Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[KSL]

So sorry I’m only seeing this now. I just left Epcot. We don’t collect pins anymore, but I asked dh and ds if they saw any festival pins and both said they didn’t notice any.

Ok, good to know! Disappointing, but good to know ahead, which is exactly why I asked. Thank you!!

 

[auntlynne]

I’m an optimist (and believe Disney wants your money). Since the festival runs for four months, I would hope or expect the merchandise to be there a while.

From Disney Food Blog:



They did not show any pins, but the info was from the Festival preview, it seems.

 

[auntlynne]

From WDW-magazine:

 

[auntlynne]

 

[auntlynne]

Anyone there now or recently back who can comment on the availability of Flower & Garden merchandise? I'll be there Easter week and would like to get a couple of things, but I know sometimes it sells out quickly and I've heard there's rather less this year than usual. Specifically, I'd like to get a couple of those giftcards on the bracelets, pins (actually I haven't seen pins for F&G but hoping there are some?), and maybe one of the items with Figment (DD loves!). Maybe it would be better if I ask again next week.... But would like to set expectations if stuff is already gone.

Just a few weeks, maybe some of the above will still be there. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[KSL]

Thanks for these photos, @auntlynne! We are passholders so my DD will be looking for that Figment pin! I agree that Disney would surely want our money, and if this festival lasts until JULY you'd think there would still be merchandise in early April, but I've definitely been proven wrong before! Here's hoping, and thanks to your photos I know what to keep my eye out for!

 

[dez1978]

You can get an app that does a ping test. Ping measures the time it takes to send a small data set and get an answer from a server. Theory is the lower your ping speed, the better your chance is to get a BG.

Gotcha. I got BG 15 this am so I guess my speed was fast enough lol

 

[Castlequeen5]

I'm curious, did you happen to have the ticket offer attached to your package that enabled you to get 2 free days added to your tickets? Not sure of the dates of that offer. I'm wondering if possibly that was why there was a glitch? They needed to ensure you actually were going to fulfill the entire package of a resort stay which is required for the free 2 days? just a thought.

Also, if you find yourself at the GS window for an extended period of time when you arrive at RD (we've had this twice with ticket issues), you may wish to gently ask at the end if there might be an option to request a FP as we had arrived early to accomplish a certain ride with a lower wait. The one time they gave it to us and the other time I found out it had already been issued to us before I even asked. I don't recommend requesting FPs normally but when ticket issues happen when we've arrived early for RD, I have asked.

I just had a room discount and tickets... not the extra ticket offer. So I don’t know why it was a problem. This was the first time for my family to go to a park before checking in the hotel. I didn’t really take the time to ask questions like I probably should have, since I was in a rush.

I thought about saying something to the cast member about missing park time, since we were having to wait. But generally I’m not one to complain, unless I’m really upset. Plus we are visiting Disney with friends that have never been before. They were so excited about just being there, and I didn’t want to spoil the mood. Ultimately it didn’t really matter, since we got to do everything we wanted to do anyway.

 

[Castlequeen5]

We spent our 2nd park day Sunday, March 21 at Hollywood Studios. The hours were 9-8.

We started our morning trying for a boarding group in our room at Pop. One of my girls got boarding group #3! Then we walked over to the Skyliner at 7:30. We waited in line for about 20-25 minutes. After switching at CBR to the Hollywood line, we arrived at 8.

We stood around for a few minutes and then they started allowing guests to come through. We never could come up with a good RD strategy, so we decided to head to MMRR at the last minute. We were on the ride by 8:25. Then we rushed over to SDD, but the listed wait was 50 minutes. So we made a U-turn, and went to TOT and RR.

Our boarding group was called while we were still at RR. So we headed to Galaxy’s Edge. We scanned and walked on ROTR around 9:30. It was amazing! Then we walked around a bit and took some pictures. We did see Chewy, Rey, and some stormtroopers walking around the area. Eventually we got in line for MFSR. I forgot to take a picture for confirmation, but I think the listed wait time was around 50-60 minutes. The line was long, but constantly moving. We used this time to place a mobile order for part of our group at Docking Bay. We were off the ride at 11:10.

