festus105
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2007
Last Saturday, August 8, I decided to take my son (11) on a quick trip to WDW. Being DVC members we quickly made reservations at AKL - Kidani with no problems for 8/9-8/14. In fact, we could've stayed at anywhere we wanted as all properties had availability. We left out early on Sunday and easily made it to WDW. Thank goodness traffic wasn't too bad because driving I-4 through downtown Orlando isn't the easiest with the never-ending construction. Our room at AKL was ready by 2pm which was great. We didn't use the "direct to room option" because we needed to pick up our magic bands but check-in was a breeze. This was our first stay at AKL so we didn't know what to expect. It was wonderful except for the distance from our room (7964) to almost everything else. What a hike to the lobby, pool, and transportation!
On Monday we took the bus to AK and arrived about 5 minutes after opening. There is limited capacity on the buses with blocked off seats and screens between seats. The way the buses are set up you never sit across from anyone or beside anyone. I felt very comfortable on the buses. Never were there more than 2 or 3 groups on any bus we rode throughout our stay.
When we arrived at AK it was a breeze to go through the health check and front gate - no lines at all. Of course, we headed to FOP and maybe waited 15 minutes. This was the longest wait of the day for us. Everything else was either walk on or we maybe waited 5 or 10 minutes. We rode everything we wanted to multiple times. The park felt almost empty at times. It was definitely the least crowded of the three parks we visited. Not much happening at Rafiki Planet Watch. The petting zoo area is closed but they have added the "art of animation" so the journey out wasn't a total bust. Dino-land is really hurting in my opinion. With Primeval Whirl and Bone Yard closed there's just not much going on there. Every time we walked through the area almost no one was there. I had made reservations at RFC near park closing time. We arrived a little early and they quickly seated us. The day was a good start to our vacation.
That evening I decided to see if we could split our vacation between AKL and BLT. I went to the front desk and inquired. The CM was great and after a phone call was able to move the last two nights of our reservation to BLT.
On Tuesday morning we packed up for our move to BLT and then drove over to DHS for the day because wanted to drive from there to BLT. I had never driven to a park before and didn't know quite what to expect. I tried to time it so we'd get to the park about 30 minutes prior to opening. Good thing... as there was definitely a line to get into the parking lot. However, with all lanes open it moved fairly quickly. We parked on about the fourth row. Even with more people the health check and front gate lines moved quickly. We only waited for a minute or two. Once in the park, we did what almost everyone else was doing... finding a place to sit, staring at our phones, and waiting for RotR virtual queue to open at 10am. All I can say is that the virtual queue fills up in seconds. I made the mistake of trying to add my son to my group before joining... the extra second it took - knocked us out. We didn't get into the 10am queue. I wondered if I had had a CM make it for me if that would've made a difference. There were a number of them with their Ipads ready to assist guests. I didn't make the same mistake at 2pm and we were able to join the queue... all to no avail as I found out later, the night before the RotR had been hit by lightning and so the ride was down for the entire day - no one rode it. So we weren't too disappointed. DHS was noticeably more crowded than AK. We waited 30 minutes for all of the headliners... SR, ToT, SDD, RnRC, and MMRR. Later in the day we walked on to ToT again and less than 15 minutes waits for RnRC and SR. TSM was almost a walk-on all day long. We had dinner reservations at Mama Melrose’s near the park closing time... this seems like a dead area of the park with no much going on. Even with the increased crowds the park never felt crowded. In fact, at no time at any of the parks did I feel like I was in a crowd. It was so nice to be able to walk down the streets and not constantly dodge people.
After supper, we made our way to BLT. This time we did use the "direct to room" option with no problems. This was our first stay inside the "loop". BLT is nice... the rooms are smaller and it's not as "Disney" as many of the other resorts but hey, you can walk to the MK so who cares!
That evening we realized that we had left something in our room back at AKL. I inquired at the front desk as to the possibility of checking with AKL to see if they might have found the item. The CM at the BLT front desk simply gave the "card" so I could go online and make a claim. I know this is their policy but since we had just left AKL earlier in the day and was still on Disney property I thought they would've been willing to do a little more. Unfortunately, the CM offered no other help beyond giving us the "card." Not to be deterred, I found the number for Kidani's front desk and called them directly and explained the situation. The CM was very understanding, took my number and said that he would talk to his manager to see if the room could be checked and if anything was found. About 30 minutes later I received a call from the evening manager at Kidani Village - Dan was his name. He said that he had gone to the room (obviously no one had moved into yet) and found our item and that it would be waiting for us at the front desk. This was our little bit of "magic" that we experienced on our trip. Thanks to Dan for going out of his way and not adhering to policy.
