Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Neverbeast]

Also was in AK today. G+ was actually a little tricky to use because the times stayed so early for so much of the day, but it worked out well!
Woke up at 6:45 to get FoP ILL but really didn’t need to- the evening times I wanted were availabile well after noon and nothing else was ready for times my sleepy, slow moving family would be in the park.

We got to the park at 9:30, got coffee and breakfast at Isle of Java- coffee was good. Mickey cinnamon roll was dry, breakfast sandwich was adequate.

Finally booked G+ for safari 10-11 return time

Maharajah jungle trek, delightful. The tiger was very active and we loved the murals and prayer flag ruins. Great WE guides there talked to us about our local zoo for a long time.

11- rode G+ safari
12 festival of the lion king, Delightful. Those tumble monkeys are adorable and amazing all at once

12:44- gorilla falls trail and more WE badges

1:30 lunch at tusker house. This was so great. The food wasn’t quite as good as when it was a buffet but a lot of it was still really yummy and we got so much food character time. Great server, great time out of the heat! She brought us the vegan chocolate mousse and it was actually our favorite of the current desserts.

2:45 train to rafiki plant watch, finally booked a late enough Navi river G+ time

3:15 animation experience- we loved it. Again, air conditioned time doing something fun? Yes please! My niece fell asleep, my husband drew a totally different thing… we all had fun.

4 train back
4:30 dinosaur stand by (15 min wait)
4:50 booked kali G+ for 5pm
5 kali G+ (Wanted to book Everest but times were all immediate!)
5:30 Navi G+ (Got the full shaman. Kids thought it was boring but I loved it. So pretty and relaxing!)
6 FoP (still incredible.)
Came out of the ride to some lightning and wet pavement - outdoor rides closed.
6:30 booked 6:40 Everest- almost immediately got converted to redemption passes, immediately booked a 6:50 Everest (which also got converted)

Got snacks in pandora. Kids liked the pineapple lumpia, adults liked the beer cheese with the giant pretzle and the hot dog from Satuli canteen. Hawkes grog reminded me of magic hat #9 in a good way, DH though the high country ale was very hoppy.

7 rerode dinosaur G+ with our redemption passes but didn’t need it- it was walk on.

Took some photo pass shots. We barely saw any photographers out all day. So all my photos of the day will be on the bridge by Everest… seriously none in pandora was disappointing because I wanted the magic shot with the banshee.

7:30 Everest is back! Jumped on and got G+ and walked on.

7:45 Starbucks. Passed tree of life but photo pass line was long so we thought we had time to grab coffee… this was a mistake.
8 pictures in front of tree of life but just with our phones. Photo pass photographers packed up at 7:55 before we could get back.

Overall this was basically a perfect day. It was hot, it was crowded for a bit in the middle of the day, and we certainly had some good luck with timing on shows and trains and Everest coming back last minute… but I think stacking rides in the evening and spending the middle hot part of the day worked great for my giant party of 11.

 

[ghtx]

We went to Epcot Saturday. We had G+ and got an ILL for GotG. Got into the VQ also right at 7am (BG 76), got a Remy LL for 9:40, and then GotG ILL for 5:30 (by choice, could have done earlier).

We pulled into the Epcot parking lot around 7:40 for the 8am early entry. I was pleasantly surprised at how non-chaotic rope drop was, even compared to the last time we went two years ago, post-COVID. Maybe spreading the early entry out to all four parks helps.

We queued up at the rope by Test Track, and walked on to TT right at 8. Then walked to Frozen and walked on. Then walked over to Soarin, also a walk on. Then walked on to Land, and then to Spaceship Earth which was about 3-5 minute wait.

By now it’s about 9:45 or so and we headed to France for our Remy LL. Rode it, then took a break and had crepes in France. We also booked a LL for Soarin. Walked back to Soarin and rode in LL (walk on) then booked a LL for test track for 7:30. Rode Seas with Nemo, and then our GotG BG was called at 12:16. Made it in the queue and waited about 45 minutes.

Got nervous now since our lunch reservation at Via Napoli was for 1:10 and we didn’t arrive until 30 minutes late. But we got a table with no wait.

After lunch, my family went home for a mid-day break, and I stayed in World Showcase. I watched Voices of Liberty, Atlas Fusion in Morocco, and the drummers in Japan. I leisurely explored the countries and listened to most of the audio tales things that come with G+. Booked a LL for Mission Space and rode orange, then my family met me at GotG at 6 for our ILL.

Then dinner at the restaurant inside Mexico, the Mexico boat ride, TT on our LL (it was down because of rain, so we got an anyplace LL instead, but since TT reopened we used it there). Finally we walked up to a spot for Harmonius about 10 minutes ahead of time. We weren’t waterside, a few people back and sort of blocked by a tree, but we could see most everything and didn’t have to wait long (we probably could have gone even closer if we tried). Plus we were as close to the main exit as you can get.

