Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[aljack34]

Here now. Been here all week. Crowds are terrible. But we go late to parks and basically walk on to everything. Only time we waited was in Dhs for slinky for about 20 minutes at park close Wednesday. We also walked out of dhs by ourselves after a 8:55 Cantina reservation. It was wonderful. Mask compliance is pretty good. Always a few in the crowd... availability of food is good. But I made a lot of ADR’s. Battling the crowds for counter service is not my thing. Overall good trip but it’s just really crowded. I have went during spring break many times and this has been about the same crowd level wise.

 

[DMLAINI]

Is the security for all 4 parks, the walk through scanner type or will someone have to dig through our bag?

 

[HokieRaven5]

Is the security for all 4 parks, the walk through scanner type or will someone have to dig through our bag?

Walk through Scanners. Be sure to remove large items like some Water Bottles, Umbrellas, Portable Batteries and hold them out straight in front of you and you should be fine. They'll search the bags still if the scanner detects something.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Walk through Scanners. Be sure to remove large items like some Water Bottles, Umbrellas, Portable Batteries and hold them out straight in front of you and you should be fine. They'll search the bags still if the scanner detects something.

Eyeglass/sunglass cases as well.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Eyeglass/sunglass cases as well.

Yeah really anything that has metal associated with it just best to take it out of the bag, hold it in front of you and walk through.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[lnR_Texas]

All, planning for RD at HS this Sunday. Debating on doing ToT first thing but want to know if it is generally running before official opening? Any recent experience with this?
Thanks!

We were there today at opening and planned to start with ToT. It was delayed a bit to open (note that we were near the front of the temperature check line, so we were in the park quickly, by 8:13) so we did RnR. We were on maybe the fourth train of the day. When we came out, ToT was open and we waited 20 min. But they only had 1 side open, and then opened the second side while we were boarding the other side. By the time we go out, the line was already snaking outside past the exit.

The short answer is yes, it should be open. But it can be delayed...

 

[Tess]

Yeah really anything that has metal associated with it just best to take it out of the bag, hold it in front of you and walk through.

Follow the above and no bag search. What you typically hear is “keep moving.” Such a nice improvement.

Not necessarily! I did all of the above and got pulled aside every single time I entered the park. I carry a Baggalini and it has large metal rings that connect the cross body strap and bag. Additionally it has a zipper for eyeglasses on the front of said strap. I set the alarm off every time and would then be passed through (after a bag check) every time with no explanation what was causing the red flag. The metal rings are the only thing I can guess and when I asked a security guard--he indicated it was something in my chest area--well hello, that is the only metal there (the rings and zipper) since the bag portion was on my back/hip.

 

[jlundeen]

How does it work with a scooter... I was going to put my stuff in the basket and hold my battery charger and phone if necessary - or do they just search scooter guests in a separate line?

 

[jo-jo]

Walk through Scanners. Be sure to remove large items like some Water Bottles, Umbrellas, Portable Batteries and hold them out straight in front of you and you should be fine. They'll search the bags still if the scanner detects something.

Water bottle, you mean reusable ones? Not the ones in a case you buy at walmart, right? What about soda cans? We plan on packing lunch for the parks.

 

[Lsdolphin]

How does it work with a scooter... I was going to put my stuff in the basket and hold my battery charger and phone if necessary - or do they just search scooter guests in a separate line?

As you approach the scanner area you will see a sign with Handicap logo and a CM will direct to pull up alongside one of the scanners and ask if you can walk through the scanner. You are instructed to carry any bags thru the scanner but to leave any umbrellas in your ECV. Then you just walk back over to your ECV and drive away. Quick and easy

 

[Leahc117]

Here now. Been here all week. Crowds are terrible. But we go late to parks and basically walk on to everything. Only time we waited was in Dhs for slinky for about 20 minutes at park close Wednesday. We also walked out of dhs by ourselves after a 8:55 Cantina reservation. It was wonderful. Mask compliance is pretty good. Always a few in the crowd... availability of food is good. But I made a lot of ADR’s. Battling the crowds for counter service is not my thing. Overall good trip but it’s just really crowded. I have went during spring break many times and this has been about the same crowd level wise.

I’m confused by this...trying to be excited about our April trip -and seeing a lot of ride times that don’t look too bad- so how are crowds terrible? Is it because people are in lines in all of the walk ways? Should the crowds calm down after Easter? Thanks!!

 

[HokieRaven5]

Water bottle, you mean reusable ones? Not the ones in a case you buy at walmart, right? What about soda cans? We plan on packing lunch for the parks.

Yeah, we had metal reusable water bottles. Unsure on soda cans but the sensors tend to go off for anything metal.

 

[lnR_Texas]

I’m confused by this...trying to be excited about our April trip -and seeing a lot of ride times that don’t look too bad- so how are crowds terrible? Is it because people are in lines in all of the walk ways? Should the crowds calm down after Easter? Thanks!!

I am here now and think things are manageable. A few thoughts: rope dropping an hour before official opening helps (but is not necessary), avoid lines between about 11-2, invest in Touring Plans subscription so you have better estimates of real wait times, and take advantage of the late afternoon and evening when lines are shorter.

Have a great trip!

 

[polynor]

I’m confused by this...trying to be excited about our April trip -and seeing a lot of ride times that don’t look too bad- so how are crowds terrible? Is it because people are in lines in all of the walk ways? Should the crowds calm down after Easter? Thanks!!

