Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[TMichele]

This is so totally on my must do list! lol

I couldn’t resist either, I love Stitch!

By the way…we have been really impressed with the shots by our photopass photographers, they are wonderful!

 

[emily nicole]

Just to provide people with an alternate experience: we got into the Magical Express “line” at 7 PM this past Friday night.

There was literally ZERO other people waiting - we were immediately put on a bus, and we left within 5 minutes!

I wonder if it's all luck, or maybe time of day. We also arrived around 7pm on 8/29 and there were only 3 parties there including us. We were immediately directed to a Mears van and had a private ride to ASM.

 

[IluvMGM]

Just to provide people with an alternate experience: we got into the Magical Express “line” at 7 PM this past Friday night.

There was literally ZERO other people waiting - we were immediately put on a bus, and we left within 5 minutes!

When we arrived around 9:30 am, there was no line at all either. We walked right through and got on the bus.

 

[BonnieJean925]

Just to provide people with an alternate experience: we got into the Magical Express “line” at 7 PM this past Friday night.

There was literally ZERO other people waiting - we were immediately put on a bus, and we left within 5 minutes!

we are arriving this Friday.....I hope its the same way!

 

[Dentam]

We went to Epcot yesterday and the pathways were pretty crowded all day, and especially in the early evening when the locals came out for Food and Wine. That being said, we walked on Test Track first thing with the wait time showing 50 minutes. Then hit Frozen with a 25 minute posted wait and waited about 15-20. Sampled food and wine items - favorites so far are the grapefruit beer in Germany and the Vietnamese Pho at the noodle booth. Rode Living with the Land as a walk on twice and Soarin twice with a 15 minute wait. Oh, and Spaceship Earth as a walk on with 15 minute posted wait time.

All in all, wait times were great but the crowds in the pathways were a bit crazy and lines for the food booths got long at dinner time. All to be expected on a Saturday I guess but I was kind of foolishly hoping that the crowds would be lower. I wore my mask in the evening on the paths and will just hope for the best. Surprised to see kids under 12 unmasked in those crowds, although definitely more adults than kids overall.

Back to Epcot today but won't stay as late since we stayed for the fireworks last night. We're changing resorts (Boardwalk to AKL) so will head over there and maybe get the Sanaa bread service for dinner.

 

[PPFlight75]

On the drive home from a quick weekend trip for the Remy preview. Spent Friday at EP and Saturday at MK. Crowds were so much lighter than our July trip!

Loved Remy! It was better than what I was expecting.

Saturday morning at MK rode Space, Buzz X 2, BTMR, Pirates, HM, Barnstormer, and IASW all by 11am.

Took the monorail to Poly for lunch. The new platform and front entrance look great.

The busiest was World Showcase Saturday night but still able to get a walk up seating at Rose and Crown at 7p.

All in all, a great quick trip.

 

[Princess.Pocahotmess]

Just wanted to add a little bit from my experience yesterday. I went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. My two biggest takeaways: Wait times in the app were really off for quite a few of the lines and there were a significant amount of ride breakdowns. When in line for Pooh it was stopped and people were walked off. When I went to maybe get in line for Peter Pan later, that was down. Also stopped (not for loading) while on Peoplemover and stopped for technical difficulties while on Living with the Land. I kept checking to see if Carousel of Progress was running but I never saw it open. I thought maybe it was scheduled for refurbishment that I just didn't know about. Anyways, I had a great day and I would just stay flexible in plans if you can

 

[Magnoliafan]

I flew in late Friday for a spur of the moment long weekend to see HEA one last time. Walked on a bus at Magical Express at about 9:30pm and then had the most perfect timing ever: Epcot Forever started just as the bus approached the Walt Disney World sign, so I literally saw the sign with fireworks above it, like something out of a commercial. What a welcome.

I’m staying at CSR and it’s gorgeous. I spent a not so great single night here in 2017 in the middle of a three resort split stay and wasn’t impressed. But Gran Destino and Three Rivers make such a huge difference, with both the look of the resort, the ease of getting around (with the bridges), and the dining options. I was starving, so I mobile ordered from Three Rivers, which is open until midnight. It was fantastic and I went to sleep happy.