After that drove back to OKW. Great day! G+ probably not needed; saved us some wait time but led us to lots of crisscrossing. 13 rides!

 

[Boopuff]

Catastrophic Deodorant Failure! I’m finally here! Did I mention it’s hot? Did AK yesterday. DD really wanted FOP (bought $LL). Used genie all day, very successful! I didn’t have my head in my phone, just booked new choices after tapping in. Stacking worked, our afternoon was plotted out. Also didn’t see huge battery drain on my phone, but I closed all unnecessary apps. I’m also a sucker for “fun stuff”. I have a magic band +. And it’s funny when you get near a statue and It lights and vibrates.

 

[TeamSy]

We got back on Friday and had the most AMAZING time!!!! We stayed at Contemporary and were nervous going in - everything was clean and service was amazing!

This was our first time back since Sep ‘19. We did mask indoors and on crowded lines. Kids were great about it. We took our masks off a few times indoors when no one was around. Had no issues at all. We ate a few meals indoors and asked to be seated away from crowds. Had no issues getting that, even in be our guest!

We LOVED lightening lane!!!!! So much better than fast pass! We waited no more than 5 minutes on anything and were able to LL most if not all attractions!!!

This was a quick trip so did only 2 days at MK.

Day 1 (we did a half day):
8:30: reserved meet mickey
10:30: reserved jungle cruise
12:00: got to park, caught parade right by meet Snow White.
12:30: met Snow White
12:50: meet mickey (LL) - this had a long regular line, we waited about 5 minutes
1:15: Buzz (LL) walked on
1:30: Speedway (LL) about 5 minute wait
2:00: Pirates (LL) about 5 minutes and that was just to walk to the ride
2:30: Thunder (LL) waited 5 minutes to ride front row
3:00: Jungle Cruise (LL) walked on, about an hour regular wait
3:30: Magic Carpets (LL) walk on
4:00: we had an early dinner and headed back to room

Day 2
We reserved haunted mansion as our first LL and did ILL for 7DMT for the afternoon
9:30: Haunted Mansion (LL) walked on (we skipped stretching room)
10:00: Splash (LL) walked on
10:30: It’s a small world (LL) walked on, then reserved Peter Pan for the afternoon.
11:00: While we waited for the 2 hour window to pass we… ate a nice lunch, waited 10 minutes for under the sea little mermaid ride, husband and older child waited 10 minutes for barnstormer while I took you get to wait for chip and dale meet. They met us there.
1:00: Reserved Dumbo (LL). After we met chip and dale we went right to that. Then I reserved Tiana and Rapunzel.
While we waited for that time we did…
Peter Pan (LL) from earlier and the ILL from earlier 7DMT (we did rider swap for this… walked on both and both had over 1 hour regular waits).
Met Tiana and Rapunzel (LL) about a 5 minute wait, then reserved Cinderella meet for after dinner
Then met Belle, this was our longest wait of about 20 minutes
4:00: Be Our Guest
5:30: After dinner we met Cinderella (LL) less than 5 minute wait. Very surprised and kids were THRILLED that Ariel was meeting with her!
5:45: Booked Winnie the Pooh (LL), slight gap so did carousel.
6:00: Winnie the pooh
Then asked kids what else they wanted to do or re-do form either day.
We stayed until about 8:30, which wasn’t too bad with a 5 and 2 year old. Although we could have stayed until midnight with the extra hours but mom and dad were tired lol.

We thought LL was an amazing value! It was a little annoying to be on my phone booking but other than that very stress free and smooth. We turned off all notifications and emails so it was JUST the Disney ap!

We cannot wait to go back and are so sad we are home!

 

[brandelyncon74]

Went to MK today, Labor Day. Arrived at 7:45 for resort early entry. By 12:30 we had done Space Mountain, Buzz, Pooh, Barnstormer, Seven Dwarfs (walk-on, not paid), Under the Sea, Peter Pan, Small World, Haunted Mansion (x2), Big Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Tiki and Country Bears. I bought Genie+ but didn’t really need it. It saved us about 30 min on Peter Pan and 40 min on Jungle Cruise. Party days are looking very good for wait times at MK. DHS tomorrow. Planning to get Genie+. I will report back.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

It’s 4pm and the Guardians VQ is still open, if anyone wants to know how today is going.

 

[gottalovepluto]

It’s 4pm and the Guardians VQ is still open, if anyone wants to know how today is going.

Is Labor Day weekend always this quiet?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Is Labor Day weekend always this quiet?

Often, yes. As of this week kids across the country are back in school, many returning tomorrow. Historically (with the exception of possibly last year) Labour Day week is one of the lowest crowds, if not the very lowest, all year.

 

[brandelyncon74]

Often, yes. As of this week kids across the country are back in school, many returning tomorrow. Historically (with the exception of possibly last year) Labour Day week is one of the lowest crowds, if not the very lowest, all year.

