Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[cdurham1]

Can you tell me, how much walking is there at BB? What I mean is for some of the slides. At Volcano Bay, there are so many steps. It was daunting and my mother, who is in good shape for her age, just hated it. Mind you, we won’t be doing the huge slides. We stick to the tamer ones. We usually do Typhoon Lagoon and I know they don’t have too many bad climbs to get to their slides.

Oh, there are a ton of steps. That is the most exhausting part of the day.

 

[Threehearts]

Re: best ways to store masks when not in use.
I am copying and pasting some information that I posted on another thread that is now closed in case others may find the information helpful.

I am a nurse so thought I would share how we handle mask wearing in and out of the hospital setting, including at WDW.

The safest way to remove a mask is by the ear straps. Next, you fold the mask with the area you breathed on(we call it the contaminated side), folded inward. We use the blue surgical masks for routine care but N95s when the patient has a possible contagious disease. Now, in most medical settings we assume that everyone is Covid positive rather than take a chance. Disposable masks are meant to be worn once and thrown out, but I understand that this is not practical for the general public. At no time should a mask be removed and be hanging anywhere on the user's body. You can label your masks with the person's name and fold the masks away until they need to be used again. Sharpees work well on the triple layer paper masks.

 

[disny_luvr]

For anyone at MK tonight, I’m guessing they are still packing people in for HEA? I guess there really is no way to cut down on crowds.

Also, are they still sitting different parties together on the Skyliner?

 

[bookgirl2632]

Oh, there are a ton of steps. That is the most exhausting part of the day.

I was afraid of that. Perhaps we should skip BB then.

 

[sjrec]

For anyone at MK tonight, I’m guessing they are still packing people in for HEA? I guess there really is no way to cut down on crowds.

Also, are they still sitting different parties together on the Skyliner?

We had a car to ourselves this afternoon but it wasn’t busy. When my daughter’s family returned later in the afternoon with more people in line, they were seated with another family.

 

[Dakota731]

I couldn't decide if I should laugh at this or love this, safe to say both. Yes, please, cancel in protest, show all of us and Disney who's boss lol

Yes let’s start a Revolution and have everyone cancel their trips the entire month of December, and my family and I will fly to WDW to check and make sure no one shows up lol

 

[cdurham1]

Couple of questions for you - how does DAS give you permission to eat/drink in the queue when it is only a pass that gives you a return time? And how does it keep you out of heat and sun when it just gives you a return time? Are you able to find shady areas nearby, or do you have to walk pretty far in the heat/sun? How does she handle the heat/sun just walking through the park? I've got heat/sun issues, and find walking through the park to be much harder than being in a queue, but that was when FP+ was active. Going in a week myself and am concerned about the outside queues. Are there a lot of them?

This trip is the first time I have used a UV umbrella and it has helped some walking around and walking into the park.

I am certainly not speaking for the op, but I think he is saying that without the DAS pass, those things would be an issue. I definitely see if you have a heat issue (like a well known issue from diabetes that affects your ability to sweat and regulate your body temp, possibly resulting in heat stroke), then you can manage to find enough air conditioning to cool down to make it from one spot to another. What you probably can't do is find a way to cool down if you have to wait 60+ minutes in a queue that is almost entirely outdoors like what I have seen at most of the headliner attractions this week.

 

[notatallmagic]

Couple of questions for you - how does DAS give you permission to eat/drink in the queue when it is only a pass that gives you a return time? And how does it keep you out of heat and sun when it just gives you a return time? Are you able to find shady areas nearby, or do you have to walk pretty far in the heat/sun? How does she handle the heat/sun just walking through the park? I've got heat/sun issues, and find walking through the park to be much harder than being in a queue, but that was when FP+ was active. Going in a week myself and am concerned about the outside queues. Are there a lot of them?

Sorry - to clarify... we were advised to get a DAS after diagnosis because especially during Covid there was NO eating or drinking in line whatsoever. The goal for her is to have about a 20 minute total ride time, which is usually pretty doable with DAS.

