Last time we were at Disney it was so hot and I said I would love to be here when the weather is in the 60s- now I’m sad that it’s going to be cold while we are there next week!!
Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping
ak517
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2021
I saw online a Disney instagrammer walk in at about 9 yesterday morning to get in line, which started loading folks at 9:23. She was off by 9:50 or so and headed to frozen before LL started. Would be great if you could report back if the Remy strategy consistently works!
cjlong88
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2019
Will do! We are going to a shoot for 8:45 am IG arrival from Yacht Club on Sunday and see what happens.
We will be there starting Sunday and it is going to be COLD at night!Last time we were at Disney it was so hot and I said I would love to be here when the weather is in the 60s- now I’m sad that it’s going to be cold while we are there next week!!
I mean REALLY cold-looks like 41 degree lows Monday/Tuesday which feels EVEN colder in Orlando!
But a frigid day at WDW is better than a hot day anywhere else IMHO!lol
We have been lots of times when it ranges from 50's to 70's and I don't like to be cold. I almost always wear long pants or leggings. Lightweight leggings or yoga pants aren't too hot for me even if it gets into the 70's. Jeans are hotter, IMO.Question for those at Disney now: What are you wearing? How cold is it at rope drop and does it get too warm for jeans mid-day? Heading down in a week and I'm still not sure what to pack or how to dress for a 20 degree temp spread between the lows and the highsI do get cold easily.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Disney has officially added Remy to their ETPE schedule so I believe it's here to stay for the foreseeable future.
jrsharp21
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2006
Finally gathering my thoughts from the 6 days I was at the parks last week for MW. Since I was primarily there for MW and had work responsibilities, the first two days were work in the morning/afternoon until around 4pm and then head to the parks.
I went to Epcot my first evening and didn't get on a single ride because of how crowded it was. Epcot is becoming my least favorite park, especially during the evenings. It is just one big frat party at night. Not my kind of crowd while at Disney World.
Wednesday night I had a ILL$ for Remy. Knowing that I was going to end at DHS, I actually drove and parked at DHS and walked over to Epcot and entered through IG. Went on Remy and walked back to DHS. Remy was good but nothing that blew me away. Definitely don't need to go on this every time we visit. Back at DHS, I didn't get on any rides because of the waits. I was slowly finding that for people who can't make it into the park until later, you are pretty much out of luck unless you have G+ and stacking reservations through out the day.
Thursday was MK day. I bought G+ for this day. That worked out very well. When I got to MK around 4pm I had several reservations stacked up. I ended up riding BTMRR, Space (ILL$), Pirates, HM with G+. What was crazy was that it was crowded when I went into Pirates. I came out and it was dead. Around 7:45. Walked out to the hub and saw the mass of humanity waiting for fireworks. Holy cow that was a lot of people. The rest of the park was dead. Good time to get on rides. Because I had to run the next morning I tried to get out of the park and catch the boat back to the TTC. That was nightmare. Lesson learned there.
Friday was a day off from the parks. It was a explore the resort, PO Riverside, and Disney Springs evening. My family wanted to try Chicken Guy, but I had already tried it earlier in the week. I headed over to D-Luxe Burger. This is my new favorite place in Disney Springs. The burger is good and the fries are awesome.
Saturday after the run was MK again. MK was packed. We waited 30 minutes to get through the parking entrance to the TTC. Then once in there, we were in a long line to just park the car. We had G+ and also booked ILL$ for Space and Seven Dwarfs. We did BTMRR, Pirates, HM, Splash, with G+ and got on several other rides waiting in the normal lines.
Sunday after the marathon I met the family at Epcot. They did Remy while I was running. I ended up eating my way through Epcot to meet up with them. Then we decided to head to DHS. We had a ILL$ for Rise and a reservation for Oga later that evening. We had G+ again for the day. We went on Smuggler's Run and TOT with the reservations. RNR was down and not working. At that point I was exhausted and tapped out. Went back to the resort while the rest of the family went on Rise and went to Oga's.
Observations:
-G+ works, but hate that you have to pay extra for it.
-The lines just to get snacks were so long. It sucks when you just want a pretzel or a churro and the line is a 30 minute wait. I even stopped at the booth at the entrance to Liberty Square and they were out of food. They had sold out and waiting on someone to bring them more.
-The glazed nuts are one of my favorite snacks. In the past they have always been hot and crunchy when I got them. I bought three bags this time and each one was luke warm and the nuts were chewy. Very disappointed in that.