I can attest to last year being an anomaly. We are here this same week every year and last year was much more crowded than normal.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Labor Day has always been pretty low - we ALWAYS went - but the new AP blockout calendar now blocks all 3 day weekends so the vast majority of AP's can't get in this weekend. Us included Womp womp.

Not sure why they blocked AP's since it's never been a busy time but Saved me a lot of money this weekend and made for lighter crowds it seems!

 

[100AcreWood]

Planning a trip in January. Our last Disney trip was July 2021 and we used our Apple watches as the magic band. Does that still work? I'm debating between e-tickets and having the tickets mailed.

 

[Boopuff]

We were at HS yesterday. We were able to get
TSMM,slinky,MMRRW and RRC using genie. Worked great for us. We break HSi to Star Wars day and “other stuff” day so we don’t make ourselves crazy. Crowds weren’t too bad I’m optimistic that the rest of the week will be calm

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Planning a trip in January. Our last Disney trip was July 2021 and we used our Apple watches as the magic band. Does that still work? I'm debating between e-tickets and having the tickets mailed.

Yes - iirc Magic Mobile allows you to add your tickets to your Apple wallet so you can access them on your watch.

I’ll be honest, the functionality was VERY spotty for me the one time I forgot my MB and had to rely on my mobile devices the whole trip, and it was very frustrating, but if you’ve used it before and it worked for you then that’s still an option.

 

[CarolynFH]

Planning a trip in January. Our last Disney trip was July 2021 and we used our Apple watches as the magic band. Does that still work? I'm debating between e-tickets and having the tickets mailed.

As above, yes, you can still use your Apple Watch as your MB, as long as your tickets are linked to MagicMobile in your Apple Wallet. You don’t need the physical tickets. Just be sure to have your MDE account set to link to Bluetooth on your phone in order to pick up long range ride photos, e.g. on GotG. The Apple Watch can’t do that.

 

[Boopuff]

At Epcot this morning, very nice, felt low crowd level, the only FAW booth with a line of any size was Ireland (the Baileys/Guinness fabulous!). Hot as hades, but we survived!

 

[lovethattink]

At 7:29pm tonight, I got a VQ BG for GOTG! And our group was called right before 8pm!

 

[Neverbeast]

Yes - iirc Magic Mobile allows you to add your tickets to your Apple wallet so you can access them on your watch.

I’ll be honest, the functionality was VERY spotty for me the one time I forgot my MB and had to rely on my mobile devices the whole trip, and it was very frustrating, but if you’ve used it before and it worked for you then that’s still an option.

I’d bring your card though- my SIL is here now and is the only one in my party who chose to use her watch and it hasn’t worked once. Guest relations couldn’t figure it out either. She has been flashing her phone or her card to enter the parks and use LL. Very frustrating for her.

Related/unrelated- we’re finding the MB+ To be really dumb. I thought my kids would get a kick out of collecting the statues but it’s kind of a pain to switch between the accounts and have the different apps open and synch plus the statues aren’t that interesting when the talk for three seconds. Just… incredibly underwhelming

 

[mickey916]

I’d bring your card though- my SIL is here now and is the only one in my party who chose to use her watch and it hasn’t worked once. Guest relations couldn’t figure it out either. She has been flashing her phone or her card to enter the parks and use LL. Very frustrating for her.

Related/unrelated- we’re finding the MB+ To be really dumb. I thought my kids would get a kick out of collecting the statues but it’s kind of a pain to switch between the accounts and have the different apps open and synch plus the statues aren’t that interesting when the talk for three seconds. Just… incredibly underwhelming

I'd agree with getting a card or MagicBand. So many backed up lines at the tapstiles with people fiddling with their phones trying to get them to work. Interesting about the MB+. I was toying with the idea of just getting one to work with the statues....guess I'll stick with my regular one.

 

[lovethattink]

I’d bring your card though- my SIL is here now and is the only one in my party who chose to use her watch and it hasn’t worked once. Guest relations couldn’t figure it out either. She has been flashing her phone or her card to enter the parks and use LL. Very frustrating for her.

Related/unrelated- we’re finding the MB+ To be really dumb. I thought my kids would get a kick out of collecting the statues but it’s kind of a pain to switch between the accounts and have the different apps open and synch plus the statues aren’t that interesting when the talk for three seconds. Just… incredibly underwhelming

I agree about bringing your card. I don’t think the phone or watch is the way to go. So often we get stuck behind people having issues with them. MB and MB+ work so much better at tap points.

I’m not that excited about MB+. Between mine not keeping a charge and the inconvenience of it having to charge while at a park, I don’t think what it does is that amazing.

I remember light up pins during the Millenium celebration. They did special light ups during shows and attractions and seemed to work better than my magic band +.

 

[scrappinginontario]

A card is also easy to tuck in a pocket and pull out when needed. Much more convenient than a phone. We were recently in DL and I wondered what it would be like without MBs but honestly, the card was super simple for park access and LL.