as many athletic/active wear as possible. It makes a huge difference. Cotton is terrible for this weather. If you are going to wear t shirts, get some athletic wear t shirts. Don't wear plain cotton.

 

[cdurham1]

I normally carry a backpack with snacks, water, umbrellas, etc. In this heat, I recommend skipping it if you can. We stop at every water fountain instead. Man, that backpack adds more physical stress than you think in this weather.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I’m sorry that happened. We’re on our way home now with my grandson who is sick. Testing in the area wasn’t possible and as long as we can control his fever, we’re waiting until we can test at home where it’s much easier and he can be under his drs care. His temp hit a little over 103 last night so that was a little scary, but it’s down now thankfully.

We were absolutely as careful as we could be but with the crowd levels what they are and people fighting against masks, it’s a huge roll of the dice. The rest of us are vaccinated and so far, no symptoms. We’ll all be testing when we get home.

Fingers crossed it's just that nasty summer cold that's also making the rounds. My husband (got tested) and daughter had it in June, and daughter's temp spiked to 104.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

8/2 AK/Epcot

Tapped into AK around 10:30. We went to ITTBAB, then checked in for our 11:30 Tusker House ADR. Food was excellent, character interaction acceptable given the modified nature of character dining. My daughter was thrilled to see all her "friends."

Afterwards we rode Safari and Dinosaur, then took a break so my daughter could have a snack. She will be three at the end of the month, and there is a learning curve on navigating parks with a toddler. Because of Covid, the last time we were able to go was December 2019.

Snack complete, we left to hop over to Epcot for F&W.

I forgot how much I love Epcot. I had been a little down on it last trip, but I was really feeling it yesterday. We need the International CMs back to complete WS, but that's just not possible right now. We tapped in a bit after 4pm and jumped onto Spaceship Earth. My sister and I rode Soarin while my parents sat with my daughter, who needed another snack. She must be getting ready for another growth spurt because she has been an eating machine.

Then it was on to F&W! We bought the Remy Hide and Squeak, even though we knew we didn't have time to finish it. We've never done it before and it was fun looking for rats. Everything we tried was good, with a few that knocked it out of the park. Stayed for fireworks, which is such a relaxing experience at Epcot.

I looked for overflowing trash cans at both parks and saw none. I think this problem has been addressed and is now being properly handled. The restrooms at AK were clean, but one at Epcot was trashed. The other by Ratatouille was very clean.

My daughter is too small to ride the headliners, but we never had a long wait in any line. If we had more time at Epcot, I would have waited the 60 minutes for Frozen, but we had a lengthy list of booths to hit up and a very small window in which to stuff our faces.

Crowds overall at both parks were quite manageable, and just like our experience at MK on 8/1, lines look long but move quickly. It is hot, but we are used to Florida in the summer.

Today we are headed over to DS for shopping and Homecomin, then a nice long nap for my daughter and swimming. Tomorrow we are going to HS.

 

[Sarahslay]

I see this all the time in the FL heat: people wearing dark tops and dark jeans. It's much cooler if you wear lighter fabric/colors. Performance/exercise type clothing is best because it dries so quickly.

I went August 2019 and when I rode Kali there was a lady on my raft in these really heavy looking boot cut jeans. She got absolutely drenched on the ride and made a comment about how now at least she would be cool. I commented that she should wear shorts, she was like "people don't need to see my pale, chunky legs!" and I was like "you don't need to care what people think, it's too hot for jeans, wear what is comfortable!" I don't know how people survive. I still wonder how she survived walking around the rest of the day in heavy, wet jeans. I'm an athletic wear girl all the way (helps it makes up half my wardrobe anyway lol)

 

[preemiemama]

Hey guys!! This is my first post here and also my sister and I's first trip together to Disney by ourselves I booked this trip back in April and was a little worried to go on it due to COVID. However, crowds are relatively easy to avoid (for now, it's our first day lol) plus we're both vaccinated adults.

We left STL ~6:30am and landed at 9:30. Got to CBR by around 12 and was told we were too early for check in so we dropped our luggage off and went to Art of Animation resort mostly because we wanted to check out the skyliner. We had lunch there and then our room was ready about 2pm.

We went to MK and the lines from 4-7:30pm were pretty bad... Most rides we wanted were 100+ minutes. We rode the buzz lightyear shooter and the line took around 35 minutes and carousel of progress (which we got stuck on and had to watch the first sequence FOUR TIMES).... Afterwards we had dinner and got out around 8:20 we managed to ride three rides in the last hour of the night Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain! Their wait times all said ~35 minutes however thunder and space mountain maybe took 20 min and HM was walk on. Honestly, we could have probably squeezed in one more ride but we wanted to sneak out a bit before close. The biggest crowd we inevitably had was taking the bus back to CBR and exiting the MK at around close. From what I've seen masks in lines that are inside are pretty consistent and most people I saw actually followed the rules.

Tomorrow is Epcot, we're planning on drinking around the world Any tips or suggestions for Epcot we'd love! We're planning on mostly eating and drinking tomorrow but will probably ride a few rides.

Try the Black Magic margarita at La Cava- it was so good!

 

[Gary Stocker]

Yeah we leave Friday and considering cancelling some well-worked ADRs...we'll see. Oga's seems to be largest concern at this point. Might go for 1 quickie and bolt.