# How is Disney World doing?



## TravelTime (Dec 12, 2020)

We have plans to go to Disney World in Florida in June. However, I just found out my daughter has two weeks off around Easter. Her school decided to give the teachers an extra week off since it has been a tough year. So now I am thinking it might be better to go in the spring instead of the summer since the weather is better. I am wondering how Covid restrictions are affecting Disney World in Florida? Is it still open? Any operating changes? Any chance it could shut down?


----------



## elaine (Dec 13, 2020)

Just returned. You need a park reservation for each day in the park as well as a ticket. Easter is always very high season and crowded. The parks now operate at 35% capacity but my friend with an annual pass says it feels much more crowded than that. Some eating places and stores are closed putting pressure on the open ones. No character meets or shows which crowds other rides.
the good news is that easterweek will feel like any other day with capacity controlled.
disney springs was crowded. At 3pm, I waited 30 minutes in a socially distanced line at the world of Disney store. As much as peak Xmas in normal times.
We’ve gone most Easter week for 15 years, and the weather is almost  always fabulous. We’d go into park in am and leave at lunch and enjoy the pools. If you had that plan, you’d be fine. Disney resorts show movies outside at night. That’d be a fun addition.
Wdw is very strict and enforcing masks. I don’t know if any covid outbreak traced back to wdw. I don’t think they’re shutting down again. Supposedly park hopping is back in Jan. Don’t know how that’ll work. There are no fast passes. If you did park hopping, I’d plan to just walk around in the afternoon evening at Epcot etc. no fireworks or parades. It’s not the typical wdw experience. But at Easter that experience was very crowded and one had to alter plans and didn’t get the best experience anyway due to high crowds.


----------



## elaine (Dec 13, 2020)

We stayed at akv Jambo. Only dvc Rooms open. No restaurants and not many people. Over at kidani the little store was jammed in the evening as was Sanaa the only food place open. All socially distanced. We Moved over to Old key west and that was fully operational as was riviera. Sky liner is super cool.
so if you stay at wdw. Be sure to check what’s open at your hotel.


----------



## mentalbreak (Dec 13, 2020)

My understanding of the return of park hopping is that you still need to have a park reservation and visit that park first with a park hopper ticket (or AP). Then you may enter another park after 2pm.


----------



## amyhwang (Dec 13, 2020)

If it were me, I’d opt for the later in the year option of June.  Hopefully, regular folks will be getting vaccinated more by then, so travel would be safer.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Dec 13, 2020)

We have gone twice since October, two weeks each time.  We just got back yesterday.  Loved the experience.  You should go in the spring.

Our granddaughter is three and she really missed the Buzz character greeting.  She loves Buzz, he is by far her favorite character.  She wore her Cinderella dress to Magic Kingdom each day and got a lot of attention from the princesses from a distance, both in the parade and for the train depot upper level when we arrived in the morning.  She loved turning around to show off her dress for Cinderella and the fairy godmother.  We truly enjoyed that!  She wouldn't be one to allow a princess to touch her anyway, not even Grandma can touch her as she has gotten older.  I believe she is somewhat autistic.  She loves Grandpa however.  My daughter has a theory that small children are generally afraid of older women because of the "old witch" syndrome they get from the Disney movies, and Bella watches Disney movies all day long.  Makes sense to me. 

We went to the parks five times, manageable crowds.  We went to Disney Springs twice, and we only waited in line for 5 minutes to visit the World of Disney store.  All of the other stores were open for business, even the Christmas store, no wait at all.  I think evenings are a really bad time to visit Springs, and the daytime is the best time, especially before lunch and out by 1 PM.  We didn't eat down there. 

