Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hopping on to this thread to say something:

SAFETY MATTERS!

A couple I’m friends with just returned. Besides discussing Genie plus and for this couple it’s negative issues (I’ve only used it at DLR and I didn’t really use it or enjoy it and gave my issues with all those express pass/quick queue/front of the line systems but I’ll let their review be known as I haven’t tried it at WDW yet), they mentioned something that freaked me out and I sent them the list of guest service contacts the Dis offers on their website because they should let someone know.

Apparently when they were riding Soarin’ instead of alternating the three theaters they loaded and played them all at once, causing for a major pile up at the exit which was described by this couple as close to a stampede as possible. They stated they did not feel safe and I asked if they told anyone. That’s when they didn’t and I sent the info but I’m telling you all if you don’t feel safe SAY SOMETHING!

On a trip a long time ago the first show of fantasmic was exited out over by ToT (which isn’t the exit at all) and it caused chaos! Wall to wall people in a small space and mass confusion. We did make a complaint to the manager of Fantasmic, the supervisor on duty of Sunset Boulevard attractions and if I’m not mistaken one of the top three names of DHS at the time. And let’s just say that night, every trip after and every blogger after we’ve exited the right way.

If you see something and you don’t feel safe please say something. I implored the couple to file a formal email and they are.

Thanks for reading this if you do! And miss if this isn’t allowed let me know-you all are the best

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Recap for yesterday (Tuesday 1/3). No Genie+. EPCOT morning, hopped to HS.

Arrived by car at toll booth at 7:26am and was told to come back at 7:30am. Did a loop and waited in a nearby line that was 15 cars deep.

Once we got through the toll booth, parked, and exited the vehicle, we were held in the parking lot until 7:45am. Held at turnstiles until 7:50am. Held at Nemo until 8:25am (for 8:30am early entry, 9am opening).

Remy
Picture with Snow White
Three Caballeros
Guardians
Club Cool
Living with the land
Figment
Nemo
Turtle talk with Crush
Left around 3:30m

Arrived HS around 4pm
Indiana Jones
Fantasmic (8pm)

We went off plan and switched out Frozen for Guardians, which threw off the rest of the morning. Our Guardians boarding group 10 was called for 8:40am to 9:40am. We arrived 30 minutes late and got in with green tap points and no questions. Once the ride was done about an hour later, we seemed to wander aimlessly for a couple of hours. Frozen was longer than we wanted to wait, and we couldn’t decide where to eat.

We finally snapped out of it, but never got to Frozen, which was our original goal for the morning.

For food at EPCOT with no Festivals, I recommend eating at Connections when it opens (we foolishly passed up this option) or eating at Sunshine Seasons when it’s already packed (it moves quickly, and it helped reset our day!).

Last night was our final time in HS, and the goal was Fantasmic and shopping, eating, and getting nighttime pictures in Galaxy’s Edge.

We arrived at Fantasmic around 7:30pm for the first 8:00pm show and was seated all the way at the far end of the amphitheater.

 

[Juventus]

We were there yesterday too (1/3).

Note: I was at Guest Relations Disney Springs the day before to pick up tickets where I mentioned my Dolphin reservation disappeared a few times from the app and I very politically asked for the possibility of receiving a Guest Experience pass for my troubles. Result: passes for GotG for Tuesday, and 7dmr for Friday! I was shocked; a great way to start things off!


It was just the wife and I yesterday (with the kids Wednesday and Friday).


Our stay at Dolphin started yesterday so we got to their parking lot just before 7:00 and from there got GotG Group 3 and then a 9:30 TT, both on my phone as wife's phone couldn't refresh the tip board. So, again, a solid start.


Left luggage in car and got to IG around 7:25, maybe 2nd group in line.


We were off Remy by 8:22! Headed down to Soaring where we were held at Canada until 8:30. When we were released from that point we passed a mass off people who must off been the early entrance guests who entered the front of the park…so it was a huge advantage entering from IG.


Did Soar'n, living with the land, coffee, then the TT LL, immediately got Frozin for just after our 5:00 adr at San angel Inn.


