I see some green 
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just read through the animal kingdom day. thanks for sharing! itâs been such a treat to read your report and see all the photos. loved those from hs the other day. enjoy the rest of of your time!
Day 4 â Sunday July 19th
Before I get started with todayâs report, let me rewind to last night. After dinner we were planning our day to determine what time we wanted to get up to head to HS. The more I thought about all of our experiences so far, the more uncomfortable I was going back to HS. It was by far the most crowded park we had been to and given the few attractions that are open, it has the most bottlenecks and longest wait times. So, I checked into the park reservation availability at around 10pm and found that MK had availability. MK is my favorite park and even though we had just been there for the AP preview, I was still chomping at the bit to go back. Our current plans had us going there on our last day (we wouldnât have to leave for the airport until 3 pm). So, I dumped my HS park reservation (DH was still going) and booked myself for the MK. I also found a breakfast at the Wave at 8:30 am. Now, on with the report!
I opted to take a Lyft to the Contemporary for breakfast. We hadnât used ride share yet â I was nervous about this because it is such a confined space but when I logged into the Lyft app, I felt a little more assured. At least they had some guidelines in place for drivers and passengers.
I was impressed with the driver I got â car was super clean, he had the windows cracked, was wearing a mask (as was I). Overall, good experience and put my mind at ease a little bit about using this in the future.
We had such a great breakfast here prior to the AP preview at MK the prior week, that I already knew what I was getting. The Kids portion of the mickey waffles is the perfect size for me.
Meanwhile, as I was sitting down to breakfast, DH headed to the Skyliner earlier than our first day to try to get a jump on the line at Pop.
He got way closer to the station this morning but it seemed to take longer to get started. He still made it to HS with plenty of time to spare though.
After breakfast, I walked over the MK via the BLT path. I love this way of arriving to MK. No one else was at temp check or security so it makes for such a stress free way to arrive.
I think I got into the park at around 9:15. For the first hour or so, I walked around the entire park. I was originally supposed to have a trip with my mom to Disney in May of this year. Obviously, due to COVID, this was cancelled. Growing up, we used to go to Disney every year (sometimes twice a year) and my mom hasnât been in the parks for probably 20 years. She was so looking forward to our Mother Daughter trip so I decided to live-stream on Facebook during this trip so she could experience it from home. So the tour was really more for her and a great way to feel like we were experiencing it together, even from thousands of miles apart.
After walking around the entire park and chatting with my mom as I went, I headed to check out the Splash merch for some fellow liners. There was no virtual queue today because the shop had been wiped clean of all splash merch.
I needed a break from the heat and decided to head to the relaxation station at Tomorrowland Terrace after grabbing a drink at Starbucks. I have for more pictures of ducks than any person should from a trip to Disney.
The view from Tomorrowland Terrace. The tables are marked off so you can socially distant from other groups. They also have a policy not to pull up chairs from other tables â find a table large enough for your group, instead of creating your own seating configuration.
One thing I really liked about this relaxation area is that it is under cover (so a break from the sun and heat) the fans were going so it was a comfortable temperature but it was still open air so you arenât confined to the indoors. The other great part is you can see the character cavalcades as they go by.
Meanwhile from HSâŚDH had success again in getting a boarding group. This time, he went directly back to SWGE, got breakfast at Rontoâs Roasters and was in line for MFSR when he snagged the BG.
His luck ran out (as it usually does) with actually getting on RotR. He was evacuated once when he was in the storm trooper room and got a recovery pass. So when the ride went back up, he made it onto the ride vehicle before it broke down again. This time, they didnât evacuate, and he did get to make it all the way through. But, wasted a good couple of hours with the process. Of course, to him, SWGE is his happy place so he takes it in stride. I would have had a meltdown (further solidifying the decision for us to split up for the day!). OK, back to my happy place â after my break I walked around the hub and took a ton of photos. I donât know why. We took so many from the AP preview but I canât help myself. I love the way the castle changes in the different times of the day. I am still not a fan of the shade of pink but I do love how the colors pop.
At this point, I hadnât even ridden any rides yet and I wanted to do things that we didnât do during the preview (and things that DH isnât a huge fan of) so PhilharMagic was first.