The only meals we ate at Magic Kingdom was at Pecos Bills.  We also ate at Prime Time Cafe.  I am not a fan of Disney food, as most people know.  The prices are crazy high.  I could cook a meal for 8 for what their fast food costs for two, so I am just not impressed with the prices and the food quality.  The food at Pecos Bills was good.  I had beef nachos.  Rick had fajitas and thought they were pretty good and filling.  I didn't get enough "green" that night.  We wanted to see the Christmas projections on the castle that last night at Magic Kingdom. 

I really think they should do away with FP+ altogether.  We never waited more than 20 minutes for Peter Pan, and we all know how long that line is normally.  I would definitely go.  We go again next month.  We are staying at AKL and OKW via exchange, and we have exchanges for our son and his wife as well.  Looking forward to more time with Bella.


----------



## dioxide45 (Dec 13, 2020)

We have been several times. We aren't your typical Disney park goer though. We have APs, so our park stints usually only last a few hours. Walk around. Enjoy the sights and ride a couple rides. We actually got in the queue for Rise of the Resistance and were able to ride by late afternoon. It was broke down (typical) most of the morning. We were quite impressed. We were also in line for Runaway Railway when it broke. We still had time before our boarding pass would have been called for Rise, so we waited it out. A bunch of people got out of line, so when they got it working after about 30 minutes, the line was shorter . Both rides use similar ride vehicle technology, so be prepared for breakdowns on those two rides and don't count on being able to ride them on your day at Hollywood Studios.

Right now it seems that wait times are hard to measure. Lines will look huge because of social distancing but they move pretty fast. You will often see a line and not really know what it is for. There is usually an employee at the end of the line with a marker. You may see this for some stores also.

In all, our experiences have been pretty good. We are going back again in mid January and staying onsite at DVC. A first for us! Though we may not make it to the parks as much that trip because we want to check out the resorts.

The typical Disney we all remember from a year ago is gone. It may come back, but I wouldn't expect a similar experience for a few years. They say that the reservation system may be here to stay. The shows may take a while to come back and some are likely gone forever. We may never see buffets back again at those restaurants that had them, but I am actually more okay with the family style option that they have instead put in place.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Dec 13, 2020)

The two of us were there the week before Thanksgiving and will return the week leading up to Christmas with the kids and grandkids - a trip that was 2+ years in the making!  We're also booked to return the first week of March.  Our experiences were similar to others posted above and obviously didn't discourage us from returning.  I doubt it's going to shut down again.  Instead I expect a gradual reopening of stores, restaurants, and attractions as (hopefully) we start to see fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations, and fewer deaths from COVID-19 as the vaccine rolls out.  However, even though I hope to be vaccinated by the end of February, I still expect to be wearing a mask when there.

The most up to date information about operational changes at WDW are found at the very top of WDW's main page, https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/.  As things change, fan sites such as DISboards will note and analyze the changes.  By Easter I think it will look a lot different.  So an Easter trip sounds good, although if you want to be cautious, don't book anything that's not easily cancellable!


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 14, 2020)

Are Fast Passes still being used during Covid when they are limiting attendance?


----------



## mentalbreak (Dec 14, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> Are Fast Passes still being used during Covid when they are limiting attendance?



no. Fastpasses have not been available since they reopened and they have not announced anything about their return.


----------



## littlestar (Dec 14, 2020)

We just returned Saturday from WDW.  Ditto all the comments so far. The weekends seemed more crowded to us in the parks and at Disney Springs.  We noticed Epcot became more crowded after 4 pm during the week.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Dec 14, 2020)

littlestar said:


> We noticed Epcot became more crowded after 4 pm during the week.


Presumably local residents, especially AP holders whose APs are blocked out starting Dec. 18. But when park hopping resumes on Jan.1, Epcot crowding might become more noticeable after 2 PM - the most common comment I’ve read has been from people hoping to visit one park early in the day, then hop to Epcot for dinner!


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 14, 2020)

mentalbreak said:


> no. Fastpasses have not been available since they reopened and they have not announced anything about their return.



That’s too bad. I love Fast Passes. It makes the lines manageable.