So by 11:10, we had already rode:
MMRR
TOT
RR
ROTR
MFSR

Half of our group had reservations to build a droid, while the other group had reservations at 50’s Primetime. Our reservations were at 12:00, but we got there at 11:39. I found out they allow you to check-in online up to 20 minutes early, which we did. We got a notification that our table was ready immediately after I clicked submit. So we happily got seated earlier than planned.

After lunch, we were all freezing. It had been cold and damp all morning. So we decided to go back to the hotel to warm up and take a break.

We returned around 6:00 and went to SDD. The wait time listed was 40 minutes. But we were on the ride in just under 30 minutes. Then we went to TSM. That had a 5 minute wait, which was pretty much walking through the queue.

Then we decided to go ride MMRR. The wait time listed was at 20 minutes, which was pretty accurate. It was about 7:30 when we got off, so we headed over to Star Tours with a 10 minute wait. We got off at 7:52, so we rushed over to SDD for one more ride. We got there exactly at 7:59! The wait time was still listed for 40 minutes, but I was on the ride at 8:11. So it was actually only a 12 minute wait.

So from 6-8, we rode:
SDD
TSM
MMRR
Star Tours
SDD

We took our time leaving the park, knowing there would be a line at the Skyliner. And there was even at 8:45. The line wrapped around the side and looked super long. But we actually waited about 15-20 minutes.

This park didn’t seem overly crowded or especially low...just normal. It was a cold damp day, so maybe that influenced some people into staying home. Again I thought masks and social distancing was fine. Nothing stood out to me, but I did hear CMs occasionally remind guests to pull up their masks.

This was a FABULOUS day! It’ll be hard for our 2nd HS day to be as good as this one. Ha!

 

[TestingH2O]

Anyone there now or recently back who can comment on the availability of Flower & Garden merchandise? I'll be there Easter week and would like to get a couple of things, but I know sometimes it sells out quickly and I've heard there's rather less this year than usual. Specifically, I'd like to get a couple of those giftcards on the bracelets, pins (actually I haven't seen pins for F&G but hoping there are some?), and maybe one of the items with Figment (DD loves!). Maybe it would be better if I ask again next week.... But would like to set expectations if stuff is already gone.

We were at Epcot on Monday. I saw the Minnie pin in one of the festival kiosks in world showcase. I didn’t realize there were two designs or look for the figment one.

 

[marshallabney]

Continued from 8420
3/23 - started in HS. We had a late night at Epcot and were really productive there the night before, so I let everyone sleep in again (I’m going soft apparently). I got BG7 and we wandered over around 9:15 from BW. We were on Rise at 9:35 for the 2nd time this week, what a great ride! The girls split an ice cream sandwich afterwards for “breakfast” because #vacation. We received any time FPs for most rides the night before for getting stuck on MMRR and used those for MFSR, which was posted at 90 and the line was into Toy Story land. Walked on in 5 minutes. Had an early lunch at Brown Derby, scallop app and Cobb salad were both amazing. DD6 and DW waited 20 for TSMM at a posted 45, and DD9 and I waited in a 50 posted RnRC for 20 as well. Little pixie dust sprinkling again today when a guest relations CM said how much he liked my shirt, I showed him the website where I got it. Couple minutes later he came back asked my DD9 what she wanted to ride, and emphatically she said MFSR, so he gave us FPs! We went back and rode MFSR again with no wait, and then headed back to BW for a rest. We hung out in the room from 3-5:15. We had 7:50 reservations for Tiffins, so we decided to head on over to AK early and try and ride Safari and FoP. We waited exactly 2 minutes for the bus to AK outside BW and we were on the safari at 6:05. Walked over to EE and DD9 and I rode with no wait. Then walked to FoP and waited 33 minutes on a 45 min posted wait. Something went wrong in our theater, however, and we waited on the ride vehicles for 10+ minutes before the ride started. Because of that we were about 10 mins late for our ADR, but CMs were great and gracious and we ordered quickly. We were maybe the last people out of the park at 9:10, and bus was waiting for us to take us back to BW. Pretty awesome day. We’re taking the day off for pool time, relaxation and a bit of work (unfortunately).