-It feels like people are just walking around aimlessly at the parks. Trying to find a place to sit down and relax is tough as many places don't let you in without a mobile order and there are not enough places to sit. People are trying to kill time between G+ reservations, so people are just walking around like zombies making the park seem jam packed.
-I have never seen the line for HM go down next to the water and underneath the normal entrance and then come back up a set stairs to the normal entrance. I got on the Liberty Belle and turned around to see that and was like whoa.
I went to Epcot my first evening and didn't get on a single ride because of how crowded it was. Epcot is becoming my least favorite park, especially during the evenings. It is just one big frat party at night. Not my kind of crowd while at Disney World.
Wednesday night I had a ILL$ for Remy. Knowing that I was going to end at DHS, I actually drove and parked at DHS and walked over to Epcot and entered through IG. Went on Remy and walked back to DHS. Remy was good but nothing that blew me away. Definitely don't need to go on this every time we visit. Back at DHS, I didn't get on any rides because of the waits. I was slowly finding that for people who can't make it into the park until later, you are pretty much out of luck unless you have G+ and stacking reservations through out the day.
Thursday was MK day. I bought G+ for this day. That worked out very well. When I got to MK around 4pm I had several reservations stacked up. I ended up riding BTMRR, Space (ILL$), Pirates, HM with G+. What was crazy was that it was crowded when I went into Pirates. I came out and it was dead. Around 7:45. Walked out to the hub and saw the mass of humanity waiting for fireworks. Holy cow that was a lot of people. The rest of the park was dead. Good time to get on rides. Because I had to run the next morning I tried to get out of the park and catch the boat back to the TTC. That was nightmare. Lesson learned there.
Friday was a day off from the parks. It was a explore the resort, PO Riverside, and Disney Springs evening. My family wanted to try Chicken Guy, but I had already tried it earlier in the week. I headed over to D-Luxe Burger. This is my new favorite place in Disney Springs. The burger is good and the fries are awesome.
Saturday after the run was MK again. MK was packed. We waited 30 minutes to get through the parking entrance to the TTC. Then once in there, we were in a long line to just park the car. We had G+ and also booked ILL$ for Space and Seven Dwarfs. We did BTMRR, Pirates, HM, Splash, with G+ and got on several other rides waiting in the normal lines.
Sunday after the marathon I met the family at Epcot. They did Remy while I was running. I ended up eating my way through Epcot to meet up with them. Then we decided to head to DHS. We had a ILL$ for Rise and a reservation for Oga later that evening. We had G+ again for the day. We went on Smuggler's Run and TOT with the reservations. RNR was down and not working. At that point I was exhausted and tapped out. Went back to the resort while the rest of the family went on Rise and went to Oga's.
Observations:
-G+ works, but hate that you have to pay extra for it.
-The lines just to get snacks were so long. It sucks when you just want a pretzel or a churro and the line is a 30 minute wait. I even stopped at the booth at the entrance to Liberty Square and they were out of food. They had sold out and waiting on someone to bring them more.
-The glazed nuts are one of my favorite snacks. In the past they have always been hot and crunchy when I got them. I bought three bags this time and each one was luke warm and the nuts were chewy. Very disappointed in that.
-It feels like people are just walking around aimlessly at the parks. Trying to find a place to sit down and relax is tough as many places don't let you in without a mobile order and there are not enough places to sit. People are trying to kill time between G+ reservations, so people are just walking around like zombies making the park seem jam packed.
-I have never seen the line for HM go down next to the water and underneath the normal entrance and then come back up a set stairs to the normal entrance. I got on the Liberty Belle and turned around to see that and was like whoa.
ScarletFire
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2004
I literally just made this point to my husband. We decided that you wait in line for an attraction while waiting for the Genie+ LL attraction.
GBRforWDW
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2020
While I certainly agree with you, my wife would not! Lol. Maybe a little, but she prefers a ride and then longer to relax. Not always, but if we’re talking mid day in the sun, then definitely, though at that point, we’d typically head to the hotel
WIll C
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 19, 2018
It was a bad day for the IG this morning (Thursday). The scanners were down so they funneled us all into a visual inspection slowly and then there was no end of hassles with the touch points for the magic bands. Took 15+ minutes to get the first part of the crowd in. Then Remy went down early (if it even opened up). We had a DAS time for it so just came back later in the afternoon after Soarin' and some shopping. It was fun but nothing like MMRR and my wife loved Soarin' a whole lot more. It's new but we're probably not going to prioritize it again.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2004
Hopefully it will all be sorted out by tomorrow for the start of the festival.