Good social distancing measures, just like the other indoor shows. We only had to wait about 8 min before the next show started.
I really do love this show and the scents and other affects (water) were on.
I headed over to check out the waits for PPF and IASW. Both attractions had a decent wait and the construction walls for small world were down. I opted for PPF, the line wrapped all the way around the building but of course, the wait wasnât that bad, maybe 10 min. 
I wanted a Dole Whip and was headed that way when I saw the Liberty Belle was loading so I hopped on for a peaceful ride. This is another way to relax and get some great park views. 
Since I was so close to HM after disembarking and the wait was fairly short, I headed there next. They did announce that the ride was paused while they disinfected but it got moving again fairly quickly. Wait times are so iffy right now because they seem to change randomly, depending on when you hit it compared with when they do cleaning. Overall, I think I waited 20 min. High compared to the crowd level but without the stoppage for cleaning, it would have been less than 10 minutes.
After HM, I ran into some hitchhiking ghosts
Then, I finally headed for my Dole Whip. @sanstitre_has_left_the_building, I am sorry to say that I did not drop it 
Then, on to Tiki Birds
I made my way over to POC and spotted this fellow hanging out.
My timing wasnât so great today because the line for POC was outside of the building and as soon as I got in line, they announced the ride was down for cleaning and would be about 10 min before they started it back up again. I should have taken this as a sign and moved on but I chose to wait instead.
This is the first time that I saw mask compliance really get bad. There were a lot of people in the queue and not many CMs around and many people let their masks fall and didnât make any attempt to pull them up. Hindsight, I should have left the queue. Instead, I just seethed about it for the whole wait. Lesson learned. I did say something to the CM just so they were aware. When lines are that long, especially down in the tunnel portion of the queue, they really need more CMs monitoring and reminding guests to keep their masks on and covering their nose and mouths.
I had a BOG reservation at 2:45 and had just enough time to squeeze in a ride on Mine Train!
Over near Beastâs Castle, there were so few people and some great PhotoPass shots.
Even with TS (which BOG is for Lunch and Dinner), you still have to start the check-in process on MDE. You can check-in 15 min ahead of your reservation time and MDE walks you through screens to complete the process. Iâll post the screenshots here in case it helps prepare others for upcoming trips (we had to do this at all TS restaurants, I just failed to get screenshots until now).
Next they ask about mobility issues and allergies
Special events and a summary of what you entered and a place to enter your phone number for text alerts.
Confirmation that you are checked in and it will now show you as checked-in in the app
You then get a text confirming you are checked in
Once your table is ready, you get another text asking you to proceed to the hostess stand.
I was seated in the ballroom and initially I was seated against the wall but right in the traffic pattern for guests coming and going. I didnât love this, no way to really keep a distance so I asked if I could move down, out of the walking path and they obliged. These are things that I wouldnât have even asked about pre-COVID.
I have only been to BOG for breakfast and wasnât impressed given the quality of the food and the price. Now, lunch is a prix fix and it is the same price as dinner. So, I wasnât sure what to expect but was thrilled to get to see the Beast. He came out multiple times throughout the course of my meal, always to cheers and applause.
I will say that I thoroughly loved lunch. Not that I needed a three course meal at 2:45 in the afternoon on a day with a heat index of 106 but, it was soo good and I ate it all.
Started with Lobster Bisque
Next was the filet
And the trio of desserts
I was so full. I needed to walk and still had a few things that I wanted to accomplish so back out into the heat I went.
At this time of the afternoon, fantasyland would normally be packed but it was pretty empty
Country Bears is another nostalgic favorite so I headed that way to see when the next show was. Luckily, it was starting in less than 5 minutes!
More dots to stand on while waiting for the doors to open. Once in the theater, they had rows blocked off and in the open rows, some seats marked off. Believe it or not, the theater was âfullâ at least with the new social distancing guidelines.
After the show, I decided to walk around some more and headed over to Tomorrowland using the bridge closest to the castle.
Now, I am ashamed to admit this but, I have never (at least not in recent memory) seen the wishing well. So, I was excited to stumble upon it as I was heading up towards the castle.
I headed to Tomorrowland to see if People Mover was running and sadly it was not.
When we were here for the AP Preview last week, COP was down â we got stuck in scene 1 for a long time. I wanted to give it a try again and it was a reprieve from the heat. This time, it was running smoothly.
