***Official March 2021 Thread***

[MomOTwins]

Have no way of knowing if people are doing this but the main pool at AoA is also currently closed for refurbishment so some of the people staying there could very well be walking over to Pop and creating higher crowd volume at the pools at Pop.

Edit: I know some pools have magic band scanning for access but I've never known the value resorts to really concern themselves with it. If anybody has experienced otherwise let me know.

Agreed, have seen many people just reach over the pool gate and open it from the inside to bypass the scanner. The only pool that really enforces it is Yacht and Beach club, where they have CMs at the pool entrances checking bands in person.

 

[JJ2017]

This was just discussed a few days ago in another thread - if they purchased their tickets in the app, a CM at the tapstiles can issue cards to them the first time they enter a park. No need to stop at the resort desk!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/wdw-online-tickets.3829174/#post-62769418

Ok!!! Great!!!!!

 

[DisneyFanJenn]

We are back from an AMAZING trip to Disney. We arrived in Orlando on 3/7, check in to our Good Neighbor hotel and headed to Disney Springs...bad idea. It was beyond packed. Wait for World of Disney was estimated at 2 hours. No thanks. We grabbed some food at Earl of Sandwich and left.
3/8 we got our "room isn't ready" text at about 9am so went and parked our car at Grand Floridian and headed to Epcot. Rode a bunch of rides (wait times were reasonable) and ate way too much food at the Flower and Garden booths. Got the text that our room was ready around 3 or so. They put us in Big Pine Key. Was hoping for Boca Chino but decided to roll with it. SO glad we did because we had a gorgeous corner room with 2 balconies. One faced the Poly and the other faced the wedding pavilion and MK. We could see space mountain and the castle. We got to enjoy the Electric Water Pageant every evening.
3/9 Magic Kingdom day. Again we found the wait time reasonable except for our darn nutella waffles at Sleepy Hollow...lol. We rode almost everything we wanted before dinner. Had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. Due to social distancing we actually ate our meal at Diamond Horseshoe. We had never been in there before so that was a nice treat.
3/10 Animal Kingdom day. This is never a full day park for us so after you factor in no shows or character meet and greets, we were done after just a few hours. Skipped Pandora except lunch at Satuli Canteen. Wait times for those rides were crazy. Rode EE twice in 45 minutes though. Safari was about 25 minute wait but the queue was REALLY spaced out. Like all the way back to FOLK. We did get to walk through the theater where we noticed that social distancing measures are in place for the seating. Hope they announce an opening date soon. We decided to try our luck at Disney Springs again. Much better than on Sunday, no wait at all at any of the stores we wanted to go in to. Had an amazing meal at Chicken Guy. Headed back to GF and enjoyed the pool (and the pool bar....lol).
3/11 Hollywood Studios. All of us got up at 6:45 to try our hand at getting a ROTR boarding pass. DH managed to get it, group 7. Youngest daughter and I got dressed and headed over to HS around 8. Rode Slinky dog, Millennium Falcon and Toy Story mania before DH and our other daughter joined us. Then we rode ROTR. Hands down it was just amazing. Waited 40 minutes for MMRR, well worth the wait. Did a bunch more rides before dinner at 50's Prime Time (YUM).
3/12 Check out day (boo). We loaded our luggage in our car and headed to EPCOT. Rode a bunch of stuff and again stuffed our faces with F&G food. It started getting really busy around 3:30 so we decided it was time to go. DH checked the app an wait times at MK were crazy low. So we hopped over and rode a few things. Did some last minute shopping in the Emporium and Confectionary. Hopped on the Monorail and went to the Contemporary so DD could get something from the gift shop there. Back on the monorail to go to GF to spend more money at their shops HAHA! Then it was time to say goodbye to Disney. Spent the evening at a Good Neighbor hotel.

Few notes for those with upcoming trips:

- Mobile Ordering really takes the spontaneity out of QS meals. We didn't think this would be a big deal but if you are travelling with picky eaters it is harder to order something from here and then pop over to there and get something else for someone in your group. The pick up times NEVER seemed to align. So we found ourselves watching someone eat and then going to the next place where they watched everyone else eat. Maybe we could have planned this better but the whole point of QS is to get it on the fly and not plan it out. It wasn't the end of the world to us, just a bit of an inconvenience.