Same here! I’m still bringing the tanks and swimsuits but bringing down coats and gloves too! No where better to enjoy my hot coffee next week!We will be there starting Sunday and it is going to be COLD at night!
I mean REALLY cold-looks like 41 degree lows Monday/Tuesday which feels EVEN colder in Orlando!
But a frigid day at WDW is better than a hot day anywhere else IMHO!lol
Wakey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2015
We were there just before Christmas, it was pretty awful, so much so we are not going back to a WDW park for the foreseeable future. I still can’t believe I’m saying that. We have quite a lot of DVC points but I’ll be using them for non park stays, and stays at non WDW resorts.
If you have our pattern, which is arrive rope drop and leave after lunch, and it’s busy, Genie+ certainly does not work as you can’t get the rides unless you ‘stack’ and stay in the park late. So when it’s busy Genie+ is useless for those who don't want to be in parks in the afternoon.
Summary:
1. EMH in the morning is now ruined. Whereas before it was moderately busy at Xmas, a side effect of rip off paid rides where a family of 4 pay $70 for a 2.5 minute ride on Mine Train is that everyone now floods to EMH to avoid the charge. This meant 75 min waits at Test Track, Mine Train etc at rope drop at EMH. Queue for Mine Train insane, within minutes wait quickly going to 90 mins In EMH.
2. With non resort guests flooding in at normal rope drop to avoid these charges, EMH is now basically one A list ride, then you are done, with long waits then in normal park time for other rides. Example, we entered Epcot at rope drop EMH and ‘ran’ to Test Track. Because we ran, queue was to the top of the pathway and around the corner with 45 min wait. Within seconds queue extended to the lake, and wait was 75 mins. This was Test Track in EMH - 75 mins massive queue within minutes of rope drop EMH. We did that, then Soarin’ was listed as 80 min wait and Frozen has gone down. We never rode either. Week before Xmas this. Just a typical example.
3. This means that it is basically now impossible, at say HWS or MK to do as we did before, and get multiple A list rides done by early afternoon.
4. For the first time ever we didn’t ride multiple top rides on our trip.
5. As I say Genie+ no good for our park attendance pattern.
6. Epcot is a boarded off mess. Years after the project started, Blog Mickey show very little work being done. It’s a disgrace. Huge crowds as a result trudging slowly around World Showcase.
7. One park where we did get all the rides done was AK, where we had a good time but this is only because it opened at 7am. At 6.45 am the crowds were massive, we queued to get in, and ran/ brisk walked to Flight of Passage. Even then the queues at Pandora were huge, extending outside of Pandora and looping around. They moved reasonably quickly, we were through and off the ride in an hour. This was arriving at the park at 6.45 am remember. By lunchtime though the park was a mess.
8. Park reservation system is clearly a major inconvenience, nothing about limiting numbers, but all about increasing ‘yield’.
9. Parks often lacking in other areas. Try and get a snack in busy times at Sleepy Hollow. No times in the near future on mobile order, queue simply not moving. Staff don’t seem to have any manager trying to speed things up. Infuriating 1 hour wait for a waffle. Starbucks 45 mins + wait for a freaking coffee.
10. Rides were breaking down for extended periods all the time. What is going on there. I’ve never seen this so bad.
Yep we have been at Christmas before, for example, 2019 and nothing like this.
I accept we are particularly badly impacted as Genie+ is junk in busy times and if you don’t want to stay in the afternoons. We have no interest in fighting through all that for 10 hours a day.
Im already making reservations in a deluxe hotel at Universal next year with free Express Pass. On top of hotels I will drop maybe $7k next Xmas there instead.
Chapek, D’Amaro, the board and anyone else responsible really need to take a long hard look at themselves. They said it would be more expensive but the experience would be better. Many, many people are reporting it isn’t better, they just ruined it but certainly made it more expensive though, and it’s become in my view something of an obscene rip off.
If you have our pattern, which is arrive rope drop and leave after lunch, and it’s busy, Genie+ certainly does not work as you can’t get the rides unless you ‘stack’ and stay in the park late. So when it’s busy Genie+ is useless for those who don't want to be in parks in the afternoon.