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 14, 2020)

I decided to reserve for Easter break based on everyone’s feedback. If it does not seem safe or too much is closed, we can reschedule. The weather will be better in the Spring. That will make it more enjoyable. I sure hope Covid is gone by then. Wishful thinking


----------



## Sugarcubesea (Dec 14, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> I decided to reserve for Easter break based on everyone’s feedback. If it does not seem safe or too much is closed, we can reschedule. The weather will be better in the Spring. That will make it more enjoyable. I sure hope Covid is gone by then. Wishful thinking



Oh my gosh, your daughter is going to have such a great time...Have Fun


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 22, 2020)

If we are going to WDW in early April, how soon in advance should we make the park reservations?


----------



## Firepath (Dec 22, 2020)

I heard you could make them through 2021. Since you are going at Easter, I’d make them sooner than later - now, if possible.


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 22, 2020)

Firepath said:


> I heard you could make them through 2021. Since you are going at Easter, I’d make them sooner than later - now, if possible.



My concern is if I make them early and we have to cancel, will we get a refund?


----------



## elaine (Dec 22, 2020)

You have to have tickets to make a park reservation. If you booked a wdw package, you used to have 45 days out to Canx for free and could pay maybe $100 to be able to Canx up to 6 days out? 
If you  buy tickets from wdw separately, no refunds for tickets but value of tickets are good (forever) for purchase of new tickets.


----------



## AnnaS (Dec 22, 2020)

We went late October - capacity was at 25% then.  Now I keep reading it's up maybe 35%?

We are going back end of February .  If we find crowds are a bit much - we will stay away/enjoy the resort/move away, walk away.  Whatever we have to do.  The weather will be warm in April  but so much better than June.

We go back in early November and already have our park reservations.  Just know what to expect before you go and be prepared.  It's hard to say how things will be in April - things can change daily, weekly.  Your daughter will love it.  Hope you both have a great time and if it's a go, come back and give us your thoughts.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Dec 23, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> My concern is if I make them early and we have to cancel, will we get a refund?





elaine said:


> You have to have tickets to make a park reservation. If you booked a wdw package, you used to have 45 days out to Canx for free and could pay maybe $100 to be able to Canx up to 6 days out?
> If you  buy tickets from wdw separately, no refunds for tickets but value of tickets are good (forever) for purchase of new tickets.


This is from a Disney-sponsored site, PlanDisney.com, and states what I’ve read on DISboards as well regarding resort packages purchased from Disney directly:  “all Disney-imposed cancellation fees for vacation packages and Disney Resort Hotel stays are waived for reservations with arrivals through April 30, 2021! The due date for payment remains at 30 days before your vacation start date....” Many people are choosing to book packages for this reason, not to mention that Disney is offering some good prices now as well. The DVC rental market is suffering somewhat as a result, as people would rather book a refundable room or package than a non-refundable DVC rental, not to mention that Disney’s prices are very competitive with rental rates.

Disney’s refund policy would not apply to your tickets if you reserve only your room through Disney and purchase tickets elsewhere (at a discount), but as @elaine says, your tickets would retain their $ value indefinitely. Disney would value them at whatever Disney’s online price was when you bought them, so if there was a price increase in the meantime you would pay the difference when you traded them in for new tickets.

PS park pass reservations can be canceled and rebooked without penalty. There’s not even a no-show penalty, as there is with ADRs.