- Every single CM we interacted with was pleasant and helpful. We got tons of great pictures from the Photopass photographers. Almost all of them did magic shots.

- Masks really were not an issue for us until the last day. It was mid 80' and the humidity seemed to be up a bit. Add in the lack of shade in Epcot and growing crowds....it was just not for us.

We went in to this trip knowing it would be different from every other Disney trip we ever had. Honestly, we had a fantastic time and made wonderful memories. We really only missed the shows. We saw plenty of characters in the cavalcades and around the parks. Fireworks and parades were never a big deal to us. Funny thing, this was the very first trip that not a single drop of rain fell while we were there. It was nice but we kinda missed dodging the puddle and running from place to place.

Hoping you all have PHENOMOMAL trips and make tons of great memories!

 

[JJ2017]

We are back from an AMAZING trip to Disney. We arrived in Orlando on 3/7, check in to our Good Neighbor hotel and headed to Disney Springs...bad idea. It was beyond packed. Wait for World of Disney was estimated at 2 hours. No thanks. We grabbed some food at Earl of Sandwich and left.
3/8 we got our "room isn't ready" text at about 9am so went and parked our car at Grand Floridian and headed to Epcot. Rode a bunch of rides (wait times were reasonable) and ate way too much food at the Flower and Garden booths. Got the text that our room was ready around 3 or so. They put us in Big Pine Key. Was hoping for Boca Chino but decided to roll with it. SO glad we did because we had a gorgeous corner room with 2 balconies. One faced the Poly and the other faced the wedding pavilion and MK. We could see space mountain and the castle. We got to enjoy the Electric Water Pageant every evening.
3/9 Magic Kingdom day. Again we found the wait time reasonable except for our darn nutella waffles at Sleepy Hollow...lol. We rode almost everything we wanted before dinner. Had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. Due to social distancing we actually ate our meal at Diamond Horseshoe. We had never been in there before so that was a nice treat.
3/10 Animal Kingdom day. This is never a full day park for us so after you factor in no shows or character meet and greets, we were done after just a few hours. Skipped Pandora except lunch at Satuli Canteen. Wait times for those rides were crazy. Rode EE twice in 45 minutes though. Safari was about 25 minute wait but the queue was REALLY spaced out. Like all the way back to FOLK. We did get to walk through the theater where we noticed that social distancing measures are in place for the seating. Hope they announce an opening date soon. We decided to try our luck at Disney Springs again. Much better than on Sunday, no wait at all at any of the stores we wanted to go in to. Had an amazing meal at Chicken Guy. Headed back to GF and enjoyed the pool (and the pool bar....lol).
3/11 Hollywood Studios. All of us got up at 6:45 to try our hand at getting a ROTR boarding pass. DH managed to get it, group 7. Youngest daughter and I got dressed and headed over to HS around 8. Rode Slinky dog, Millennium Falcon and Toy Story mania before DH and our other daughter joined us. Then we rode ROTR. Hands down it was just amazing. Waited 40 minutes for MMRR, well worth the wait. Did a bunch more rides before dinner at 50's Prime Time (YUM).
3/12 Check out day (boo). We loaded our luggage in our car and headed to EPCOT. Rode a bunch of stuff and again stuffed our faces with F&G food. It started getting really busy around 3:30 so we decided it was time to go. DH checked the app an wait times at MK were crazy low. So we hopped over and rode a few things. Did some last minute shopping in the Emporium and Confectionary. Hopped on the Monorail and went to the Contemporary so DD could get something from the gift shop there. Back on the monorail to go to GF to spend more money at their shops HAHA! Then it was time to say goodbye to Disney. Spent the evening at a Good Neighbor hotel.