The sun/heat thing is huge for her, and the return time lets us go somewhere cooler, sit, eat, go to the restroom, walk through a shop, or go on a shorter ride with an indoor line as the time ticks off. For example, while Seven Dwarves is running down for 70 minutes, we usually walk right onto Peter Pan, Ariel, and maybe Small World. Short walks, indoor or shady lines and we're good.

Walking through the parks we do in short chunks. We also leave the park and return at night most days. If there is time to plan, then she can adjust for the outdoor time - but an unexpected wait or line in the sun without lead time is much more problematic.

Planning for us is HUGE! Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help!

 

[Blondie58]

Moderator Note - All Off Topic Posts Will be Deleted. Stick to Here Now /Just Back content and relavent questions or your post may be removed from this thread. The Community Board is a great place to discuss the virus. Thank you.

Looking for a thread to check out for the first day back at WDW. The pros, cons, pics, etc.

Just back. No masks and loved it expect for transportation. Sorry this changes tomorrow. If masks are off topic becasue they relate to Covid - delete me.

 

[notatallmagic]

We are ones who are not comfortable riding right next to someone who is not masked. I didn’t realize on slinky they were putting strangers together, but when we did, just as they put us in line, I stepped back and told the CM we did not want to ride like that. I was perfectly happy to take the exit and not ride, but the CM was quite nice and insisted we just step to the side and she put us on the next ride.

There was no excuse for her behavior. She could’ve chosen not to ride or asked to be seated alone and they would have done that with no problem.

We are extremely careful in the parks and have skipped doing many things because of crowds. Honestly, right now, I wouldn’t recommend anyone go to WDW.

Thank you for your kind words. I wish she had noticed sooner - it was so uncomfortable for everyone, including her kids. And I agree - the current situation is far from optimal.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

Just back. No masks and loved it expect for transportation. Sorry this changes tomorrow. If masks are off topic becasue they relate to Covid - delete me.

The Disboard policy has been updated to allow discussions related to theme park policy and managing it well.

for example:
Allowed: tips and discussions related to mask policy in the theme parks, eg. remember to pack extra masks, masks are being worn in the outside of X queue, adjusting your theme park plans
Disallowed: the efficacy of masks, whether you support masks and why, statistics, science, and non-Disney COVID news.

 

[notatallmagic]

For anyone at MK tonight, I’m guessing they are still packing people in for HEA? I guess there really is no way to cut down on crowds.

Also, are they still sitting different parties together on the Skyliner?

We just got back from an 8 day trip, and they were sitting multiple parties together on the Skyliner. The only exception was when it was super slow, and then we got our own.

And HEA was wall to wall people. We went 3 times, because we love that show. Once we sat off to the side and couldn't see much; the other two times we arrived about 2 hours before to get a table near Caseys/Plaza. Even then, there were lots of folks very close together. Main Street was unreal. We rode several rides after to give things a chance to clear out.

 

[harleyquinn]

DAS issues at Magic Kingdom -

I'll start by saying that I am very grateful for the ability of our family to use a DAS; without it, we could no longer do Disney at all. We have a family of 3; and the pass is for my daughter, who was diagnosed with her disability about a year ago.

Our previous 3 trips since diagnosis - DAS has worked perfectly fine. She cannot stand in direct sun/heat for extended time periods, and needs the ability to eat/drink in line. Bathroom breaks are also a pop-up issue, so longer lines can be a problem. We also encountered NO problems this trip at the other parks - they appeared to have trained DAS staff to both issue returns times, and check us back in. Wait times were accurate from DAS within 5 minutes. Almost always, there were 2 distinct Cast Members and/or lines for the 2 different functions - but the DAS lines were also long, so be prepared for that.