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 23, 2020)

TheHolleys87 said:


> This is from a Disney-sponsored site, PlanDisney.com, and states what I’ve read on DISboards as well regarding resort packages purchased from Disney directly:  “all Disney-imposed cancellation fees for vacation packages and Disney Resort Hotel stays are waived for reservations with arrivals through April 30, 2021! The due date for payment remains at 30 days before your vacation start date....” Many people are choosing to book packages for this reason, not to mention that Disney is offering some good prices now as well. The DVC rental market is suffering somewhat as a result, as people would rather book a refundable room or package than a non-refundable DVC rental, not to mention that Disney’s prices are very competitive with rental rates.
> 
> Disney’s refund policy would not apply to your tickets if you reserve only your room through Disney and purchase tickets elsewhere (at a discount), but as @elaine says, your tickets would retain their $ value indefinitely. Disney would value them at whatever Disney’s online price was when you bought them, so if there was a price increase in the meantime you would pay the difference when you traded them in for new tickets.
> 
> PS park pass reservations can be canceled and rebooked without penalty. There’s not even a no-show penalty, as there is with ADRs.



So does this mean I can purchase tickets for April but if we can’t go, then I will not get a refund but I can cancel the dates and the value of what I paid will be a credit indefinitely?

How do you cancel the dates on tickets if you can’t go?

I have an Interval week so we will be staying at one of the MVCs instead of onsite.


----------



## Sugarcubesea (Dec 23, 2020)

My son and his family is going to WDW in late May of 2021. Does anyone know of any places I can buy discounted GC’s for Disney.  Are there any cool experiences Ivan purchase for them that you recommend?


----------



## elaine (Dec 23, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> So does this mean I can purchase tickets for April but if we can’t go, then I will not get a refund but I can cancel the dates and the value of what I paid will be a credit indefinitely?
> 
> How do you cancel the dates on tickets if you can’t go?


tickets expire based upon dates, but value stays locked--you can apply to future purchase. I'd check with "experts" on disboards under tickets forum.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Dec 23, 2020)

Sugarcubesea said:


> My son and his family is going to WDW in late May of 2021. Does anyone know of any places I can buy discounted GC’s for Disney.  Are there any cool experiences Ivan purchase for them that you recommend?


I guess I didn't understand your question fully, but I know that Kroger grocery stores offer Disney gift cards and give us 4X fuel points.  A $250 gift card gets us 1000 points, which is $35 off on gas ($1.00 X a max of 35 gallons).  We take both vehicles to use the full 35 gallons.  We also take our gas cans.  We use those fuel points well.  We buy Amazon gift cards during the 4X promotion and load them to our Amazon account, too.  It's always 2X, so $500 purchase gets $35 off on gas.

If you have the Chase Ink cards and get 3X or 5X points, those are also a great value. I will be buying $3500 worth to pay our Disney MF's, which will get us 5X Chase points.  I will probably use them for SW.  17,500 points gets one of us RT to Hawaii on SW, or both us of RT to Orlando (when airfares are as low as they are lately).  We paid 3,033 points each way to Orlando for January.  That's 13,000 points for both of us.  Kind of crazy cheap.


----------



## dioxide45 (Dec 23, 2020)

I beleive you get 5% off buying Disney gift cards at Target if you use the Target RedCard. I know a lot of the Disney folks over on Disboards do this.


----------



## Dean (Dec 23, 2020)

Sugarcubesea said:


> My son and his family is going to WDW in late May of 2021. Does anyone know of any places I can buy discounted GC’s for Disney.  Are there any cool experiences Ivan purchase for them that you recommend?





dioxide45 said:


> I beleive you get 5% off buying Disney gift cards at Target if you use the Target RedCard. I know a lot of the Disney folks over on Disboards do this.


Sam's has a small discount on the gift cards, not sure about Costco.  I seem to recall people mentioning that Target would no longer give you the discount for gift cards but am not certain.


----------



## dioxide45 (Dec 23, 2020)

Dean said:


> Sam's has a small discount on the gift cards, not sure about Costco.  I seem to recall people mentioning that Target would no longer give you the discount for gift cards but am not certain.


According to their own website, RedCard still gives 5% on Disney gift cards.








						Target RedCard
					

Save 5% every day at Target with the RedCard. Discover all the RedCard benefits and apply online today to save on your Target purchases.




					www.target.com


----------



## Dean (Dec 23, 2020)

dioxide45 said:


> According to their own website, RedCard still gives 5% on Disney gift cards.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's great, I also recall that at times they had an extra 5% discount special.