It was getting to be close 5:30 and I just wasnât ready to leave quite yet so I went back to the hub, took some more photopass pictures and then sat over by Caseyâs. This is a great spot to sit in the afternoon under the red and white stripped umbrellas. Itâs a great view of the castle and fairly out of the way so there usually arenât too many people sitting here. I went to Starbucks, got a drink, and headed over to just soak in the atmosphere a little longer.
DH had been texting me throughout the day and he was having an awesome time at HS. He had done everything he had wanted, including spending the majority of the day in SWGE. Today he actually saw Vi â we hadnât seen her our first day that we were there.
He said that she was underneath the catwalk where the stormtroopers were and had some really funny interactions mimicking them as she was hiding from them.
He rode MFSR 3 times and finally found the hidden millennium falcon that is on the life size millennium falcon.
He also rode RnRC and said it was basically a walk on. He decided to head back to the hotel and I was going to be shortly behind him but pulling myself away from a practically empty MK is so hard!!
We had a park reservation for MK for tomorrow (our departure day) so I knew I would be back
Took the bus to MK and had just missed one that had filled up but the next one came less than 10 minutes later. Arrived to the room to see the dreaded Tragical Express envelope (sad trombones)
Thoughts and Observations from today:
⢠My experience with Lyft wasnât bad and made me open to trying it more in future trips (we had used it a ton Pre-COVID)
⢠MK is still my favorite park for nostalgia
⢠Still love the pop-up character cavalcades, I hope these stick around. But, I do wonder why the CM performers arenât wearing face shields since they are singing. They are at a distance but still, interesting that there is no concern there.
⢠The relaxation stations and portable hand washing stations are awesome. Ringing off the sticky film of the hand sanitizer feels so good.
⢠Some of the queues had less than ideal mask compliance. Maybe this was just the time I was in line but the experience in POC definitely will make me think twice when faced with really long lines. Unless they start having CMs âpatrolâ the lines that are deep into the ride.
⢠It was wonderful that DH and I could split up and do the things that make us happy. In a Pre-COVID time, one of us would have park hopped to have dinner together so that was a bummer that we couldnât do that
⢠My feelings about Pop are waning. I still love the price and the location due to the Skyliner. The rooms are fine for us. But, it was starting to get far more crowded in the lobby and people waiting for mobile orders. Also, if you just want to order a bottle of water or soda or coffee, you still have to mobile order and wait. You would think if all you ordered was a drink, it wouldnât be that long of a wait but that wasnât our experience. They really need to have some sort of âexpressâ lane for those who ordered packaged items or drinks only. Depending on how long the shortened park hours last, I think we may try a moderate (if any open) or a deluxe (if we can get a good AP discount) just to have some more options.
Tomorrow is our departure day and MK park day. My day today went so smoothly that I booked a Grand Floridian CafĂŠ breakfast for 8:30 and planned to take a Lyft again, hoping it was as smooth as today!
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You had one job.
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Your trip reports are so interesting and full of detail! Thank you so much for all of the great information and photos! We really appreciate it.
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Thanks, it is probably more detail than some people like but I wanted to provide as much detail around everything that is new in the hopes that it gives people a picture of the new normal!
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Your trip report hasnât made me want to hunt you down and smother you with a pillow while you sleep at all.
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Day 5, Departure Day July 20 2020
We took a leisurely start to the day by packing and getting our bags down to bell services by 10. We had a 10:35 reservation at Grand Floridian CafĂŠ. I thought this would give us some time to have a nice meal and then walk to the TTC by way of the Poly and then heading to MK.
It was hot (again) and I was just at MK yesterday (and there last week for the preview) so there wasnât a lot that I wanted to do. I just wanted one last chance to see the castle and maybe have a final Dole Whip before heading out. DME was picking us up at 3. Because of the heat, we had kept out a change of clothes so we could freshen up before the flight home.
We ordered a Lyft at 9:45 and it arrived quickly.
It was dropping people off at Pop so they exited and we entered. This time, I didnât feel quite as good, having seen people just exit the car â I really wanted to whip out my wipes and wipe everything down. But I stuck with applying hand sanitizer and then washing my hands once we got to GF.