Few notes for those with upcoming trips:

- Mobile Ordering really takes the spontaneity out of QS meals. We didn't think this would be a big deal but if you are travelling with picky eaters it is harder to order something from here and then pop over to there and get something else for someone in your group. The pick up times NEVER seemed to align. So we found ourselves watching someone eat and then going to the next place where they watched everyone else eat. Maybe we could have planned this better but the whole point of QS is to get it on the fly and not plan it out. It wasn't the end of the world to us, just a bit of an inconvenience.

- Every single CM we interacted with was pleasant and helpful. We got tons of great pictures from the Photopass photographers. Almost all of them did magic shots.

- Masks really were not an issue for us until the last day. It was mid 80' and the humidity seemed to be up a bit. Add in the lack of shade in Epcot and growing crowds....it was just not for us.

We went in to this trip knowing it would be different from every other Disney trip we ever had. Honestly, we had a fantastic time and made wonderful memories. We really only missed the shows. We saw plenty of characters in the cavalcades and around the parks. Fireworks and parades were never a big deal to us. Funny thing, this was the very first trip that not a single drop of rain fell while we were there. It was nice but we kinda missed dodging the puddle and running from place to place.

Hoping you all have PHENOMOMAL trips and make tons of great memories!

Loved reading!!!! What time did you go to Disney Springs on that arrival day? That’s exactly what we are doing and it’s a Sunday. We don’t have to deal with parking at least.

 

[Bama Mom]

- Mobile Ordering really takes the spontaneity out of QS meals. We didn't think this would be a big deal but if you are travelling with picky eaters it is harder to order something from here and then pop over to there and get something else for someone in your group. The pick up times NEVER seemed to align. So we found ourselves watching someone eat and then going to the next place where they watched everyone else eat. Maybe we could have planned this better but the whole point of QS is to get it on the fly and not plan it out. It wasn't the end of the world to us, just a bit of an inconvenience.

- Every single CM we interacted with was pleasant and helpful. We got tons of great pictures from the Photopass photographers. Almost all of them did magic shots.

Hoping you all have PHENOMOMAL trips and make tons of great memories!

Sounds like a great trip!

The mobile ordering thing is what I think will be the most inconvenient thing for us. Not mobile ordering per say (I love mobile ordering in the regular sense) but more of the fact I keep reading you have to order early to get the food when you think you'll want to eat. I just hope I can get my cinnamon roll from Gaston's HaHa.

I bit the bullet and bought memory maker so hearing about the photo pass pictures makes me glad I did.

 

[Bama Mom]

Loved reading!!!! What time did you go to Disney Springs on that arrival day? That’s exactly what we are doing and it’s a Sunday. We don’t have to deal with parking at least.

That's what we plan to do as well. I hoping it won't be terrible when we get there. If it is, we will just resort hop instead.

 

[Bama Mom]

oh I hate tornado season!!!!! We go through this too where we live. It can be so scary and anxiety producing!! I hope it stays away from your town.

Thanks. Storms normally don't bother me, in fact I have been outside taking pictures in the past, but I like knowing all my loved ones are safe at home during them. Back in 2011 we had a super system pass through and we had 62 tornadoes touch down in Alabama on a single day. Every since then I get a bit nervous when I know it's going to be bad enough to close the colleges.

 

[DisneyFanJenn]

Loved reading!!!! What time did you go to Disney Springs on that arrival day? That’s exactly what we are doing and it’s a Sunday. We don’t have to deal with parking at least.

We got there around 4ish. We were surprised how busy it was. It just wasn't too much for our comfort level

 

[DisneyFanJenn]

Oh, something I forgot to mention. Security is a breeze now with them not checking every bag. You pause to get your temp check and then walk right through the detectors. One thing that sets them off is portable chargers. If you have one simply take it out if your bag and hold it out in front of you as you go through Security. They don't stop you to search your bag then.

 

[Thomasboys]

We leave tomorrow!!!! The third time is the charm after our March 2020 trip was canceled, then the June 2020 trip. We even had a separate mom/son's trip booked for May 2020 too that was canceled. Needless to say, I'm sooooo excited, but I won't believe it is real until we touch down at MCO.