----------



## Firepath (Dec 23, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> My concern is if I make them early and we have to cancel, will we get a refund?


You don't pay for them. I had a January reservation that I was able to cancel with no fees.


----------



## Firepath (Dec 23, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> So does this mean I can purchase tickets for April but if we can’t go, then I will not get a refund but I can cancel the dates and the value of what I paid will be a credit indefinitely?
> 
> How do you cancel the dates on tickets if you can’t go?
> 
> I have an Interval week so we will be staying at one of the MVCs instead of onsite.


I think you just show up with your tickets to Guest Services and pay the difference between what you have and the current price. But if FP+ comes back, you wont be able to get any until you upgrade, which you have to do in person.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Dec 24, 2020)

TravelTime said:


> So does this mean I can purchase tickets for April but if we can’t go, then I will not get a refund but I can cancel the dates and the value of what I paid will be a credit indefinitely?
> 
> How do you cancel the dates on tickets if you can’t go?
> 
> I have an Interval week so we will be staying at one of the MVCs instead of onsite.





elaine said:


> tickets expire based upon dates, but value stays locked--you can apply to future purchase. I'd check with "experts" on disboards under tickets forum.


Here’s the Tickets sticky from DISboards: https://www.disboards.com/threads/tickets-how-to-upgrade.3570721/.  I’ve read about changing dates on tickets, and it does involve paying the difference between Disney’s online price the day you bought them (no matter where you bought them) and the price the day you get replacements with different dates, but I’m not sure when you need to go to GR and when you can do it over the phone in advance by calling Disney Ticketing.


----------



## mdurette (Dec 24, 2020)

Sugarcubesea said:


> My son and his family is going to WDW in late May of 2021. Does anyone know of any places I can buy discounted GC’s for Disney.  Are there any cool experiences Ivan purchase for them that you recommend?



When I need, I follow a thread on the disboards that tells you where to purchase them.    For me, when I am in the mode of stockpiling Disney GCs I usually use the Chase offers and get 10% off at places like Staples, Lowes and Rite Aid.....


----------



## wed100105 (Dec 30, 2020)

We are here now. Arrived Dec 25 at 11 pm and returning afternoon of Jan 1. The parks are very crowded and wait times are much longer than we are used to in the summer with fast passes. It has significantly changed our touring and desire to be in the parks. We had military tickets for April 2020, and Disney refused to refund, but offered to extend the expiration without blackouts. I’m also a teacher so Christmas week was the only week that worked with our schedule without wearing masks in the heat.

I think you made the right call switching to spring. We were here in June 2019 and the coolest day of the trip was 98 degrees. Disney in spring is lovely! It will be a great break to help your daughter push through to the end of the year.

We are coming back President’s Day weekend and I really hope it isn’t this busy. I hate to say it, but I’m sure it will be. With no character greetings, limited dining, and closed attractions there just seems to be so many more people in line. We’ve had a good time, but I’m glad that we got a fantastic deal on our condo (Wyndham Bonnet Creek) and airfare (20,000 points round trip per person direct on Frontier). 

I was just able to book all 5 of us round trip on Frontier for President’s Day weekend (Thursday-Tuesday) for $163 total. I again have Bonnet Creek booked with discounts.

I wouldn’t want this experience to be our only Disney experience, and it isn’t worth paying full price to me, but if you are into Disney and can score a great deal, it definitely beats winter at home(IL). We have military tickets (6 days split between two trips) so the price is right.


----------



## HudsHut (Dec 31, 2020)

I enjoy reading https://www.disneytouristblog.com/ 
Tom posts an article nearly every day. If that day's topic doesn't interest you, you can skim back to other articles. He covers all four parks and keeps us informed of the latest happenings and restrictions.