Our first MK DAS problem was first thing in the morning; we obtained a 70 minute DAS return time for Seven Dwarves, and headed straight to Pan, since that line is usually shorter and shaded first thing in the morning. We walked up, asked the DAS Cast Member how long the wait was, and he said "5 minutes at the most". I could see that the line was already down the hill past the Tangled bathroom area, and when I asked if he was sure, he acted very put out, and said "I TOLD you it's 5 minutes!" Well, 35 minutes later, we rode the ride. Fortunately, we were able to stay in the shade, and she didn't need to leave the line or use the restroom, but that's a big miscalculation when you ask specifically, and with DAS, riders need more accurate information than that.

Our crisis came for Splash Mountain, which was insanely busy. My son had gotten a return time for 80 minutes, so we went to try to check back in to ride, and the DAS line was literally backed up to the river. It was wall to wall people ( I took pictures), with at least a 30 minute wait to check back in. They had the wheelchair line mixed in, as well as the "Complimentary Return" kinda Fastpasses, which is typical. BUT, with as overwhelmed as the parks were this week, there were TONS of folks trying to use the "Disney screwed up, here's a FastPass". There wasn't a good way to separate our party - there wasn't anywhere close or shaded to wait, and the kids couldn't have gotten back to the line due to the density of the crowd.

So we waited about 30 minutes, and witnessed just horrible service from the one poor, untrained Cast Member trying to deal with all the angry DAS and FastPass folks. The worst part was, there was a management type with a trainee behind him for at least 20 minutes, doing NOTHING. When we got to the front of the line to check in, after watching a large party leave with the adult man in TEARS because the Cast Member wouldn't let him use his passes - he actually asked the guy, "so, what IS your disability?" - which I'm pretty sure is not ok. BTW, he didn't have a DAS - he had the Recovery Passes due to other issues with their party earlier. I mentioned to the Management Cast Member that it would be helpful if they had more help, since the line was so crazy long and many of the folks in the DAS line were struggling. Her response, "Have a Magical Day." with a smirk and a laugh.

So, it was NOT super magical when we finally got onto Splash Mountain, and my kid ends up having a medical crisis during the ride that was TOTALLY avoidable had the DAS worked like it should and like it is promised to work. We had to leave the park after that, and take about four hours before she felt well enough to be up and around again. I can offer more details if needed, but I will be following up with Disability Services. TOTALLY unacceptable.

This is horrible. I’m so sorry.

 

[penel3]

Touring Plans has a lot less red in their crowd calendar after August 23rd. I'm hopeful it will hold up. We are going on the 25th.

We arrive the 25th also!

 

[notatallmagic]

This ⬆

I think most rational adults would agree that it's unkind for a stranger - an adult - to scream at someone else's child when the child has done nothing wrong.

I rescheduled my trip from last summer, using already paid airline vouchers and Annual Passes. When I scheduled my trip, there was very limited park capacity, a Park Reservation system that I thought was sensible, and we'd had other recent positive park experiences. Disney has since increased park capacity multiple times, and I stand by my opinion that the current overcrowding and staffing issues has lead to a less than optimal park experience for guests.

 

[notatallmagic]

This is horrible. I’m so sorry.

Thank you so much. I actually just had a very pleasant conversation with Guest Services. I hope they can move toward improving this issue before someone gets hurt.

 

[aliceg]

I was afraid of that. Perhaps we should skip BB then.

Now, I'm not going to say what you should or should not do. But personally, I'd do BB for the lazy river alone. Seriously.

 

[jasmine91]

For anyone at MK tonight, I’m guessing they are still packing people in for HEA? I guess there really is no way to cut down on crowds.

Also, are they still sitting different parties together on the Skyliner?

Yes, if you have two relatively small parties, they’ll sit you together on the Skyliner.

 

[harleyquinn]

Thank you so much. I actually just had a very pleasant conversation with Guest Services. I hope they can move toward improving this issue before someone gets hurt.

I’m so glad you reached out and are satisfied. I’m positive they don’t want anyone to experience what you describe.

 

[rlk]

Just back to BLT from watching a jam-packed HEA at MK. There's no social distancing for the fireworks.