Hey everyone!
This is going to be a sad excuse for a live trip report, because we are not actually going into the parks, but DH, DS4, DS14m and I have escaped the dreary winter for a 4 week stay here. We rented a townhouse in a resort neighborhood on Airbnb and DH is working remotely while we are here. I’ll be taking the boys to most of the resorts while we’re here, trying to get a little Disney magic where we can while still staying within our Covid comfort levels. I’d asked a few questions about resort MO, so I wanted to share my experience with that here.
So far, we’ve been to 4 resorts. Our original plan was to MO breakfast from Caribbean Beach and take the skyliner to AoA, but the day we went, that section was down for maintenance the entire day. So we ended up playing on the playground at CB instead. Later that day, we drove to AoA directly because DS4 was very bummed that we hadn’t been able to go to Cars Land.
Here’s been our gate experience. CB gate looked confused when we said we had a mobile order and showed our phones, but said ok. Maybe he had trouble understanding us through our masks?
AoA gate guard said ‘we don’t do MO here (I’m assuming he meant for non-guests) but if you hit I’m here you can come in.’ Our time slot wasn’t quite open yet, so I told him that and he said ok. At the Poly, I did not have a mobile order. I simply said ‘we’re here for dole whip’ and she said ‘ok enjoy!’ (We will definitely be going back, so it will be interesting to see if this holds true.) Our final stop so far was at Riviera. He asked if we’d been there before and gave more specific instructions on where to park and how to get to the restaurant. Very helpful.
It makes sense to me that AoA would be a bit stricter on entry, because the food is nothing special, so there’s no really good reason why you’d go to that particular resort for the food. Both Poly and Riviera gates had no hesitation or questioning at all. I’m curious to see if that holds true for all the higher level resorts.
I believe all 4 gates had signs that said something like ‘due to covid parking is only for resort guests’ although Riviera’s said ‘or those with confirmed reservations.’ I’d have to double check the wording.
You know the other report I heard of this happening that was on wdwinfo was also at AoA. I’m wondering if there’s either some overzealous guards or if they are testing a new policy there to keep people from trying to get a shortcut to DHS via skyliner.
I was curious if Skyliner access (especially first thing in the morning) would be an issue as well. Or possibly that AoA has more rooms filled than other resorts so they’re worried about parking capacity?
I’m thinking it’s about the skyliner, bc otherwise, there’s no reason to make you select “I’m here.” There trying to stop people from making an order to get in and then cancelling it to jump on the skyliner.
Woke up a little bummed this morning, because it snowed back home and we don’t get snow very often. I like winter for Christmas and for the first 2-3 days of snow. If we get more than that, I get sick of it.
A bit of a Liner fail at Wilderness Lodge this morning. (No problems at the gate.) Got the two restaurants confused, so we walked out to Geyser Point (which wasn’t open) and then had to backtrack to pick up my coffee. We came outside again just as the geyser was going off, so it was all done before we could get a good look at it. And then the pretty smores top of my latte melted all away before I could get a picture of it. Womp womp. But on the bright side, DS4 LOVED all the railroad theming. We didn’t ask about the railroad memorabilia room, but we will be going back and will look for it then.
So far, my favorite lobby smells are Caribbean Beach and Wilderness Lodge. I know a lot of people love Poly but I couldn’t really get a good sense of it that day.
Hahaha! I was a little stressed out too! But so far so good!
Covid has brought more restrictions but it also brought the extensive mobile ordering so I feel like it evens out. We’re QS people so not needing an ADR has worked out well for us.
Today’s Disney-adjacent adventure was to take DS4 to the Disney Character Warehouse on Vineland. We arrived about 30 minutes after they opened and had to join a virtual queue. I guess we weren’t the only ones planning to get there first thing on Friday and beat the weekend rush. Waited 12 minutes for entry and were done shopping in 20 minutes. Found DS4 a set of Cars cars (lol) for 65% off. They also had a selection of masks for $1.75. They had a few Christmas and Halloween themed ones, but most were classic styles (even the child), so I was surprised how heavily they were discounted.
I’m not sure if we will be back. Maybe the store will have enough new merchandise to make it worth it if we wait until one of our final days here? It was also very crowded. Whatever headcount they set for the store, it’s not in any way possible to keep 6 feet away from people. It was a bit of a madhouse.
Saturday we got a MO from Riviera and ate a picnic lunch. Played on the Caribbean Beach playground for a bit and then rode the Skyliner to and from Epcot. Really beautiful day.
Sunday we got the bread service from Sanaa and ate out on one of the overlooks. We got some really good views of the zebras and there were 2 cast members outside sharing about the animals. One of the zebras was sleeping - standing up, very still, with her ears slightly lowered. That was fun to learn about.
Double checked the Riviera sign. It says ‘and those with confirmed dining reservations.’ Looks like this is the wording at resorts with TS. So it looks like if you’re willing to MO something at moderate or deluxe, you shouldn’t have much trouble. We’ve picked a single item each time and it has been a fun treat for us. We have plans to visit Pop soon, but I might just MO from Riviera so we can ride the last 2 skyliner segments. I’m a little curious if getting into Pop would be a similar situation as we had with AoA but I think I’m more confrontation-averse than curious, so I’ll probably avoid it.
We were back at Poly to get dole whip again today and had no trouble. Walked over to GF and wandered around a bit but it was very windy so we didn’t see the whole grounds. Loved the Mrs Potts & Chip and Peter Pan designs in the tile downstairs and got a peek in Enchanted Rose. It’s stunning and I think it fits in with the GF decor really well, even if B&TB isn’t necessarily a fit. We also saw the carousel horses and penguin fountain in the DVC lobby and DS4 loved those. We tried to take a self timer photo (phone in the stroller cup holder) on our way out, but it was very gusty and I would have liked a 2nd try to change the composition a bit. But you get what you get with a toddler and a baby.
The cast members at Pineapple Lanai gave us our dole whip for free. It was a sweet bit of magic. Initially, I thought she told me to swipe my magic band. Her mask muddled what she was saying and I think DS4 was talking at the same time.
On MDE app (order food) you can select To Go orders from several TS restaurants at resorts. Sanaa, wave of American flavors. Is that what you’ve been using?
Today, as expected, was our ‘most difficult’ entry: Contemporary. The guard wanted to see my mobile order receipt, wanted to know what I ordered (‘that’s it?’), and then asked if we were planning to go to Magic Kingdom today. I told him that we don’t have park tickets, and he allowed us in. I thought DS4 would enjoy the bridge between buildings, but I couldn’t figure out where the entrance was and we were running short on time anyway. Turns out he was more entertained by the 2 gift shops than by the monorail going through the building.
We tried for a self timer photo outside but just missed the monorail going through and gave up on waiting in the cold just before the next one came through. Oh well. We had a nice time anyway.