On Wednesday morning we got up and walked to the MK... along the way there is a separate health and bag check area for guests from the Contemporary and BLT which was really nice. From there we walked straight to the front gate arriving right at park opening. The crowd was light. We could actually walk down the sidewalk or in the middle of the street if we had wanted - there were so few people. We went first to Splash Mt and walked on. I'm glad we got to ride it one last time before its makeover. We then walked on at BTMR, PotC, THM, and PPF. It was just after 10am when we completed all five attractions. Next was Space Mountain and maybe a 10 minute wait. The only line we waited in all day was 30 minutes for 7DMT. I never saw that line below 30 minutes all day. Outside of this one attraction, we rode everything we wanted to multiple times with little to no wait. I had made reservations at park closing time at GF Cafe. We took the monorail over with no problems. We were the only ones in our car. GF felt almost dead as much of the resort is being used by the NBA. Interestingly, this was the only other place where our temperatures were taken. This was done before we were seated in the restaurant. After dinner, we did some last bit of shopping at GF before heading back to BLT. However, to our amazement, the monorail closed at 8pm (It was 8:15pm at the time). I went back in and inquired at the front desk and was told that we could catch a bus. We went back outside and found that the bus stop area had been blocked off (probably due to the NBA's presence.) By this time I was confused. I saw some other people waiting in front of the GF and found that they too were waiting for a bus back to the CR. After a few minutes, a bus did arrive but it was going to DS. The other group must have been waiting for a while because they decided to go to DS and then catch a bus to the CR... not something I cared to do. So I went back inside and inquired again and was told that a but would be coming... sure enough, once we went back outside another bus did arrive. The driver asked where we needed to go. We told him and he said he could take us there. But before going to CR we first made a stop in the bus lot adjacent to MK. This isn't the normal bus stop but looked like a parking lot or staging area for buses. In any case, the driver dropped the only other passenger on the bus who maybe was a CM because as we were leaving I saw them get on what looked like a local city bus. I could be all wrong about this but that's what it appeared to me. From there we went to the CR.
The next morning, we were off for home... It was a once in a lifetime trip. I don't think I'll ever be there again with so few people. Even with the shortened park hours and absence of FP+ we were able to basically do whatever we wanted, when we wanted to, and had plenty of time to do it... without the throngs of people. Being a planner and always following my "plan" it was nice to have the freedom to just wander around and not feel rushed. Personally, I never like to wait in line but I found that the short waits we did encounter weren't too bad... mainly because I knew we wouldn't have to stand in very many of them.
As far as feeling safe... I was never concerned. I'm not a germaphobe but I do what I can to be safe. Almost everyone I saw was wearing their mask and wearing it correctly. And if they weren't a CM would politely tell them to correct it. In fact, I saw a lot of what I would call "mask monitors" who stood around looking for infractions. I encountered only a few people who ignored the 6-foot distancing markers in the queues. There was always hand sanitizer at the entrance and exit of every attraction that I saw. CM's seemed to be constantly wiping down touchpoints throughout the parks. Nothing is perfect but I will tell you that I felt safer in the parks than at my local Wallyworld or grocery store.
That's about it...
My father and his wife have planned a trip for later in September. I'll be interested to hear what their experience is like compared to mine.
On Monday we took the bus to AK and arrived about 5 minutes after opening. There is limited capacity on the buses with blocked off seats and screens between seats. The way the buses are set up you never sit across from anyone or beside anyone. I felt very comfortable on the buses. Never were there more than 2 or 3 groups on any bus we rode throughout our stay.
When we arrived at AK it was a breeze to go through the health check and front gate - no lines at all. Of course, we headed to FOP and maybe waited 15 minutes. This was the longest wait of the day for us. Everything else was either walk on or we maybe waited 5 or 10 minutes. We rode everything we wanted to multiple times. The park felt almost empty at times. It was definitely the least crowded of the three parks we visited. Not much happening at Rafiki Planet Watch. The petting zoo area is closed but they have added the "art of animation" so the journey out wasn't a total bust. Dino-land is really hurting in my opinion. With Primeval Whirl and Bone Yard closed there's just not much going on there. Every time we walked through the area almost no one was there. I had made reservations at RFC near park closing time. We arrived a little early and they quickly seated us. The day was a good start to our vacation.
That evening I decided to see if we could split our vacation between AKL and BLT. I went to the front desk and inquired. The CM was great and after a phone call was able to move the last two nights of our reservation to BLT.
On Tuesday morning we packed up for our move to BLT and then drove over to DHS for the day because wanted to drive from there to BLT. I had never driven to a park before and didn't know quite what to expect. I tried to time it so we'd get to the park about 30 minutes prior to opening. Good thing... as there was definitely a line to get into the parking lot. However, with all lanes open it moved fairly quickly. We parked on about the fourth row. Even with more people the health check and front gate lines moved quickly. We only waited for a minute or two. Once in the park, we did what almost everyone else was doing... finding a place to sit, staring at our phones, and waiting for RotR virtual queue to open at 10am. All I can say is that the virtual queue fills up in seconds. I made the mistake of trying to add my son to my group before joining... the extra second it took - knocked us out. We didn't get into the 10am queue. I wondered if I had had a CM make it for me if that would've made a difference. There were a number of them with their Ipads ready to assist guests. I didn't make the same mistake at 2pm and we were able to join the queue... all to no avail as I found out later, the night before the RotR had been hit by lightning and so the ride was down for the entire day - no one rode it. So we weren't too disappointed. DHS was noticeably more crowded than AK. We waited 30 minutes for all of the headliners... SR, ToT, SDD, RnRC, and MMRR. Later in the day we walked on to ToT again and less than 15 minutes waits for RnRC and SR. TSM was almost a walk-on all day long. We had dinner reservations at Mama Melrose’s near the park closing time... this seems like a dead area of the park with no much going on. Even with the increased crowds the park never felt crowded. In fact, at no time at any of the parks did I feel like I was in a crowd. It was so nice to be able to walk down the streets and not constantly dodge people.
