Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[dnw25]

Rope dropped MK today. Left our room at Pop around 6:25. We were on the first bus (but we just made it - the family after us was the last on the first bus.
We were early in the turnstiles- then walked quickly to the holding area for SDMT. We could see the rope at opening.
We rode SDMT, Splash and BTMR in the first hour. We took a quick water break and walked across and rode Dumbo, then Buzz. Ordered Cosmic Rays and ate. Then People Mover, Space, and Pirates.
We left the park at one for an afternoon nap.
great first morning. We’ve walked 5 miles so far. Will head to Epcot tonight.
Recommendations for Epcot Counter service? What time should we be at the sky liner for HS rope drop tomorrow?

we LOVED the shrimp and grits at the F and G booth outside of test track. AMAZING! avocado toast was good but had nothing on the shrimp and grits.

 

[DL1WDW2]

The bakery in France called La Patisserie … anything on French bread !
I love their chocolate chip cookies too

I guess there are lots of great places in Epcot. I will definitely have to check them out next visit

 

[dnw25]

The bakery in France called La Patisserie … anything on French bread !
I love their chocolate chip cookies too

The lines were outrageous this past week. Again like nothing we've seen for La Patisserie or the Ice Cream place.

Turns out. Only two people working at the ice cream shop. One at the register and another fulfilling the orders. Both times this was the case when we waited the line out (back past the doors of the signature French restaurant). We never attempted the bakery since every time we walked past, the line was back to the ice cream shop.

 

[jbrinkm]

The lines were outrageous this past week. Again like nothing we've seen for La Patisserie or the Ice Cream place.

Turns out. Only two people working at the ice cream shop. One at the register and another fulfilling the orders. Both times this was the case when we waited the line out (back past the doors of the signature French restaurant). We never attempted the bakery since every time we walked past, the line was back to the ice cream shop.

Ugh.

What time was this, and how crowded would you say the park was when you were there?

And no mobile order, I take it?

 

[preschoolmom]

I believe it. My water “break” above actually was me being polite. We just Wanted to buy two bottles of water, but the two people working were assembling toys and cutting tags off new merchandise for the people in front of us and they were moving like Flash We will carry water tomorrow.

 

[dnw25]

Ugh.

What time was this, and how crowded would you say the park was when you were there?

And no mobile order, I take it?

wednesday 11:30-1:30 (walked by several times); yesterday 2:00 and then numerous evenings - 7:00 pm on

nope no mobile order. crowds were really light yesterday and in most of the evenings. I joked with family that everyone was either in france, america or mexico. All other countries basically had no one.

 

[NashvilleMama]

MK rope drop today. Parked at 7:30 and took ferry (no masks required, we’d forgotten ours for monorail). Walked onto Peter Pan, pirates, BTMRR, then waits kicked in - 35 mins for Splash. So not a bad first hour.

Crowds aren’t anywhere near as high as a month ago in mid-May. Still dying for FP to return…any. day. now. please.

The heat isn’t as bad as I expected, nice breeze today.

mobile ordered at Cosmic Rays and they’re now saying you can save a table when your second bar is flashing on the mobile order screen as food is being prepared. Frankly, doesn’t seem to be a pattern in enforcement on this across the parks.

 

[yorkieteacher]

I would love more info about the socks you are talking about. I also get a severe case of the 'disney rash'. Thanks!

heres the link to exactly what i wore
Amazon.com: Copper Compression Socks for Men & Women Circulation- Arch Ankle Support for Athletic Running Medical Cycling: Clothing

Actually, would it be too much of an inconvenience to ask if you could post them here? It's a thread specifically about socks for anyone who is interested:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/good-socks.3833755/

here's the linkAmazon.com: Copper Compression Socks for Men & Women Circulation- Arch Ankle Support for Athletic Running Medical Cycling: Clothing

 

[Disneymomma18]

We just got home from our week long trip on Saturday! We were a party of 7 and did a split stay with Pop & SSR. Overall we had a wonderful time! The weather wasn't the best because it stormed almost every evening but we made so many hilarious memories from running to the buses and getting soaked