We knew we would be early for the reservation but it allowed us to stroll around the grounds and go in the shops. It was eerily quiet.
To see the huge lobby but have no jazz band or piano playing was strange. But, the awesome GF smells were still there!
We checked in for breakfast and never got the text to tell us to go to the hostess stand so we walked over and found out our table was ready. First time we hadnât gotten the âreturnâ text.
We did spot the NBA Barber Shop
It was actually kind of crowded (relatively speaking) given the time of day but we were seated away from other tables and had the most delightful server. Oh these biscuits!
We were torn with what to get â the waffles, pancakes and French toast all sounded great so our server suggested we get the waffles and pancakes and then do a side of French toast. Sold! Far more carbs than any one meal should have but oh my gosh, all of it was so delicious!
I need to stick to the kids portion â I only ate half of this monster
After stuffing ourselves, we walked over to the Poly, dipped inside to look at the gift shop (much needed AC break) and then headed to the walkway to the TTC.
We went through security at the TTC and it was much more âold schoolâ than anything we had experienced so far. We had to remove things from our bag and put in a bin (sanitized) and then I set off the metal detector so I had to get wanded and unload everything from my park bag. I had nothing in there that I hadât had all the previous days so it was odd. This is the first time I was also asked if I was filming (I had my phone in the gimble but was not filming). There was no one else there so it was still a breeze but definitely more involved than at the parks.
We decided to take the ferry, I love seeing the castle and train station from this approach. As we were waiting for the ferry the CM was telling us that normally the capacity is 350 people but now they are running at less than half that. I would say there were maybe 25 people on our boat.
There were some horrible looking storm clouds forming over by the MK hotels so we knew we had to walk quickly to avoid getting caught in the rain. It was about 12:20 when we passed through the train station and entered the nearly empty park.
But we caught the band!
We knew we wanted one last Dole Whip so we headed straight to Adventure Land
Sorry @sanstitre_has_left_the_building, I failed again
We were checking our weather apps and rain starting was eminent. We didnât have park bags therefore no rain ponchos. Not wanting to get soaked and deal with wet clothes, socks, and shoes for the ride home, we decided to head to the Emporium to do some last-minute browsing/shopping.
As we were walking by Crystal Palace, we saw the Pooh characters!! We had never seen or heard about them being here so I had to get my picture taken with them. So so cute and unexpected. This is Disney magic, despite a pandemic
Just as we rounded the corner to Main St, the skies let loose. We made a dash for the Emporium (too bad the entrance by Caseyâs is closed) and bought two ponchos.
After doing some shopping, we decided it was time to head back to Pop before the next round of drenching rain came.
Another empty bus for us!
We got our bags, changed clothes and got some drinks from Everything Pop, and then settled in to wait for DME to arrive.
We arrived at the airport and got checked in for our flight then headed to the gate. Not that we needed to eat again after that huge breakfast but I love Cask & Larder so we stopped in there for one last meal.
They also use the QR code to access the menu
Our flight was on time and no real issues other than a family who boarded ahead of us who wouldnât keep their masks on. I tried to do some deep breathing to just âlet it goâ but I did write Southwest to let them know this happened and the gate attendant and flight attendants made no effort to make them comply. When we deplaned in Columbus, they were standing in the gate area with masks off altogether. Ugh. The getting there and coming home was the worst part of the trip!
Overall Thoughts
⢠I feel so safe in the Disney bubble. They are doing all the right things to help guests feel safe. Mask compliance was great overall.
⢠The low crowds are amazing. I have heard people complain that they donât want to go to get a âlesserâ experience because no parades, no fireworks, shortened hoursâŚetc. But honestly, the low crowds and wait times more than makeup for it. You can do EVERYTHING in not even a full 10 hours that the parks are open. We are AP holders and honestly, I feel I got more than the value out of the tickets
⢠I do miss the parks not being open at night (other than EPCOT which we didnât stay for) and not having the fireworks.
⢠I also miss not being able to park hop. We are big park hoppers so that is one area where I do question the âvalueâ of having an AP with park hopping capabilities.
⢠I miss Minnie Vans. We used these a lot on prior trips, mainly going to and from MK. But, at these crowd levels, the bus is a good option because you donât have to stand and you donât have people crammed in.