I ended up doing a rambling 4 park day yesterday. I won’t do a full play by play, but it was definitely more crowded than it was earlier in the week, just going by wait times on the apps (official and TP). My theory is that it‘s due to it being the first weekend since they started selling APs again. I ended at Epcot and the crowds streaming into WS at 7pm were actually quite stunning. Walkways were full from the IG all the way to America (where I was grabbing dinner). Future World, however, was dead by the time I finished eating. I walked onto Figment, LWTL (I asked if I could wait for the next boat so I could sit in the front row and ended up having a boat to myself), Nemo and Spaceship Earth. Soarin, TT and MS all had short waits, but I just didn’t have enough time to do them all. If I had gone straight to FW instead of dinner, then I probably could have managed it. I made it to WS as they were making the “10 minute” fireworks announcement and had no problem getting a great spot. Even so, the crowd was very heavy as I was leaving.

I’m doing MK today and then have until about 5 tomorrow, so I’m going to try for a BG. If my AP theory is right, then crowds will drop for the weekday. Nice quick trip so far though!

 

[underthesea412]

Here now for our little one’s first trip to Disney (he’s 18 months) and our first time back since September 2019 (pregnancy + pandemic). We are so thrilled to be back at Disney World!

We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and got on a bus around 8:50 AM after a 1 minute wait and were walking down Main Street by 9:30 AM. Magic Kingdom didn’t feel empty but it certainly didn’t feel crowded, either. We have been very cautious the entire pandemic and I never felt unsafe, even with my toddler who can’t be vaccinated. Mask compliance on transportation and indoors was 100%!

Even without rope dropping, we walked on Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo (2x), the Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean all before 11:30. We grabbed Dole Whips and the Kakamora Float (delicious— hope coconut soft serve is here to stay!) from Aloha Isle to take a break.

We could have done more rides with minimal waits but needed to get back to the hotel for lunch and naptime. I keep forgetting it’s Sunday because I expected the park to be so much more crowded! I will say that most wait times seemed to be significantly lower that the posted time. Honestly, I thought I would miss Fast Pass more than I did. I know we lucked out with a low crowd day, but I liked that no FP meant the standby lines for Pooh and Pirates moved continuously. We’ve experienced unexpectedly long waits for those rides in the past due to FP loading.

Overall, a great first day for our little guy! very excited for the rest of the week!

 

[Helvetica]

I think these are for the kite show

 

[VAtink]

Busy but fun morning at HS! Walked over from the YC a bit after 7:30 and got there at 7:50. Security was already open so breezed right through and to the tapstiles. We ended up being first in line. They opened right at 8, and we all hustled back into the park only to be held at the HS arch (for those going to TSL). They held us there until 8:30 when they slowly walked us back to slinky. We ended up on the second train of the day, and were off at 8:40.

Next we headed to MF:SR which ended up being a 12 minute wait, but we were moving almost the whole time so it felt like walk-on. Ended up as pilots again, and while we did better than before, we were still pretty awful. At least the guy riding with us was fun and didn't mind!

Our next stop was TSMM, the posted wait when we got off MF:SR was 0 minutes, but jumped to 10 by the time we got there. Ended up actually taking 16, so a bit more than the posted wait.

Finally we headed to MMRR. The line didn't look bad, but it was posted as a 45 minute wait. I didn't believe it would be close to that....but I was wrong, ha! It ended up being a 39 minute wait. Still not horrible, and we had time to spare before lunch.

Did a bunch of photopass pictures and shopping before checking in for our mobile order lunch.

The crowds didn't seem too bad until around 11, and even then were less than I expected based on reports I've read here. There were a few spots where it was wall to wall people, but once you got passed those areas it cleared out.

Took the Skyliner to Epcot to get back to the YC, and popped over to Epcot right at 2 for some more food and wine goodies. Epcot was pretty busy, not as bad as yesterday, but still lots of crowds so we only stopped at two booths before heading out.

Overall a good day so far, oh, and I got a BG at 1. Hopefully it comes up soon!