I would love 2 weeks off at Easter. What a great time to travel!


----------



## chunkygal (Jan 5, 2021)

At Disney now. Staying at Boardwalk to use up 79 points that would have expired and getting out of snowy North GA. Not your typical Disney experience and I feel sorry for people who are here for their "once in a lifetime" trip. That being said, in talking to staff members and from their history I don't think they will close down and will probably open up more and more, which seems to be the trend. To their credit, you haven't heard of an outbreak of COVID traced back to Disney so far. They are diligent and strict. Because of all the changes, my husband and I are hanging at the resort, only did one park, Hollywood Studios. Trying to get on Ride of the Resistance. Unsuccessful even though practiced and husband said I completed the steps in 30 seconds. So noticeable changes.....

Not tons of restaurants open. The mobile order at fast food is efficient  and I like it actually better than the old stand in line. 
Nicer restaurants, MUST have reservations when your window opens. 
Start planning early due to all the required prepurchases and linking required. Usually we are able to use military tickets (tons cheaper), but not now since you can only pick them up at the gates and therefore can't pre link, which I am guessing means you probably couldn't use them to get in a park. 
Parks are at 35% capacity now, which sounds easy breezy, but no fast passes, Covid restrictions....mean most lines are 60-90 minute waits like the old days, even so. On the millennium smugglers ride for instance, no single rider lines, 90 minute wait, but each "party" (we were 2) got separate individual rides module. Not 6 like used to be even with restrictions, just the two of us. If you are on a ride like lets say the animal trek ride at animal kingdom, you would sit only the 2 of you in a row and every other row is empty, so less ride capacity as well. 
Many rides, attractions, shows,parades, fireworks...not happening. 

I'd still say right now the happiest place on earth.


----------



## Lisa P (Jan 5, 2021)

chunkygal said:


> Trying to get on Ride of the Resistance. Unsuccessful even though practiced and husband said I completed the steps in 30 seconds.


Just a suggestion that I read about, if you decide to try again on this trip...

A couple minutes _before_ the 7:00 a.m. booking window opens, go into the app and complete all of the steps, which naturally will not work but it will have you ready to try again quickly with just one or two clicks. Meanwhile, ask your husband to set up a timer on his phone to go off 3-5 seconds _before_ 7:00 a.m. When the timer goes off, hit refresh on the Disney app to seek a boarding group. The query will begin to cycle through to the Disney network and your request will get a response within the first few seconds of the booking window.

We followed this procedure from our timeshare resort in our pj's. It worked beautifully and we were able to get a morning boarding group. If we hadn't gotten one, we had already discussed which park we would try to switch our reservation to first and second. Supposedly, a lot of people try to switch park reservations as soon as they miss out on getting a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. So we wanted to be ready to quickly change plans as needed. HTH.


----------



## TravelTime (Jan 6, 2021)

I don’t think I want to go if waits are 60-90 min and no Fast Passes. It seems Fast Passes would help control crowds and help with Covid and social distancing. I wonder why Disney discontinued Fast Passes. I thought that was the best innovation at Disney since long waits is what makes me avoid Disney.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Jan 7, 2021)

TravelTime said:


> I don’t think I want to go if waits are 60-90 min and no Fast Passes. It seems Fast Passes would help control crowds and help with Covid and social distancing. I wonder why Disney discontinued Fast Passes. I thought that was the best innovation at Disney since long waits is what makes me avoid Disney.


Currently the standby lines are marked to separate groups by 6’, and the word is that they can’t operate FP lines and maintain social distancing for both. The FP lines are used as entries for guests with Disability Access passes, guest recovery passes (ride broke down, guest given pass to return later) and Club 33 members.  Whether FP will return in its earlier form when the need for social distancing ends is the subject of much speculation. 

Incidentally, now that the holidays are over, waits are much shorter - and actually, waits over the busiest weeks were shorter than during normal holiday times when FP was in use.