Got off TT and headed to spaceship earth where it was a 30 minute wait so I quickly modified the Frozen LL to spaceship earth (immediate return time), and rebooked frozen for 6:00…perfect.


Next did GotG with the boarding group: 45 minutes maybe?


Next walked/boated back to Dolphin where our room was ready for 12:30. Power napped/had a few drinks and back in the park around 3:15 and did GotG with the other pass…even better the second time. At some point I booked a 8:00 soar'n LL.


5:00 dinner San angel in mexico; prime ribeye tacos and margheritas.


Walked over to Frozen and while getting on I refreshed into a Remy LL.


So from there we walked around, had a few drinks, did the Remy and finished the night off with a concourse B, Row 2 flight on Soar'n.


…and hit Abrcadabar on the way back to the hotel.


I've been to EPCOT well over a dozen times (mostly march break), and it was the least crowded I've seen it. Real nice to walk around and short lines for drinks…yet the lines for attractions were still crazy…Remy was 200 minutes at one point.


Anyways, a great day. Have DHS AH tonight with the kids.





































































































































































































































































































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[bwmjam]

Just back from a 4 day trip over New Year's - we had a blast but yes, it was crazy crowded. We utilized Genie + to the max to the tune of $30 pp/per day. We also purchased ILL to the tune of $25 pp/per ride - so yeah, Disney squeezed as much money from us as they could. The reality is FOP was a 225 minute wait, Ratatouille was 185, Rise was 315! I guess the cost of ILL was worth it considering the wait times. I wouldn't go again this time of year because the crowds are just ridiculous, but I have 1 in college and 1 in high school with different spring breaks so this is the only time I can really get my family together. I do miss the days when they were little and I could just pull them out of school for a week and enjoy less crowds.

Mobile ordering is a lifesaver! We placed our lunch order around 8 to get lunch at 12 - 12:30 and it worked beautifully. Saw a lot of frustrated families waiting over an hour in line. (of course it was impossible to find a table to sit at with the crowds.) Also, you can purchase items on the mobile app too, just scan the items with your phone - it was so easy.

I wouldn't be afraid to go this time of year but I wouldn't choose it if you can help it. You will need Genie + and ILL to navigate it all.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Thursday December 29th. We woke up around 8am and got ready. Took a bus to AK and checked in to our Wild Africa Trek. Amazing experience and definitely worth the cost -- the food was delicious, the bridge crossings were a fun experience, and we got exceptionally close to giraffes. We then rode Everest with a LL I booked earlier in the morning.

Headed to Disney Springs to get a new pair of shoes. Now we are just chilling at the resort until the evening. Will eat around World Showcase for dinner tonight. Was going to visit MK tonight, but we have already gotten our MK fix two nights ago during DEEH. So most likely we will lie low and have a chill evening at YC.

ETA: the quiet pool at YC is absolutely wonderful. It's 8:25pm and I'm the only person here. I have the entire place to myself!

We are doing the Wild Africa Trek on 1/14! I am wondering about my camera. I take a ton of photos, plus purchase Memory Maker. I know they take photos on the trek, and we get the photos, what did you think? Were you happy with the pictures? Do you wish you had more?

 

[cjlong88]

We are doing the Wild Africa Trek on 1/14! I am wondering about my camera. I take a ton of photos, plus purchase Memory Maker. I know they take photos on the trek, and we get the photos, what did you think? Were you happy with the pictures? Do you wish you had more?

They took some amazing photos. I'm not a picture person, but I recommend you bring your phone along and take your own just so you can be sure to take any shots you may not get. You can even ask them to take certain shots throughout, although they dona really good job getting some very nice candid photos of both your party and the animals.

They did appear to be edited to look very professional, which was very nice!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Recap for yesterday (Wednesday 1/4). Our third and final day in the parks. MK in the morning, hopped to EPCOT. No Genie+.

Arrived at resort bus stop at 7am (1.5 hrs before Early Entry at 8:30am). Bus arrived at 7:30am (1 hr before Early Entry). Through MK turnstiles 7:55am. Held at Cosmic Rays until 8:25am.