 

[MinnieMSue]

Went to studios yesterday (3/23). Had a really good day. We were later than I wanted to be getting into the park because the skyliner was down when we got to CBR and had to wait for a bus. Not an issue though since we pretty much walked onto ToT and RnR. Then we did our boarding group ride. Lines weren’t bad all day foe what we rode. We did toy story mania later in the day and our car didn’t work on the dart scene. We told them and they put us on again. They seemed to be having some issues because I saw maintenance had one of the cars open (area between the seats). Also when we did the millennium falcon ride there was a family ahead of us where the dad and kids kept removing their masks. I mentioned to a cast member as we got close to the loading area that we didn’t want to ride with them. She said we could ride by ourselves if we wanted. But we rode with a couple of teens. I had heard that you couldn’t ride alone anymore but that CM said it was fine. It was a really good day.
Today (3/24) we got on a bus at pop to AK. Oddly we were the second bus (3 came at once) but the first to leave. We were actually the very first bus to arrive at AK and 4th in line for pandora. We didn’t have to wait for temp or to get into the park. We were inside the park at 7:05 and let into FOP at 7:15. Boarded by 7:30. We then went to Navi snd there was no one in line or in the loading area. Literally walked right on. Got on safari but are currently stuck by the goats because a vehicle broke down and we could be stuck a very very long time. Will see what happens lol. At least we are close to the end. We have been stuck a half hour so far roughly. I love that everyone on our ride is chill about it.

 

[bdiddy]

I second echo this and also have kids with ASD. I get also where the original OP is coming from and I have no doubt that DAS system is abused. But sometimes it is very difficult to tell unless you observe or speak with people / kids who have autism. Funny enough I always thought if people took issue with it and ended up near my son in line or on a plane they would regret it. As I am sure your well aware once the stemming takes off it can really bother other people. His bouncing in the plane in particular, we flew SW and obviously they don't have assigned seats so we were a bit concerned. The entire row was shaking for the duration of the flight.

I was just wondering how DAS works. Our son has always had anxiety but things spun out of control last year when he hit puberty and with the shut down. The worse being severe OCD. It's completely upended our lives. He also just received an autism diagnosis. We actually had him evaluated when he was very young but they said he wasn't on the spectrum. They think he was just so high-functioning he just flew under the radar all of these years until recently. Anyway - the OCD is a beast of its own and I have NO idea how he is going to do traveling much less at the parks. He is excited about going and looking forward to it but I don't know how all of his rituals and new tics will translate over into the parks. Is talking with someone through DAS something you do beforehand or when you get there?

 

[lovethattink]

I was just wondering how DAS works. Our son has always had anxiety but things spun out of control last year when he hit puberty and with the shut down. The worse being severe OCD. It's completely upended our lives. He also just received an autism diagnosis. We actually had him evaluated when he was very young but they said he wasn't on the spectrum. They think he was just so high-functioning he just flew under the radar all of these years until recently. Anyway - the OCD is a beast of its own and I have NO idea how he is going to do traveling much less at the parks. He is excited about going and looking forward to it but I don't know how all of his rituals and new tics will translate over into the parks. Is talking with someone through DAS something you do beforehand or when you get there?

When you get there.

You might want to check out the disability board here.
Click Here

 

[wilkydelts]

To those who enter Animal Kingdom via Buena Vista Dr then Osceola Parkway, if you get to the toll booths to early how did they re-route you to loop you back around? I plan to arrive right at 7 but if I am early, I wanted to know what to expect.

 

[DavidNYC]

Any reports on Blizzard Beach the last week? Thinking of heading up Thursday/Friday for a non-park day but may hit BB since we have a bunch of left over pluses from old non-expiring tickets. How have the crowds been there?