I think it’s “crowded” because the lines spill out to the walkways, they can have only so many people in the stores and restaurants so people queue or or wait til their mobile orders are called right outside making it congested. but...when you get your food, you know there’s a table for you. The spaced out lines means youre moving more constantly. The lines are shorter to check out in the stores. The worst part we find right now is waiting for buses because of the more limited capacity.
today, we got in line for btmr, stated 40, line started out near splash, we waited maybe 15 min.

 

[KuiilHasSpoken]

Recently returned from a 3 day trip with my wife. It was our first trip with just the two of us, and we wanted to focus on World Showcase which is hard to do with kids. We had an incredible trip! Even though there were plenty of people there, we really never felt like the crowds were too bad. Wait times weren't that bad either given that the parks were at their current capacity limits. The Touring Plans posted wait times were spot on, and were usually much lower than the official posted times. We had no issues with park hopping despite there being no park passes available.

We stayed at the Dolphin, which we loved because we were able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They are no longer using Disney buses there, and using the early buses to MK and AK didn't get us there in time for an optimal rope drop experience.

3/11 - Epcot
We spent a full day at Epcot our first day. We went to Test Track and Frozen quickly at park opening and then slowed the pace down from there to enjoy the Flower and Garden Festival. We loved the topiaries, the gardens, and all the amazing food booths! We spent most of the day in World Showcase, though did make it to Soarin' and Spaceship Earth after dinner.

3/12 - MK / Epcot
We weren't able to make it MK as early as we would have liked (8:45 for a 9:00 opening). The line for 7DMT was already quite long, so we went to Splash Mountain first instead. It was probably close to a 30 minute wait. We then went to Haunted Mansion which was a walk on followed by Flight, before slowing down for soaking in the scenery, taking pictures, and shopping before lunch. We ate at Cinderella's Royal Table which was a treat! Afterwards we went to 7DMT and the line wasn't too bad at all (30-40 minutes).

We then returned to the hotel to rest up for the evening in World Showcase. Strolling around World Showcase in the evening was delightful! France was our favorite.

3/13 - AK / HS / Epcot
We wanted to get a taste of AK since we had never been before, so we went for a few hours in the morning. It wasn't our favorite park (Dinoland USA?), but it was good to spend some time there and FOP was incredibly impressive.

After resting for the early afternoon, we went to HS around 5:00. The park had cleared out significantly by then. You can really get a lot done there in the evenings. Mickey/Minnie's was only a 15 minute wait, and we followed that with SDD which was only 25 minutes. We stayed away from Galaxy's Edge since we had just been there with our kids a couple of month's ago, but we really love it there!

Afterwards we took the Skyliner to Epcot around sunset which was incredible -- definitely one of the biggest highlights of the trip! Finished up with another wonderful evening in World Showcase including some live music (Vintage Vinyl) which was nice.

Overall, it was a great trip! We weren't sure what to expect being at Disney without the kids but we loved it!

 

[tanyaandallie]

Here now. Been here all week. Crowds are terrible. But we go late to parks and basically walk on to everything. Only time we waited was in Dhs for slinky for about 20 minutes at park close Wednesday. We also walked out of dhs by ourselves after a 8:55 Cantina reservation. It was wonderful. Mask compliance is pretty good. Always a few in the crowd... availability of food is good. But I made a lot of ADR’s. Battling the crowds for counter service is not my thing. Overall good trip but it’s just really crowded. I have went during spring break many times and this has been about the same crowd level wise.

How did you walk on to everything? No waiting? I have two friends in wdw this week and they definitely were not walking onto anything.

 

[Nabas]

Battling the crowds for counter service is not my thing.

Mobile ordering is definitely the way to go now.

I thought I would not be a fan of mobile ordering but we've used it several times now and it's infinitely better than the old standing-in-line counter service way.

 

[Naomeri]

Finally getting around to typing up the rest of my park experiences.

Third Park Day: Saturday, March 13–Hollywood Studios (9am open)

Woke up for a boarding group, successfully got BG75 on Pop wifi. Since I had a later BG, I decided not to rope drop. Boarded the Skyliner at 11:25 and arrived at DHS 10 minutes later. Grabbed a funnel cake for brunch before heading to MMRR. I got in line at 12:05, with a posted wait of 50 minutes. The queue wandered all over the place, but there were CMs keeping everyone on track, and policing people trying to walk and eat in line. I got on the ride at 12:52. I knew my BG was getting close, so I headed back to Galaxy’s Edge and sat down with a Sprite grenade to wait.

BG 75 called at 1:08, and I was in the queue at 1:11. I reached the end of the queue at 1:30. Wandered back to search for the end of the MFSR line and found it at 1:56 with an estimate of 70 minutes. Thankfully, it didn’t take quite that long and I got on at 2:58. Chose to be the right pilot and we (me and a random mom/daughter duo) scored 6695.

Alien Swirling Saucers had a posted wait of 20 minutes at 3:08, and even with a cleaning cycle, I was on at 3:23. Next was TSMM at 3:32, with a posted 25 minutes, on at 3:43 (I scored 120,600, with a 44% accuracy, which is better than my last trip). After that, I was ready for a pool break, so I went back to Pop.

 

[JFox]

Mobile ordering is definitely the way to go now.

I thought I would not be a fan of mobile ordering but we've used it several times now and it's infinitely better than the old standing-in-line counter service way.

Same. I resisted when it first came out but now I love it. The only thing is you can't customize some things or order a la carte at some places. Or maybe I just haven't figured it out yet.