Mine train
Tomorrowland speedway
Buzz lightyear spin
Peoplemover
Winnie the pooh
Philharmagic
Tom Sawyer island
Railroad
Meet Mulan
Left around 2pm

Arrived EPCOT around 5pm
Frozen
American adventure
Harmonius

Highlight of the day (and probably trip) was unexpectedly seeing Mulan meet-n-greet as we were leaving MK for the last time this trip. DD was dressed as Mulan, and Mulan was surprised to see someone dressed as her! We didn’t even see her at EPCOT, which is where we were hoping to find her.

 

[sweetmama17]

Recap for yesterday, our 12+ hour park day to show visiting Grandparents all the new rides. We are AP and never tour like this so we did buy the $25 G+ to help. The 7yr old also uses a DAS pass.

Traffic was terrible so we didn't walk into Epcot until almost 930 (stayed at pop last night so did qualify for ee) so we didn't do quite as much as we had hoped at Epcot.

Spaceship Earth (standby 25 min)
Guardians (VQ boarding group 35)
TT (DAS)
lunch (Via Napoli)
Remi (DAS): This must have been down because the LL was all the way to the entrance to France. This was a good 40 min LL wait even with the line constantly moving.

Hopped to HS around 230.

Mickey Bar snack pick me up
Star Tours (stand by)
Muppets (stand by)
millennium falcon (LL)
slinky (LL)
dinner at docking bay (only because RISE was down)
RISE (DAS)
Mickeys RR (LL)
skipped our Aliens LL
ToT (DAS)
Fantasmic 930

FYI....i tried for hours to "modify" our aliens LL to something different had had no luck. I never saw a tsmm, tot or rock n roller coaster which all would have been preferred. However, was happy to be able to stack 4 rides at HS which I consider a win. Was still able to get slinky at 7am after getting the VQ. The LL were definitely all a longer wait than they have been compared to our previous visits.

 

[Lsdolphin]

has anyone gone to an After Hours event yet? Dont see a thread for the 2023 After Hour events .

 

[SkyGuy]

has anyone gone to an After Hours event yet? Dont see a thread for the 2023 After Hour events .

https://www.disboards.com/threads/hollywood-studios-after-hours.3899551/unread
The first MK after hours is Monday. I’m sure someone will start one for it.

 

[SkyGuy]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/hollywood-studios-after-hours.3899551/unread
The first MK after hours is Monday. I’m sure someone will start one for it.

I think I linked to the last page of the thread…

 

[Stormtrooper mum]

Just back from a 4 day trip over New Year's - we had a blast but yes, it was crazy crowded. We utilized Genie + to the max to the tune of $30 pp/per day. We also purchased ILL to the tune of $25 pp/per ride - so yeah, Disney squeezed as much money from us as they could. The reality is FOP was a 225 minute wait, Ratatouille was 185, Rise was 315! I guess the cost of ILL was worth it considering the wait times. I wouldn't go again this time of year because the crowds are just ridiculous, but I have 1 in college and 1 in high school with different spring breaks so this is the only time I can really get my family together. I do miss the days when they were little and I could just pull them out of school for a week and enjoy less crowds.

Mobile ordering is a lifesaver! We placed our lunch order around 8 to get lunch at 12 - 12:30 and it worked beautifully. Saw a lot of frustrated families waiting over an hour in line. (of course it was impossible to find a table to sit at with the crowds.) Also, you can purchase items on the mobile app too, just scan the items with your phone - it was so easy.

I wouldn't be afraid to go this time of year but I wouldn't choose it if you can help it. You will need Genie + and ILL to navigate it all.