 

[Eye2Eye]

Arrived yesterday (9/12) at Riviera and then to Epcot. This is our 4th trip since reopening (9/20, 1/21, 3/21 and 5/21). And by far Epcot was the most crowded it has been since then. We rode Remy but didn’t get to stick around to enjoy the pavilion due to a ADR at Topilino’s, which I highly recommend.
Today is DHS and more F&W at Epcot. It’s our wedding anniversary and have had the trip planned for a year, we were hoping for lighter crowds but would be here regardless. FWIW, TouringPlans.com isn’t reliable. Maybe their wait times but the crowd calendar is complete garbage. Epcot listed as 1 for yesterday and it seemed like 2019 level crowds.
See ya real soon!

 

[SkyGuy]

Arrived yesterday (9/12) at Riviera and then to Epcot. This is our 4th trip since reopening (9/20, 1/21, 3/21 and 5/21). And by far Epcot was the most crowded it has been since then. We rode Remy but didn’t get to stick around to enjoy the pavilion due to a ADR at Topilino’s, which I highly recommend.
Today is DHS and more F&W at Epcot. It’s our wedding anniversary and have had the trip planned for a year, we were hoping for lighter crowds but would be here regardless. FWIW, TouringPlans.com isn’t reliable. Maybe their wait times but the crowd calendar is complete garbage. Epcot listed as 1 for yesterday and it seemed like 2019 level crowds.
See ya real soon!

I was at Epcot yesterday as well - my 7th trip since last July. The WS was definitely crowded, but it was more crowded when we were there in June after the mask mandate was lifted. We had never seen so many people viewing Reflections of China (in June) - ever, not just since the reopen. However, when I can ride Test Track in 20 minutes and Frozen in 30 and walk on Space Ship Earth and Soarin’, I’d say crowds are on the lower end of the spectrum. We’ll be at HS today as well - BG 1!! I hope today is as “crowded” as Epcot was yesterday. I’d call that a win, but I’m not too optimistic.

 

[Eye2Eye]

I was at Epcot yesterday as well - my 7th trip since last July. The WS was definitely crowded, but it was more crowded when we were there in June after the mask mandate was lifted. We had never seen so many people viewing Reflections of China (in June) - ever, not just since the reopen. However, when I can ride Test Track in 20 minutes and Frozen in 30 and walk on Space Ship Earth and Soarin’, I’d say crowds are on the lower end of the spectrum. We’ll be at HS today as well - BG 1!! I hope today is as “crowded” as Epcot was yesterday. I’d call that a win, but I’m not too optimistic.

we got BG 42 right at 7, which is the highest I’ve ever gotten. I hope the the weekend crowds are gone. We had to share a skyliner last night leaving Epcot, that was first time we didn’t have it to our selves and a for sure sign it’s “crowded”. That was at 7 pm also, not closing. Just leaving the info for those wondering if it’s still ghost town, it’s not.

 

[BonnieJean925]

I'll be there in four days, I love reading these! Thank you everyone, have a great time.

 

[Helvetica]

This is my first Lightning Lane sighting. I think it’s new.

 

[SkyGuy]

we got BG 42 right at 7, which is the highest I’ve ever gotten. I hope the the weekend crowds are gone. We had to share a skyliner last night leaving Epcot, that was first time we didn’t have it to our selves and a for sure sign it’s “crowded”. That was at 7 pm also, not closing. Just leaving the info for those wondering if it’s still ghost town, it’s not.

I agree. It was definitely not a ghost town! We rode the skyliner - 3 of our party of 7 - at 4ish and again around 7:30, and we had the car to ourselves. Luck of the draw, I suppose. Have a great trip!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Really hoping all the 50 character statues will be up by the time we get there!

Also random question that may not be for this thread. Can anyone confirm if the Mears Taxi phone number is still 1(407)-422-2222?

Thanks in advance

 

[masupo]

Really hoping all the 50 character statues will be up by the time we get there!

Also random question that may not be for this thread. Can anyone confirm if the Mears Taxi phone number is still 1(407)-422-2222?

Thanks in advance

I took a picture of a Mears cab this past April. That's still the number on the side of the cab.



At the end of a crazy busy night at Disney Springs, our Lyft driver cancelled on us. I ended up getting another Lyft, but took a pic of a Mears taxi in case I needed to call them

 

[Corinne]

I'll be there in four days, I love reading these! Thank you everyone, have a great time.

Me tooooooooo! 4 days!