My own thoughts on the same topics:
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.
-can’t agree more with this. They have done everything they can to create a “bubble” feeling.
• The low crowds are amazing. I have heard people complain that they don’t want to go to get a “lesser” experience because no parades, no fireworks, shortened hours…etc. 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 was nervous what my feeling about the “value” would be, but agree with where you landed. The low crowds, less stressful touring, and do what you want on the fly feeling made up for it. I did miss the night times in the parks and HEA… But no regrets and vlaue was great. I enjoyed the pop up calvacades more than any parade to be honest.
• I do miss the parks not being open at night (other than EPCOT which we didn’t stay for) and not having the fireworks.
jumped the gun, agree.
• I also miss not being able to park hop. We are big park hoppers so that is one area where I do question the “value” of having an AP with park hopping capabilities.
we missed the opportunity for this. Hope we can experience this next year.
• Fix RotR! There really is no plausible reason that after all of this time the ride is still so unreliable.
-kinda got lucky here. It was down when we went to ride, but before we got in line. We just came back after a couple hours and rode with no issue.
• 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
experienced the same. Very good compliance. Always going to be the 1 offs, but for the most part, they were distanced and other than annoyance, really didn’t impact me.
• 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 hope we can do this as well… Keep the same pace and attitude about the pace. It was what made our trip as magical as it was. The low crowds made this possible. As they allow them to increase, with this go with it?
I think the laid back touring is as much a personal choice as anything. ALL rides don’t have to be ridden every trip, especially if you know you’re planning to return.
We’ve always maintained that Disney World is about more than rides. It’s about smells, sights, tastes, and anticipation.
One trip with newbies was interesting. Due to health issues all roller coasters were off the plan. I decided on a Walt theme and tried to stick with attractions Walt [might have] had a hand in. We also skipped HS completely, focusing on MK, AK and Epcot. Fun trip which gave us a different perspective on WDW.
It was the Unofficial Guide that put me on the track to more laid back fun at WDW. Zag when everyone else is zigging. Or something similar.
I love that section of the book. Isn’t called something like a touring plan for those who don’t want to do rides? I’ve gotten lots of good ideas for busy times at DLR.
I’m thinking demand depends on positive numbers, economics and common sense mostly.
I have no way to determine how many folks would have gone but because a second income was shut down for several months have decided to delay till next year. Then there’s the once in a lifetime folk that probably used trip money to pay mortgages while they were laid off. People that either aren’t interested in mask wearing/or feel the risk is too great won’t go either. And then there’s the “less experience” crowd.
Those with the money to travel will also need the common sense to rely on their ability to maintain safe habits, and maybe a plain old sense of adventure enters into the mix as well.
I think October will see more guests in the parks than July, but probably only HS will be at capacity.
Maybe @Jeff_AZ can do a poll ‘why or why would you not visit WDW in October 2020’.
@Len mentioned on the Disney Dish podcast today that attendance at MK has been averaging a little more than half of what they are capping it at. At Hollywood Studios on the other hand, I would guess the park is maxing out every day based on the crowds / wait times / boarding group distribution. So my takeaway is that they could probably take off the caps at the other parks, but they need to keep a cap at HS for now.
That could change in either direction though. Maybe they will need a cap at the other parks down the road, or maybe things will improve enough that they won’t need caps at all.
Yes, sorry, there is a separate book for DLR. I haven’t looked at a current copy for a couple of years, but they did have an actual touring plan or at least a section of things to do for those who aren’t that interested in rides.
I am planning two trips to the Disney bubble. First up in September. Then since they extended the AP’s for 30 days. another 5 days in November. So there is potentially two stints of 14 day quarantine’s in my future. At least I can still work.
Wonderful report! We were supposed to be there those same days but with NYS restrictions we rescheduled for January. We didn’t have any choice about it really, but it made me sad nonetheless.
@DisneyDayDreamin, I forgot to ask you about the Skyliner. We have only used it once in early March when the weather was beautiful. It was breezy and comfortable. How was it in the heat? Was there enough air flow to make the heat bearable?
we were there in October last… 90 degrees plus every day ugh. The skyliner was just fine. My DIL was a problem though… didn’t know she was afraid of heights
It was great! We rode it frequently, and even in the middle of the day with 106 heat index, it was nice. There are vents with fresh air coming in so it was still breezy and comfortable. Now, if it had stopped for any length of time, that would be another story! But they seemed to be running it more slowly than I what I remembered from earlier this year and it rarely stopped (other than for lightning)
Thanks for sharing! It was wonderful to journey with you. I love Disney but don’t get there very often. I would love to take a Disney trip slow and savor it but Disney trips tend to be GO, GO, GO! FOMO mentality, I suppose.