----------



## TravelTime (Jan 7, 2021)

TheHolleys87 said:


> Currently the standby lines are marked to separate groups by 6’, and the word is that they can’t operate FP lines and maintain social distancing for both. The FP lines are used as entries for guests with Disability Access passes, guest recovery passes (ride broke down, guest given pass to return later) and Club 33 members.  Whether FP will return in its earlier form when the need for social distancing ends is the subject of much speculation.
> 
> Incidentally, now that the holidays are over, waits are much shorter - and actually, waits over the busiest weeks were shorter than during normal holiday times when FP was in use.



I’m confused. Why can;t they social distance in the Fast Pass line? It seems to me like combining the two would be the best.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jan 7, 2021)

TravelTime said:


> I’m confused. Why can;t they social distance in the Fast Pass line? It seems to me like combining the two would be the best.


I think that the issue is that the FP line requires people to walk directly past people in the standby lines. So you would often pass within 6' of someone when going through FP lines.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Jan 8, 2021)

dioxide45 said:


> I think that the issue is that the FP line requires people to walk directly past people in the standby lines. So you would often pass within 6' of someone when going through FP lines.


Yes, that’s exactly it. The two lines frequently run adjacent to each other, and in normal times the FP line can stop moving for a short time. It’s difficult enough maintaining distance in single lines with switchbacks, where two markers are farther apart than usual to allow for a marker in between them but on the other side of the rail — many people don’t recognize the issue and fill in the space, bringing two groups too close together. Also, some standby queues are so long that they use areas normally used by the FP lines.


----------



## frank808 (Jan 8, 2021)

Was at MK today. Peter Pan was 45 min wait. Pre covid times wait is great but compared to this past Nov when it was only 15 minutes. This was both about 1230pm. There was even a 30min wait for it's a small world.

Wanted to ride 7 dwarves but the entry line ran all the way around the ride and was by the Ariel under the sea ride entrance. 

At epcot now and test track was about a 45 min wait. 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


----------



## chunkygal (Jan 20, 2021)

Lisa P said:


> Just a suggestion that I read about, if you decide to try again on this trip...
> 
> A couple minutes _before_ the 7:00 a.m. booking window opens, go into the app and complete all of the steps, which naturally will not work but it will have you ready to try again quickly with just one or two clicks. Meanwhile, ask your husband to set up a timer on his phone to go off 3-5 seconds _before_ 7:00 a.m. When the timer goes off, hit refresh on the Disney app to seek a boarding group. The query will begin to cycle through to the Disney network and your request will get a response within the first few seconds of the booking window.
> 
> We followed this procedure from our timeshare resort in our pj's. It worked beautifully and we were able to get a morning boarding group. If we hadn't gotten one, we had already discussed which park we would try to switch our reservation to first and second. Supposedly, a lot of people try to switch park reservations as soon as they miss out on getting a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. So we wanted to be ready to quickly change plans as needed. HTH.


Thanks, great ideas.
I'm hoping they build a new more popular ride!


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Jan 20, 2021)

We have been in Disney for five days.  It's been easy to stand in line for 20-40 minutes for each ride.  I don't mind the waits.  I am glad there is no FP+.  Peter Pan in 20 minutes, I will take that.  Seven Dwarfs Mine train in 50 minutes (longest wait we had), that was just fine by me.  

I miss the People Mover and don't know why they aren't running it, except maybe they don't want us to see Tron.  

Buzz Lightyear is one of our granddaughter's favorite rides, and we get in line, and the wait is about 10-15 minutes, even if the wait says 30 minutes.  The wait times show as much higher than the wait actually is.  That is why we have the Touring Plans subscription and apps on our phones.  You report actual wait times to Touring Plans.  I love the information provided by that company. 