 

[skeettafic]

Arrived yesterday and had a lovely afternoon at AK!

Just for reference ... we road FoP twice. First time wait was posted at 75 min, on in 50. Second time wait posted at 65 min, on in 40. Everest was posted 20 minutes and we rode twice in that time frame. Dinosaur was marked 30 min and that was probably accurate. AK felt quite nice as far as crowds even with us not arriving until 2:00.
I will try and comment on the pool issue as we’re at CSR. Headed to the pool this morning for a little bit and hoping to come back this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon so I’ll let you know if there are any issues!

 

[Bama Mom]

3 days, 15 hours and 33 minutes until disney day!

 

[Orion Nebula]

Arrived yesterday and had a lovely afternoon at AK!

Just for reference ... we road FoP twice. First time wait was posted at 75 min, on in 50. Second time wait posted at 65 min, on in 40. Everest was posted 20 minutes and we rode twice in that time frame. Dinosaur was marked 30 min and that was probably accurate. AK felt quite nice as far as crowds even with us not arriving until 2:00.
I will try and comment on the pool issue as we’re at CSR. Headed to the pool this morning for a little bit and hoping to come back this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon so I’ll let you know if there are any issues!

It's always amazing how short the wait times are for Everest. It's the best ride there and one of the most fun coasters in WDW but yet I don't think I have ever waited more then maybe 30 in the busiest of times.

 

[Thomasboys]

Arrived yesterday and had a lovely afternoon at AK!

Just for reference ... we road FoP twice. First time wait was posted at 75 min, on in 50. Second time wait posted at 65 min, on in 40. Everest was posted 20 minutes and we rode twice in that time frame. Dinosaur was marked 30 min and that was probably accurate. AK felt quite nice as far as crowds even with us not arriving until 2:00.
I will try and comment on the pool issue as we’re at CSR. Headed to the pool this morning for a little bit and hoping to come back this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon so I’ll let you know if there are any issues!

What times did you ride FOP? I'm debating on RD it vs waiting until later in the day. I guess if we are one of the first ones in, it would make sense to RD, otherwise, we may do EE first and catch FOP later.

 

[Bama Mom]

It's always amazing how short the wait times are for Everest. It's the best ride there and one of the most fun coasters in WDW but yet I don't think I have ever waited more then maybe 30 in the busiest of times.

EE is definitely my favorite coaster at Disney. RnR gives me a headache and Space Mountain isn't fun to me. Probably because the very first time I ever road it I was in the front seat and could see the tracks so nothing was a surprise. I do like SDD and 7DMT but still like EE way more.

 

[DisneylandMommy]

On our way but our flight is delayed. Hoping it doesn’t mess up our connections too much. Oh well. We will get there eventually.

 

[Bama Mom]

On our way but our flight is delayed. ☹ Hoping it doesn’t mess up our connections too much. Oh well. We will get there eventually.

Oh no! Hopefully it won't mess you guys up.

 

[lspahr]

I needed to update my flight information for magical express. I can never get it to work on the website or app. I called and it said it would be more than thirty minutes so I tried the chat function on the app and it worked perfectly! It immediately connected my to someone and she updated my flight right away. Hope this helps someone

Thanks for this info! I was reading while on hold waiting to update my flight information. Hung up and was chatting within 5 minutes!

 

[skeettafic]

What times did you ride FOP? I'm debating on RD it vs waiting until later in the day. I guess if we are one of the first ones in, it would make sense to RD, otherwise, we may do EE first and catch FOP later.

We got in line the first time at 4:15 and the second at 7:20.

the first time the line was LOOOOOOONNNNNGGH... all the way over bridge headed out of pandora but it went super fast

 

[HokieRaven5]

We got in line the first time at 4:15 and the second at 7:20.

the first time the line was LOOOOOOONNNNNGGH... all the way over bridge headed out of pandora but it went super fast

Been in that line! You almost feel like you're headed to FOTLK at that point . It does move fast though and now that they have increased the overall loading on the ride itself it'll move at a pretty solid clip.