A quick overview of our trip:
Saturday 6/19: flight was delayed about an hour but once we got to MCO the worst part was waiting for your bags. After getting our bags we were able to walk right on ME to get to Pop! Unfortunately the shops & food court close pretty early at 10pm so we had to order pizza out because we were so starving!
Sunday 6/20: REST DAY! Slept in & rode the skyliner to get to DHS to get a bus to OKW for brunch! We arrived at OKW an hour before our reservation because we thought transportation might take longer but we were able to be seated right away after talking to the hostess. Brunch was delicious and everyone enjoyed their meals. After we got a bus to DHS again to catch the skyliner to ride to Epcot for fun! Then, we headed back to Pop to relax until dinner where we rode the skyliner to Riviera to get dinner at Primo Piatto! The food there was delicious and def worth the stop. At Riviera we got a bus to Disney Springs to browse around & found it to be very crowded so after checking a few stores we headed back to Pop to get to bed early!
Monday 6/21: we woke up early to try to get a BG for ROTR and were successful with getting BG #37! After that we quickly got ready because we were already up and headed down to the skyliner at 7:30. Soon we were on our way and we made it to DHS just a little after 8. We were held on Hollywood Blvd until 8:30 when they officially opened the park and we walked right onto Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway! I'm glad we did that because Slinky was down most of the morning. After our first ride we headed over to Alien's Swirling Saucers and waited about 5mins in line. We went over to GE next and had fun walking around and decided to get an AC break at Muppets. After Muppets our BG was called so we headed onto ROTR before 11am! Then we went over to Falcon and then had a wonderful lunch at Pizzerizzos! After lunch we rode SDD, watched Frozen Sing Along, rode TSM and then browsed through some shops before taking the skyliner back to Pop. After resting we took a bus to MK! We headed to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz and Carousel of Progress. Then, we had dinner reservations at Tony's for 7:50pm. Tony's was delicious but once we were done there was a torrential downpour happening. We waited it out for a few mins but then decided to make a run for the bus and we were all soaked but were laughing so hard when we saw how ridiculous we looked. We made it back to Pop at 10pm.
Tuesday 6/22: We left the room at 6:30am with all our luggage to drop off at bell services then headed to wait for a bus to MK. It didn't take too long for a bus to come and we made it to MK a little after 7! We decided to rope drop Space Mountain but unfortunately we were held at the rope to Tomorrowland until 8am. We then made it to Space & waited about 15 mins and then walked on the Peoplemover for a quick ride. After, we wanted to ride Buzz one more time before officially being done with Tomorrowland! Then we decided to head on over to Fantasyland where we rode Little Mermaid, SDMT, and Philharmagic! After that we split up for lunch where some of us went to Tomorrowland Terrace and others Friars Nook. We miss Columbia Harbor House & Casey's but were happy we could find some food items from there at these locations. After lunch, we went on Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Country Bears, Splash Mountain, & Big Thunder. Then it was time to head to BOG for our 3:35 reservation. We had a wonderful dinner there and all really enjoyed the atmosphere. After dinner we were going to head to Haunted Mansion but unfortunately the weather was not cooperating again so we just headed right out to the bus to go to SSR because our room was ready! We loved our 2 bedroom villa in Congress Park and walked to Disney Springs in the evening to get some snacks!
Wednesday 6/23: Another Rest Day! I went with my sisters to Springs at 9:30 to get in line for Gideon's! After waiting for an hour we were able to get our cookies and they are delicious! Then we went to Starbucks to get frapps and cool down before going into a few different shops. Then at 12:30 we met up with the rest of our group at Homecomin! This was almost everyone's favorite meal of the trip because the food was delicious and we highly recommend! After lunch we headed into a few other stores until it looked like rain clouds again so we quickly hurried back to our room. Once the sun came back out we went for a quick swim in the pool and then I headed back down to Springs to get Earl of Sandwich for dinner while others ate their leftovers from lunch in the room!
Thursday 6/24: We left the room at 9:30 to head to the bus stop and quickly got a bus to Epcot! This was definitely our most crowded park day. We decided to rope drop Soarin and were held off until 10:50 where we finally were able to get into the Land building. We walked on Soarin and then headed to Nemo. After Nemo, we went to Spaceship Earth which said it was a 50min wait but we didn't even wait 15mins! After that we went to Mousegears and then rode Test Track. Then, we ventured into the World Showcase getting a few different snack items from Flower & Garden and then stopped for an AC break in France and watched the Beauty & the Beast sing along. Then we headed to our dinner reservations where we split up with half of us going to Via Napoli and the other half to San Angel Inn. We all enjoyed our dinners but the ones at Via Napoli finished way before the others so we rode Gran Fiesta Tour to wave hi to our family members in the restaurant. Then we rode Frozen and were going to hop to DHS but there were really dark clouds so we just went back to SSR.
Friday 6/25: we were at the bus stop at 6:30am to head to DAK! We were inside the park by 7:15 where we headed over to the Safari. We waited in a small line there until 7:50 where they let us in the queue to get on the ride. We were in the second safari truck and our ride ended up taking 40mins because some animals stood in the road for 20 mins but it was a great safari with many animals out and active! Then we headed over to Navi River Journey to ride and then took a break going through some shops. After that we saw FOTLK, rode FOP and then had lunch at Satuli Canteen! Then we rode Kali, Dinosaur, & Everest! After DAK some people went back to the room & others went to MK! At MK we got dole whips, rode Winnie the Pooh, then walked through Emporium before heading back to the room quickly to change for dinner. We had dinner at 6pm at Raglan Road. After dinner some of us stayed in springs to shop & others went to the Contemporary to shop there.
Saturday 6/26: We left our room at 8 with all our luggage to head down to the lobby. We had a quick breakfast and then boarded ME at 8:50. MCO was packed and Southwest check in was a nightmare but we somehow made it through and got to our gate before having to fly home