There are some things that are concerning to me about Disney's new policies.  I never used Magical Express, but we bought annual passes and would skip a year then use them constantly for a year, then skip a year.  With AP's no longer for sale, we feel we really must renew our passes.  I don't like being forced to renew them, but we will.  Anything to keep us from losing that benefit, so I guess Disney is in our future.


----------



## Dean (Jan 20, 2021)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We have been in Disney for five days.  It's been easy to stand in line for 20-40 minutes for each ride.  I don't mind the waits.  I am glad there is no FP+.  Peter Pan in 20 minutes, I will take that.  Seven Dwarfs Mine train in 50 minutes (longest wait we had), that was just fine by me.
> 
> I miss the People Mover and don't know why they aren't running it, except maybe they don't want us to see Tron.
> 
> ...


We were down in the fall and the wait times listed were consistently about 1.5 to 2 times the actual waits.  I suspect they have locations keyed in and have not adjusted those routinely to account for the social distancing.  As for passes I think one can anticipate having then again in the future.  I'm not sure I'd renew now just to keep a pass active I wouldn't need for another year or more.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Jan 20, 2021)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I miss the People Mover and don't know why they aren't running it, except maybe they don't want us to see Tron.


The People Mover, one of our favorites too, suffered frequent breakdowns the last several years and was due for a refurb. They closed it in the fall and announced it would reopen at some date in the fall, then they’ve pushed the reopening date back several times. It seems that they decided to do a full rebuild. There are hopes it will reopen toward the end of January, but I’m not holding my breath.


rickandcindy23 said:


> There are some things that are concerning to me about Disney's new policies. I never used Magical Express, but we bought annual passes and would skip a year then use them constantly for a year, then skip a year. With AP's no longer for sale, we feel we really must renew our passes. I don't like being forced to renew them, but we will. Anything to keep us from losing that benefit, so I guess Disney is in our future.


I’m in the camp that believes they will start selling new APs after the COVID-19 restrictions can be eased and Disney can increase the number of guests they allow into the parks. Not only have they allowed AP renewals, people who cancelled their APs during the closure have been allowed to purchase new AP vouchers that can be activated years from now. So if you truly don’t expect to return for close to a year, you might want to wait and not renew. OTOH, our APs expire mid-March, and we were thinking we’d buy new ones for our fall trip (which will probably be November or December). Then we checked prices, and the cheapest 5 day park hoppers for the dates we’d probably go are only about $20 less than renewing our DVC Gold APs, and 7 day hoppers are more expensive. So we’re going to renew!


----------



## JohnB3 (Jan 25, 2021)

We too are just back from Disney (1/15-18) so over a holiday weekend and we visited MK and HS.  for reference, I hate standing in line,  we arrived at MK around 11am (my girls all like to sleep in) on Saturday and rode thunder mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Haunted mansion and Seven Dwarfs.  our longest wait was around 45 minutes.  Because of spacing all of the lines moved well and we really left around 6pm. I thought it was a great day in the park.  We used mobile ordering for lunch at the Pinocchio quick service spot next to Small world with no fuss and little waiting.  On Sunday we went to HS and while I was up and logged on to the mydisney experience app at 6:55 am I made the mistake of using the resort wifi (Bay Lake) and did not get a boarding group for Rise.  We decided to drive to HS since our dinner reservation was at Brown Derby at closing time (6:55pm) we rode Tower of terror, Rock and roller, Slinky dog, Millennial Falcon, Mikey and Miniey runaway railroad, Star Tours and since I was able to get a boarding group at 1pm (learned my lesson and used cell network) while standing in line for Rock and roller coaster, the Rise.  We mobile ordered lunch at the ABC commissary and finished our day 5 minutes before our dinner reservation.  We don't normally do many shows or character meet and greets so we did not really miss those, we did however miss the fireworks.  For us this was a great trip and I'm happy we went, however we go fairly often and I don't think its a great time for a once in a lifetime trip.  I've got another weekend scheduled in April and I'm looking forward to going back.


----------