After supper, we made our way to BLT. This time we did use the "direct to room" option with no problems. This was our first stay inside the "loop". BLT is nice... the rooms are smaller and it's not as "Disney" as many of the other resorts but hey, you can walk to the MK so who cares!
That evening we realized that we had left something in our room back at AKL. I inquired at the front desk as to the possibility of checking with AKL to see if they might have found the item. The CM at the BLT front desk simply gave the "card" so I could go online and make a claim. I know this is their policy but since we had just left AKL earlier in the day and was still on Disney property I thought they would've been willing to do a little more. Unfortunately, the CM offered no other help beyond giving us the "card." Not to be deterred, I found the number for Kidani's front desk and called them directly and explained the situation. The CM was very understanding, took my number and said that he would talk to his manager to see if the room could be checked and if anything was found. About 30 minutes later I received a call from the evening manager at Kidani Village - Dan was his name. He said that he had gone to the room (obviously no one had moved into yet) and found our item and that it would be waiting for us at the front desk. This was our little bit of "magic" that we experienced on our trip. Thanks to Dan for going out of his way and not adhering to policy.
On Wednesday morning we got up and walked to the MK... along the way there is a separate health and bag check area for guests from the Contemporary and BLT which was really nice. From there we walked straight to the front gate arriving right at park opening. The crowd was light. We could actually walk down the sidewalk or in the middle of the street if we had wanted - there were so few people. We went first to Splash Mt and walked on. I'm glad we got to ride it one last time before its makeover. We then walked on at BTMR, PotC, THM, and PPF. It was just after 10am when we completed all five attractions. Next was Space Mountain and maybe a 10 minute wait. The only line we waited in all day was 30 minutes for 7DMT. I never saw that line below 30 minutes all day. Outside of this one attraction, we rode everything we wanted to multiple times with little to no wait. I had made reservations at park closing time at GF Cafe. We took the monorail over with no problems. We were the only ones in our car. GF felt almost dead as much of the resort is being used by the NBA. Interestingly, this was the only other place where our temperatures were taken. This was done before we were seated in the restaurant. After dinner, we did some last bit of shopping at GF before heading back to BLT. However, to our amazement, the monorail closed at 8pm (It was 8:15pm at the time). I went back in and inquired at the front desk and was told that we could catch a bus. We went back outside and found that the bus stop area had been blocked off (probably due to the NBA's presence.) By this time I was confused. I saw some other people waiting in front of the GF and found that they too were waiting for a bus back to the CR. After a few minutes, a bus did arrive but it was going to DS. The other group must have been waiting for a while because they decided to go to DS and then catch a bus to the CR... not something I cared to do. So I went back inside and inquired again and was told that a but would be coming... sure enough, once we went back outside another bus did arrive. The driver asked where we needed to go. We told him and he said he could take us there. But before going to CR we first made a stop in the bus lot adjacent to MK. This isn't the normal bus stop but looked like a parking lot or staging area for buses. In any case, the driver dropped the only other passenger on the bus who maybe was a CM because as we were leaving I saw them get on what looked like a local city bus. I could be all wrong about this but that's what it appeared to me. From there we went to the CR.
The next morning, we were off for home... It was a once in a lifetime trip. I don't think I'll ever be there again with so few people. Even with the shortened park hours and absence of FP+ we were able to basically do whatever we wanted, when we wanted to, and had plenty of time to do it... without the throngs of people. Being a planner and always following my "plan" it was nice to have the freedom to just wander around and not feel rushed. Personally, I never like to wait in line but I found that the short waits we did encounter weren't too bad... mainly because I knew we wouldn't have to stand in very many of them.
As far as feeling safe... I was never concerned. I'm not a germaphobe but I do what I can to be safe. Almost everyone I saw was wearing their mask and wearing it correctly. And if they weren't a CM would politely tell them to correct it. In fact, I saw a lot of what I would call "mask monitors" who stood around looking for infractions.
I encountered only a few people who ignored the 6-foot distancing markers in the queues. There was always hand sanitizer at the entrance and exit of every attraction that I saw. CM's seemed to be constantly wiping down touchpoints throughout the parks. Nothing is perfect but I will tell you that I felt safer in the parks than at my local Wallyworld or grocery store. That's about it...
My father and his wife have planned a trip for later in September. I'll be interested to hear what their experience is like compared to mine.