Overall, we had a wonderful time! It was very nice not having to wear masks besides for transportation but there is def no social distancing so if you are not ready for that I would wait. It was nice having the preshows back because we missed those and many of the wait times look a lot longer than what they actually are! I would def recommend having a table service meal once a day because its so nice to take a break from the crowds and sit in AC! Even though they changed Rope Drop just getting one or two big rides out of the way early helped a lot! Just remember to keep a positive attitude, yes the weather is not the best this time of year but you are at Disney World & nothing is better than that

Sounds like you had a great trip! It’s nice to see how much you were able to accomplish each day and it didn’t seem like you were focused on the negativity of “long lines” I’ve been seeing post after post about how long the lines are but we’ve been twice since reopening and I feel like the lines constantly moving make it seem like they are super quick.

 

[LeslieLou]

Tonight we headed from Disney Springs via Caribbean Beach bus/Skyliner to Hollywood studios.
left DS around 6 and tapped in to HS by 6:30
Millennium Falcon posted wait was 45 min but we were off the ride in 40. Bummed around shops for a few and got in line for Runaway Railway at 745 posted wait 35 mins. Off the ride in about 30 and headed out of the park.
We liked being in the park for the last hour or so and plan to keep hopping late
Tomorrow MK

 

[olive]

An update on what we did yesterday AK morning and MK pm.

AK officially opened at 8 but we were all pretty tired and just didn't have the energy to get up early for rope drop. When I checked the Disney and Lines apps, by 715 ride times were already high for FoP (105 posted, 90+ reported on Lines), Navi (60 posted MDE, Linss 44), Kali (55 posted, Lins 39). When we went in the afternoon earlier last week it seemed similar, so I am glad we didn't wake the kids early!

We got there at 10 and only ended up doing Everest, Kali, Maharajah Jungle Trek and some Wilderness stops (with breaks for snacks in between) before it was too hot for everyone and the kids were begging to go back to the hotel. They do want to go back though so we are planning to hop over this afternoon.

We swam for a few hours and fully cooled off, then headed to MK. We didn't realize how early some of the counter service options closed so we wasted a bit of time finding something everyone would eat and waiting for the food. Space Mountain was down for awhile but we managed to ride Buzz, people mover and Space Mountain before the park closed. And bonus, we got back to the Contemporary just as the water pageant was starting.

Limited food options and rides going down have made us less efficient for sure this trip. Rides go down pretty frequently. We have been stuck on rides I believe every day of the trip now (here since last Thursday) with a long ish delay on Mickey and Minnie last week as the most significant. But it is very noticeable regardless and of course affects planning. The heat has made afternoon breaks a necessity for our particular family so we between these factors, we aren't getting a ton done each day but the kids are happy and we still have until Saturday to enjoy the parks and hopefully hit things we have missed. Maybe someone will add shade and benches to Hollywood Studios before then? That park is at least 15 degrees hotter.

 

[Princess Katelet]

What is the Disney rash??

 

[dmband]

For everyone commenting about helicopters—could be mosquito remediation.

sidenote - family that lives there said they are real bad right now and recommends getting the bracelets that help keep them away

 

[Wood Nymph]

What is the Disney rash??

Here is a description from the internet:
Golfer's vasculitis is a common rash that happens to otherwise healthy people and usually goes away on its own. Researchers call it exercise-induced vasculitis. You may also hear it called golfer's rash or even Disney rash.

 

[Princess Katelet]

Here is a description from the internet:
Golfer's vasculitis is a common rash that happens to otherwise healthy people and usually goes away on its own. Researchers call it exercise-induced vasculitis. You may also hear it called golfer's rash or even Disney rash.

So it’s a rash on the calves?

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Maybe someone will add shade and benches to Hollywood Studios before then? That park is at least 15 degrees hotter.

Oh man, that'd be great. Our boarding group at HS yesterday wasn't called until 2ish (the time we usually try to avoid the parks) and the sun/heat and crowds were bad. The area where you walk into Galaxy's Edge near Star Tours was full of people sitting and laying down because it was the only shaded area around. We went on Rise then went right back to the hotel. I've never done only 1 ride all day in all my trips to Disney.

 

[Wood Nymph]

So it’s a rash on the calves?

Many people get the rash around their ankles, or above their ankles.

You can find out more information by running a search on golfer's rash or Disney rash.
I've never had it but I have read lots of trip reports from people who have gotten it.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

So it’s a rash on the calves?

I have it now-I'd post a picture but I'll spare everyone. It's a splotchy red rash. Mine is always on my lower legs and starts around my sock line. I think it looks a lot worse than it feels.

 

[AndreaDM]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't get the point of a theme park helicopter tour??

 

[elgerber]

Many people get the rash around their ankles, or above their ankles.

You can find out more information by running a search on golfer's rash or Disney rash.
I've never had it but I have read lots of trip reports from people who have gotten it.

I get it every trip. It's horrible. Got it at our State Fair a few years back too :-(