We had the same experience and were there from tues to Thurs this week. Masses and masses of people so ills and genie + felt like a necessary investment as well as sucking it up any rope dropping each day. Only disappointing park was animal kingdom. Wasted an hour and a genie + on Nemo which cancelled without apology right at the start time. My kids were gutted. Also yak and yeti lunch took forever sadly so that ate into a lot of the day. At Epcot Remy from the ig was fantastic and we were done before park early open which was great for the young ones. Gotg really was just that incredible. Stunning ride and soooo smooth. Stayed at pop and it was cheap and convenient. I probably prefer the theming at spa but couldn’t fault the rooms. Nervous about getting an Uber back to the airport for how long it would take to get an xl for 5 of us at 6pm…. Was there in literally 3 mins so must have been hanging on property. Topolino’s character breakfast was delicious and lived up to the hype. Most of all I was thrilled that finally after years of missing out we finally got our simba popcorn bucket .

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Final thoughts now that we are back home.

Crowds: I know we were visiting during the busiest time of the year, but it didn't feel that bad to us. We focused on getting 1-2 rides during early entry, and after that, it was whatever had the lowest wait times. Since we weren't bothered with headliners during the day, it didn't feel overwhelming to us.

Entertainment: For HarmoniUS, I was pleasantly surprised. I found it upbeat and catchy. For Enchantment, I can't wait for Happily Ever After to return. For Fantasmic, trying to get in and out of the show still doesn't make it worth it to me, but I'm glad we saw it. Loved Indiana and Beauty and the Beast. It was nice to have things other than rides.

MagicBand+: I am so glad I only purchased 1 for our family to share, and not 1 for each person! It just wasn't worth it. Problems charging it, problems getting in the park, no real interaction other than Fantasmic.

Weather: Turned out great. It was so nice to have consistent temperatures from morning to night, without needing to change clothes or layers.

Genie+: Definitely not necessary every day of the trip for every park. It's nice to have it for at least 1 day, to knock out rides that are important to you, in parks that are important to you. I found the app frustrating and it drained my battery before the end of the day. Also, with modifying times, we never found times that were sooner, only later. We used it on our first day, starting with 1 LL selection at HS in the morning, and then stacking for MK later. It's extremely hard to plan where and when you will be anywhere, but we made it work for one day.

Overall, we had a great time and are glad we went. For us, this was our most expensive vacation ever (about $5000, previously about $3500). We debated cancelling or postponing, since costs have gotten so high and there are better ways to spend the money. However, with our oldest graduating high school this year (we've been visiting Disney since she was 2), the timing was right and everything worked out. Yay!!

 

[bjscheel]

Genie+: Definitely not necessary every day of the trip for every park. It's nice to have it for at least 1 day, to knock out rides that are important to you, in parks that are important to you. I found the app frustrating and it drained my battery before the end of the day. Also, with modifying times, we never found times that were sooner, only later. We used it on our first day, starting with 1 LL selection at HS in the morning, and then stacking for MK later. It's extremely hard to plan where and when you will be anywhere, but we made it work for one day.

Good to hear. We leave tomorrow and I'm not planning on paying extra. It should be quieter next week. We do have a first timer with us but I think we can get him on the most important things and the rest will be bonus. Thanks for the reports!

 

[PrincessK&A]

Hi, just wanted to share our strategies….
Here is Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week. We are so very happy with our choices…… times in pictures = Genie plus bookings. We did $ILL for GOT and ROR once.

 

[Burgermom]

Final thoughts now that we are back home.

Crowds: I know we were visiting during the busiest time of the year, but it didn't feel that bad to us. We focused on getting 1-2 rides during early entry, and after that, it was whatever had the lowest wait times. Since we weren't bothered with headliners during the day, it didn't feel overwhelming to us.

Entertainment: For HarmoniUS, I was pleasantly surprised. I found it upbeat and catchy. For Enchantment, I can't wait for Happily Ever After to return. For Fantasmic, trying to get in and out of the show still doesn't make it worth it to me, but I'm glad we saw it. Loved Indiana and Beauty and the Beast. It was nice to have things other than rides.

MagicBand+: I am so glad I only purchased 1 for our family to share, and not 1 for each person! It just wasn't worth it. Problems charging it, problems getting in the park, no real interaction other than Fantasmic.

Weather: Turned out great. It was so nice to have consistent temperatures from morning to night, without needing to change clothes or layers.

