Flew home 11/29. Our layover in DFW was the first time in these past 8 months I've truly felt uncomfortable with a crowd, and I'm in a hospital every day.
A few quick thoughts, as we aren't the "win Disney" types to rope drop and try to do it all anymore.
-Some idea of a plan is still important. In August we could just wing it and still have a successful day. At least for the holiday season, those days are over. We tried to hand over the reigns to our DS 12&10 for our first two park days, but that devolved quickly into finding the worst possible lines. DW and I had enough by the end of our MK day around 2pm. We took a quick pool break and recovered expectations and some light planning for the rest of the week. Even a general idea of what land to be in for which hours helped immensely for our style.
-With the extended hours from the original reopening period, take advantage of a few hours for an afternoon break. We were scared that the shorter hours would make it impossible to do much in the parks and have pool time, but we were oh so wrong. We tended to arrive a little before posted opening time (except our AK day where we didn't show up to the park until 3pm), leave after lunch for a few hours, then close or come close to closing the park. It was heavenly.
-Mobile order has improved greatly with time. I love the arrival window functionality, and the improved item editing functions. Our family really hopes it expands to even the smaller offerings like Gaston's or Friar's Nook by the time we come back.
-Please, can we have the bus loading system stick around? Even after we get back to standing room only bus loading, the few extra minutes it takes was so much more orderly. Skyliner was heavenly. Didn't use boats or monorail.
-Entertainment is missed, for sure. The holiday offerings were nice, but street entertainers and stage shows should come back soon after those are gone, imo. There was a little girl playing with a drum outside of Dawa Bar while we were in line for KS, and a little tear of excitement formed until I remembered they (performers) were gone.
-If there was anything outside of entertainment that we missed, it would be resort package delivery. Carrying shopping bags around gets a little tiring after a while. ME luggage yellow tags can come a little later (but please God come back for airline check-in at a minimum), but please Disney brass, recall whatever staffing you need to make package delivery happen ASAP. I'd even accept a time window for when to return a la mobile ordering if that's what we need to maintain distancing.
Overall, the trip was amazing. It was nice to have the parks feel alive again, even if a little different.