 

[RhodyKP]

Went to studios yesterday (3/23). Had a really good day. We were later than I wanted to be getting into the park because the skyliner was down when we got to CBR and had to wait for a bus. Not an issue though since we pretty much walked onto ToT and RnR. Then we did our boarding group ride. Lines weren’t bad all day foe what we rode. We did toy story mania later in the day and our car didn’t work on the dart scene. We told them and they put us on again. They seemed to be having some issues because I saw maintenance had one of the cars open (area between the seats). Also when we did the millennium falcon ride there was a family ahead of us where the dad and kids kept removing their masks. I mentioned to a cast member as we got close to the loading area that we didn’t want to ride with them. She said we could ride by ourselves if we wanted. But we rode with a couple of teens. I had heard that you couldn’t ride alone anymore but that CM said it was fine. It was a really good day.
Today (3/24) we got on a bus at pop to AK. Oddly we were the second bus (3 came at once) but the first to leave. We were actually the very first bus to arrive at AK and 4th in line for pandora. We didn’t have to wait for temp or to get into the park. We were inside the park at 7:05 and let into FOP at 7:15. Boarded by 7:30. We then went to Navi snd there was no one in line or in the loading area. Literally walked right on. Got on safari but are currently stuck by the goats because a vehicle broke down and we could be stuck a very very long time. Will see what happens lol. At least we are close to the end. We have been stuck a half hour so far roughly. I love that everyone on our ride is chill about it.

How long did you end up being stuck?

 

[Orion Nebula]

I was just wondering how DAS works. Our son has always had anxiety but things spun out of control last year when he hit puberty and with the shut down. The worse being severe OCD. It's completely upended our lives. He also just received an autism diagnosis. We actually had him evaluated when he was very young but they said he wasn't on the spectrum. They think he was just so high-functioning he just flew under the radar all of these years until recently. Anyway - the OCD is a beast of its own and I have NO idea how he is going to do traveling much less at the parks. He is excited about going and looking forward to it but I don't know how all of his rituals and new tics will translate over into the parks. Is talking with someone through DAS something you do beforehand or when you get there?

Same situation here, my daughter was not diagnosed at a young age due to slipping through the cracks. Once she hit puberty she really changed, seemingly overnight. My son has had a diagnoses since he was 5 or 6 so he has been able to get much better support at school. However he exhibits much more "traditional" ASD traits than my daughter. We never got the DAS pass for my daughter as she didn't need it but our son for sure does.

All you have to do is go to guest services at any park on your first day. Then tell them you require a DAS pass for your son and give a brief description of why he will be unable to stand in line. They will then scan his band. The DAS pass is good for all parks throughout your stay so you don't need to visit guest services again. Once you are inside the park you will need to walk up to the CM at the entrance to each attraction and tell them that you have a DAS pass. They will then scan your sons band and then you can come back with your party at the designated time. Each person will have to scan their bands when entering.

Usually wait times are similar to what is posted, but sometimes they can be much shorter. Regardless you are only allowed to have one DAS reservation active at a time.

 

[bdiddy]

Same situation here, my daughter was not diagnosed at a young age due to slipping through the cracks. Once she hit puberty she really changed, seemingly overnight. My son has had a diagnoses since he was 5 or 6 so he has been able to get much better support at school. However he exhibits much more "traditional" ASD traits than my daughter. We never got the DAS pass for my daughter as she didn't need it but our son for sure does.

All you have to do is go to guest services at any park on your first day. Then tell them you require a DAS pass for your son and give a brief description of why he will be unable to stand in line. They will then scan his band. The DAS pass is good for all parks throughout your stay so you don't need to visit guest services again. Once you are inside the park you will need to walk up to the CM at the entrance to each attraction and tell them that you have a DAS pass. They will then scan your sons band and then you can come back with your party at the designated time. Each person will have to scan their bands when entering.

Usually wait times are similar to what is posted, but sometimes they can be much shorter. Regardless you are only allowed to have one DAS reservation active at a time.

Thank you so much for the info! I've been reading over on the Disability board as well. I didn't even realize it was there!

 

[jlundeen]

For those of you staying on property recently, did you use the Magic Express? We arrive April 10, and while I have always had a good experience with DME, I dread the line at the airport due to less capacity on the bus.

So, we are considering using a private car service to get to the resort and back to the airport, especially since we have to transport our own luggage anyway...

Could anyone who recently used DME report on their experience, (such as wait time, capacity, multiple stops), please?

Thanks in advance!