⢠Fix RotR! There really is no plausible reason that after all of this time the ride is still so unreliable.
⢠The vast majority of people are complying with the mask policy. More than I expected. It will be interesting to see how this continues once capacity increases
⢠Every time we go to Disney, I say I am going to go at a slower pace, enjoy the little things but we never end up doing it. This time, we did and we still got a ton done.
⢠I had some trepidation with going back after the AP preview experience, but the magic is still there, and the trip was overall awesome.
Thanks for following along, sorry for the picture overload. Our countdown is 41 days and I think we will keep the trip. Obviously we will keep an eye on the numbers but I have seen where Southwest has already said they will crack down on people not complying with the mask requirement. I did also switch our Pop reservation to the Riviera. I was able to get a great AP discount. It is still significantly more but we stayed at Riviera in Feb and I just loved the vibe. Also, I think Pop is just getting too crowded at this point and hoping there may be fewer people at Riviera. Iâll let you know in my next trip report!
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Fantastic read and pics!
Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!
Ugh. I just cannot get a break round here.
This is why I am so bitter. Your trip has been so awesome and I just know my October trip will be cancelled or theyâll triple the number of guests allowed.
Iâm reminded of @Randall1028âs hurricane trip last September. Still bitter about that.
This. So much this.
As I said before, it really makes ROTR so stressful. From all youâve said, HS seems like the park to miss â except I really want to ride MMRR, which @JuliaMc rode shortly before WDW closed. Iâm bitter about that, too.
Apology not accepted. Your fantastic photos were very irritating and made me very angry.
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Except for DHS, demand has been bellow capacity, so the number of guests allowed has nothing to do with how crowded it is there. You can be an off-site guest buying a ticket for tomorrow and go to MK/Epcot/Ak.
Are you optimistic that demand will drastically improve by October?
That would be amazing: October guests are usually there due to conferences or Halloween events (all cancelled), having a higher demand this October then in July would mean a drastic, spectacular recovery - both economically and from health concerns. I would love for you to be right, but it seems really unlikely.
That was a good time. 
The hurricane made up for SWL opening.
I donât know about an economic recovery that soon. However, Missouriâs spike seems to be making a downward turn. As this spike was 40 and under demographically, perhaps a sizable chunk of the population has been exposed.
Demand could improve considerably if/when Disney fans who recall yesteryear trips of touring including smelling the roses decide the time to go is before the whole experience ramps back up.
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We really appreciate you taking all of your precious time to chronicle your trip for us. The pictures were lovely and the narrative so helpful, especially your thoughts and observations at the end of each day. It helped to hear an overall assessment of every park. So glad you had a great time, and thanks again! 
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No worries; pix are worth a thousand words.
Thank you for being sensible about risks, precautions and WDW!
No â Iâm pessimistic that it will!
Iâm more thinking the parks will be busier because Disney will be letting more people in, rather than real demand becoming higher.
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But there are less people in the parks then what Disney is letting in. Crowds = Min(capacity, demand) right now this means crowds = demand. No matter how much Disney increases capacity, if demand doesnât increase crowds will continue to be the same as demand.
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I think HS is the one park to worry about. Already at low capacity, there were pockets of crowds, especially in the mornings. I think with RotR and MMRR, if they increase the capacity, demand will meet it. Its difficult because so many get there for the 10 am BG drop and the mornings are still pretty busy. But, if you wait until the afternoon, it is more manageable. I think for our next trip we are going to try going for the BG then going back to the resort for lunch then heading back into the park for rides in the afternoon/evening. Of course what boarding group we get and when we get called back will influence this but that is our thinking right now
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I should have also added in my final recap that DH and I are in self-quarantine for 14 days. Right as we left, Ohio put that in place but we were planning to do it even without that direction from the state. Only 7 more days to go!
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We will be doing the same in Michigan, although Michigan still has no such order. I expect Michigan will eventually do the same. Regardless, Iâve already informed my parents that they are âon their ownâ during August as a result of this, if they need anything. They will have to depend on my other other siblings in the area (but who donât live as close).
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What a great report again⌠I applaud your detail, canât keep up with that with 2 kids⌠
Loved seeing another pov as I am waiting for our flight home.
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