Genie+: Definitely not necessary every day of the trip for every park. It's nice to have it for at least 1 day, to knock out rides that are important to you, in parks that are important to you. I found the app frustrating and it drained my battery before the end of the day. Also, with modifying times, we never found times that were sooner, only later. We used it on our first day, starting with 1 LL selection at HS in the morning, and then stacking for MK later. It's extremely hard to plan where and when you will be anywhere, but we made it work for one day.

Overall, we had a great time and are glad we went. For us, this was our most expensive vacation ever (about $5000, previously about $3500). We debated cancelling or postponing, since costs have gotten so high and there are better ways to spend the money. However, with our oldest graduating high school this year (we've been visiting Disney since she was 2), the timing was right and everything worked out. Yay!!

Can you say a bit more about the challenges with getting in and out of Fantasmic? Are people pushy? Just trying to figure out if its worth the stress. Also, in terms of magic band plus, what issues did you encounter with getting into the park? would it not tap?

 

[Mango7100]

Can you say a bit more about the challenges with getting in and out of Fantasmic? Are people pushy? Just trying to figure out if its worth the stress. Also, in terms of magic band plus, what issues did you encounter with getting into the park? would it not tap?

We went to the 930 showing of Fantasmic on NYE. We got in line about 9–they did try to cram you close together but no one was running or pushing once the line started moving. We sat close to the top (I like sitting up higher and didn’t want to be in the first few rows and get wet) and left a few minutes early to beat the crowds leaving and had no issues.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Can you say a bit more about the challenges with getting in and out of Fantasmic? Are people pushy? Just trying to figure out if its worth the stress. Also, in terms of magic band plus, what issues did you encounter with getting into the park? would it not tap?

Getting in Fantasmic is better than getting out. We arrived around 7:30pm for the 8:00pm show to a constant stream of people entering. The stadium was already full except for part of the final section (and the upper overflow bleachers were mostly available). However, I dislike how they force you to sit in certain areas. I understand they are trying to fill in spaces as best as possible, but I don't like sitting towards the bottom. Thankfully, we were able to hang around and get a seat towards the top.

Exiting is very packed. Thankfully, people weren't pushy, but it is wall to wall with no space to see where you are going. We were exited to the front of the park, in a different way than we came in. I was hoping to get pictures of the Tower of Terror and see other things in the park, but it just wasn't worth it to walk back.

If you have never seen Fantasmic, I recommend seeing it at least once, just be aware of the crowds. In mass crowd situations, I always try to sit where I have an easy out if I need it (top rows, end of the aisle).

For the MagicBand+, I honestly have no idea why we had issues, but it wouldn't tap in two different times. Even when checking in at the hotel, I asked for a backup Key to the World card, but they wouldn't give me one. They said even if the band had issues with the battery or pairing, it would still tap in, just like a card. So, I'm not sure what the issue was. However, once the band popped off my wrist 3 times in one day, I stopped wearing it. We tried using rubber bands to secure it, but they kept sliding and it didn't work. We were so busy all day, I just couldn't keep worrying about it. Hopefully, other people will have better success!

 

[DisneyMama811]

Exiting is very packed. Thankfully, people weren't pushy, but it is wall to wall with no space to see where you are going.

Do they make you exit as soon as the show is over? or can you hang back a little and wait to exit? I have developed severe claustrophobia during the pandemic and being in a people pit will definitely induce a panic attack. We have booked a Fantasmic Dining Package and I know that has it's own entrance but I imagine everyone exits at the same place?!

 

[snikki]

Do they make you exit as soon as the show is over? or can you hang back a little and wait to exit? I have developed severe claustrophobia during the pandemic and being in a people pit will definitely induce a panic attack. We have booked a Fantasmic Dining Package and I know that has it's own entrance but I imagine everyone exits at the same place?!

You can hang back and wait. There isn’t an organized exit procedure.

We did it twice the week it was released. For the post park show we exited to the front of the park. There were a lot of people but there wasn’t any pushing or chaos. The second time we exited to sunset blvd and the same. Lots of people but everyone acted appropriate. I’ve seen it more packed and crazier at Epcot on a weekend during F&W.