Went to HS Thursday (4/29/21) As much as I tried to prepare, I wasn't as planned for theis park. We are here for a cheer competition that you have to qualify for, so you don't know you are going way in advanced. Anyway, I spent too much time prepping my job and home life for me to be gone and organizing all the cheer details. So this is a report from a person who had not planned the day and didn't even know the layout of the park! Literally was grabbing a ma near the entrance to find MMRR which turned out to be right in front of my face.
ROTR: I used the resort wifi and I had my laptop open to time.gov. The second it turned 7:00, I hit join and then join again and I got BG 25. Yay!!!
I did not pay attention to the time when we got to HS but it was before it opened, which was great becuase we got to Orlando very late Wed. night and had a time change! We rode MMRR first and we were off that I ride at 9:03. We waited maybe 10 minutes, it was basically just a moving line and never really stopped. That ride blew me away. I did not expect to be looking at a 3D cartoon! Girls loved it too.
Then we decided to go to SDD. The wait said 70 minutes but we waited just under 30. TP said 25, so it was more accurate. I noticed all day that TP had more accurate wait times. While we were in line at SDD we ordered lunch and got the pick-up window reserved. I had it narrowed down to 2 choices (ABC Comm. and Docking Bay 7). They picked ABC.
Our boarding group got called at 9:34. It was almost our turn to board SDD (very cute ride).
We decided to do TSM before heading to Galaxy Edge. Loved the line queue. Don't remeber wait times but we rode it and made it to ROTR by 10:20 so I think we waited around 20 minutes for TSM.
ROTR: Wow! This was everyone's favorite ride of the day! We have limited knowledge of the newer Star Wars movies so I was worried we may not like the ride as much, but that was not the case. We loved it! I can't stop thinking about how great it was! Well deserved hype! After the ROTR, GE was crawling with people, it felt hot and very crowded, so that is all we did there except take some pictures. I wanted Ronto Roasters, but we were overwhelmed with the crowd at GE, so just started walking away!
Ended up having a water break also featuring churros on a bench by Miss Piggy's fountain. Feeling better and refreshed, we rode Star Tours. Waited about 20 minutes. Liked that one too, this was the Star Wars from my childhood.
Girls wanted to ride RNR so we headed down Sunset. Posted 30 minute wait, more like 20. So much fun! That ride is FAST. Who doesn't love Aerosmith??
TOT line was insane with a 100 minute wait, so decided to come back because we had 45 minutes until our lunch window up at ABC commisary. Needing to kill time before lunch and ready for some air conditioning, so we went to Animation Courtyard and walked through the Walt Disney presenets gallery and watched the film. Trying to deal with the heat and the masks were finding it helpful to have breaks like this. We are used to heat (from Texas) and we are theme park people. Normally we can just go and go, but we are not used to wearing the masks all day in the heat. I wear my mask all day at work, but walking around Florida is different! Anyway, we did enjoy the gallery and film. Walt Disney is inspirational and we are fans!!
Lunch at ABC at 1:30. Loved, loved, loved the mobile ordering and indoor lunch. That was so easy and organized and we needed a good lunch. They would not let you in unless you had an order. This was so much better than getting in line and waiting for food in a crowded place.
After lunch, we went to TOT got in line at 2:00 it was still reporting a 100 minute wait, but we were running out of day. This line about killed us! It was hot and miserable. Had a group of 10 or more people (a cheer group for sure) in front of that kept letting people join them in line. I swear that doubled in size. Some of the group kept walked away a few times and came back with food and just ate it in line. It triggers me when people break the rules. They did not care about the marked lines either. Anyway, we waited a good 80-90 minutes for TOT, but the girls loved it and it was a must do.
Then went to the Mouse Gear shop, I think that was on Sunset and the girls bought T-shirts. Finally, we went to the Frozen Sing Along for the 4:30 show. We got there about 4:00 and waited outside the theater socially distanced on spots. I think about 4-5 groups came after us and then they made people wait for the nest show. The waiting area was covered and had fans going, so it was nice and breezy, everyone sat down in thar area. Then the cast members directed us in the theater in an organized way. The 3 teenage girls really belted out the songs. This made me happy because Disney is supposed to bring out the kid in you!
We were ready to go but the girls wanted to split a funnel cake from Epic Eats. Best decision becaurse a calvacade came right by. Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Edna Mode waving from a car, Sulley, Woody, Jesse, Army Men killing it on the drums and Buzz waving from a car. We were waving and cheering for them like we were 5! The calvacades are a nice little sprinkle of the pixie dust!
I was going to get a coffee from the Trolley Car Cafe, but the line was really long. So we jusy left the park at this point. The crowds seemed to be thinning which surprised me because of park hopping. We would have like to have stayed, but we had something cheer to get to which IS why we are here! I did check wait times and noticed them dropping even TOT was going down. I think it was 45 minutes. If you miss this early, maybe hold off on it as long as you can to see if wait times drop.
Covid impact: It is very hot in the mask when you are not used to wearing one outside all day. Cast members gave lots of reminders to people about masks. mostly to cover their nose. One lady was walking and eating ice cream and a cast member told her she had to be stationary and she rolled her eyes and pulled up her mask and kept walking. Rude! The cast members never said anything about socially distancing. Not once. This is maybe too hard to inforce. We were all as nice as we could be to all cast members because we get the feeling they are probably dealing with some rude people more than usual. Also, cast members didn't seem as happy and peppy as I remember. Feeling bad for them in the pandemic. Final thought, I think the character meet and greets, shows, etc. being unavailable really took a lot away from the experience. Yes, we had a great day, but I have been to Disney pre-covid and that was the magic! I would say hold off if you can until all that comes back to plan your Disney trip. I think you will miss it more than you think.
Also, I would have to get some kind of strategy for TOT. Rope drop or closing. That line was brutal.
Happy that I did know about getting the BG for ROTR and I knew to get lunch ordered and a window selected early in the day. Both of those experiences went very well.
Today and tomorrow we compete! We will be back at Disney Sunday and Monday!