Summary:
1. EMH in the morning is now ruined. Whereas before it was moderately busy at Xmas, a side effect of rip off paid rides where a family of 4 pay $70 for a 2.5 minute ride on Mine Train is that everyone now floods to EMH to avoid the charge. This meant 75 min waits at Test Track, Mine Train etc at rope drop at EMH. Queue for Mine Train insane, within minutes wait quickly going to 90 mins In EMH.
2. With non resort guests flooding in at normal rope drop to avoid these charges, EMH is now basically one A list ride, then you are done, with long waits then in normal park time for other rides. Example, we entered Epcot at rope drop EMH and ‘ran’ to Test Track. Because we ran, queue was to the top of the pathway and around the corner with 45 min wait. Within seconds queue extended to the lake, and wait was 75 mins. This was Test Track in EMH - 75 mins massive queue within minutes of rope drop EMH. We did that, then Soarin’ was listed as 80 min wait and Frozen has gone down. We never rode either. Week before Xmas this. Just a typical example.
3. This means that it is basically now impossible, at say HWS or MK to do as we did before, and get multiple A list rides done by early afternoon.
4. For the first time ever we didn’t ride multiple top rides on our trip.
5. As I say Genie+ no good for our park attendance pattern.
6. Epcot is a boarded off mess. Years after the project started, Blog Mickey show very little work being done. It’s a disgrace. Huge crowds as a result trudging slowly around World Showcase.
7. One park where we did get all the rides done was AK, where we had a good time but this is only because it opened at 7am. At 6.45 am the crowds were massive, we queued to get in, and ran/ brisk walked to Flight of Passage. Even then the queues at Pandora were huge, extending outside of Pandora and looping around. They moved reasonably quickly, we were through and off the ride in an hour. This was arriving at the park at 6.45 am remember. By lunchtime though the park was a mess.
8. Park reservation system is clearly a major inconvenience, nothing about limiting numbers, but all about increasing ‘yield’.
9. Parks often lacking in other areas. Try and get a snack in busy times at Sleepy Hollow. No times in the near future on mobile order, queue simply not moving. Staff don’t seem to have any manager trying to speed things up. Infuriating 1 hour wait for a waffle. Starbucks 45 mins + wait for a freaking coffee.
10. Rides were breaking down for extended periods all the time. What is going on there. I’ve never seen this so bad.
Yep we have been at Christmas before, for example, 2019 and nothing like this.
I accept we are particularly badly impacted as Genie+ is junk in busy times and if you don’t want to stay in the afternoons. We have no interest in fighting through all that for 10 hours a day.
Im already making reservations in a deluxe hotel at Universal next year with free Express Pass. On top of hotels I will drop maybe $7k next Xmas there instead.
Chapek, D’Amaro, the board and anyone else responsible really need to take a long hard look at themselves. They said it would be more expensive but the experience would be better. Many, many people are reporting it isn’t better, they just ruined it but certainly made it more expensive though, and it’s become in my view something of an obscene rip off.
Last edited:
glocon
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2010
How fun!
Will you be staying at RPR the whole time?
And stacking G+ for afternoons? It seems like I remember that working for you before..
Have the best time
ScarletFire
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2004
My kids are grown and when they were little, we didn't wait in a line longer than 20 minutes. I ran all over the park collecting fastpasses from the machines. Now that they're grown, I don't mind to wait in line with them. It's fun. We hang out, talk to line neighbors and it's not so bad. Some of the queues are so cute! Weird that I don't mind to wait in line. However, my limit is <60 minutes.
I prefer the mid-day break too. My park limit is about 5 hours. I like to hop to EPCOT for dinner or the MK for fireworks.
I love the early mornings when everyone is in line and the park seems empty. We can afford to relax after many trips to Disney and AP's.
gottalovepluto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2014
It’s impossible for anyone to know if that is affecting crowds vs the fact that it is just isn’t Christmas/New Years or a marathon weekend.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
The parks continue to be busy.
A reminder to keep discussions on topic of travel and Disney please and not veer off into Covid discussion/debate.
Thanks!
A reminder to keep discussions on topic of travel and Disney please and not veer off into Covid discussion/debate.
Thanks!
gottalovepluto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2014
Has anyone tried RAT at end of night or during Harmonious? (When ROTR first went standby doing it last thing at night that week was great for low crowds so I’m hoping RAT is similar…)
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