I have been trying to glean info from recent posts but thought maybe if I make my own post I could get some feedback from all of you experienced liner people.
I booked a room only for yacht club for mid June back in 2020 when I got a pin code. I should’ve booked a full package but did not. So now I have no tickets and no park reservations. It has been a bit up in the air who from my family would travel. Some of us are true Disney lovers and others are not. Likely will be myself and DS13 and DD10. Possibly DS16.
As it seems numbers are increasing, things I am hesitant about are:
Will we not be able to access storm and Long Bay during the middle of the day when we would most likely want to be there due to capacity?
Will we feel less safe in the parks due to numbers increasing and mask compliance not being as good as it was? (Myself and hopefully DS16 will be vaccinated)
Will my dream of easy/flexible touring with out running to use a FP not happen because we will be juggling long lines? I plan to RD and then break to return to parks later evening.
any advice on Blizzard Beach? Is it reaching capacity regularly? Do people feel safe there?
since I have now missed the second go for park reservations being green, I do not have park reservations for HS days. If I get tickets and link them in, is there a chance that I may be able to snag some HS days for us? If not then I can book other parks and hop over at 2 PM. Obviously then will not be able to ride rise. This would really just be a problem for DS16 who is a Star Wars fanatic
Thanks for any advice! All thoughts and input is welcome!
The only place mask compliance is an issue is at DS. Overall I’ve been pretty impressed during spring break time w/ mask compliance. I wouldn’t worry about this in the parks.
RD is the best plan for hitting the most popular rides. And then watching the wait times on the TP app will help you find the shortest waits and flex your way around the parks. That coupled w/ your idea of a afternoon resort break and you should be happy campers.
I was there in February during the Valentine’s Day/Presidents’ Week/Mardi Gras (with Lunar New Year the Friday leading up to that) timeframe and can honestly say that the “long” lines are pretty constantly moving without the previous constant stopping to let the stream of FP+ people in. And the vast majority of the lines the time was WAY overestimated. Even when they looked long (Everest was saying 45 minutes and was about into Dinoland and I thought there was no way it was only 45 minutes…I went ahead and got in line and 20 minutes later I was walking out of the gift shop having ridden.)
People don’t want to believe it, but the lines really do move faster without FP+. And IMHO you have more flexibility because you’re not tied into an hour slot.
I have been watching posted and actual wait times since January and they were pretty high during the President’s Day and early-Spring Break crowds but I think WDW made some adjustments and they have really not been bad even on sold out days. Evening times are generally very low. From my observations, HS has the highest wait times.
I do think we’ve already seen or will see a quiet increase in capacity. The demand is clearly there and WDW is not leaving money on the table. I just hope they will bring back more CMs and maybe open some more things to help handle the crowds so we don’t end up with high wait times, because that is like the one thing that I feel like will ruin my vacation. We hate waiting in lines.
I say go. Adjust your expectations accordingly. I had originally planned to not do any TS or maybe one or two, but instead I have planned some things like that in. We’re going to do DS on a weekday - we’ve never been - and check out some things like the lego store and the new M&Ms store. We plan to do Wilderness Explorers and make a point to see some of the animals at AK (we live near a World-class zoo, so we usually don’t spend our time on vacation doing that). Just some “non-ride” things that will still be fun because we are at DW. We go to WDW for the parks, as we have access to most of the other stuff (food, shopping, other amusement parks, etc.) at home. We would normally never skip a day with even a few hours in the parks, but I’ve built in 3 non-park days for this trip. We have unused tickets from Covid closures, plane tickets booked on SW points, and are staying Value, so with the sunk costs we’re really only paying about $2000 for the trip, plus meals and spending money. I do think I would be more apprehensive about spending more.
I spoke w/ a CM last week working a 10.5 hr shift. When I asked why she explained they are all working long days since they only called back a limited amount of CMs. So, I hope they call back more too so that CMs are not being burnt out.
No FP is actually something making me want to travel at this time, just to try it out. My family liked UOR better in part because we were able to be flexible and I wasn’t making them run to use a FP or get to an ADR. I wanted to show them that I can be laidback at Disney too!
I actually love it. There have been trips where I found myself with weird down time waiting for a FP+ window to open because a) there is nothing close that I want to do or b) the wait-time plus ride time assuming no breakdowns or ankole cattle jams for anything near by is such that I would likely be out of the FP+ window when I was finished. No FP+ for anyone means everyone is on the same field (obviously minus the DAS passes or the options for those with a lot of money (VIP Tours, Club 33, and I think Golden Oak) and so there is not the huge line pause for merging.
LOL If you’re asking this crowd the answer is probably going to be to GO! We will be at YC in late May, will be happy to share any info then. Of the four of us going, I am by far the most excited.
I recommend going of course, and if you book your tickets ASAP you will be more likely to pick up a HS reservation. They pop up from time to time. You may even be able to go to guest services and switch for one if you don’t manage to get one before your trip.
As far as Stormalong Bay, I don’t think anyone knows because the non-DVC part of BC doesn’t open until May 30th I believe, so that will undoubtedly change the availability. But recently reports are that you can get in easily in the morning and a short wait (5-10 min) in the afternoon.
Absolutely go! If you got a great rate for YC which it sounds like you did, I would definitely recommend taking advantage of it. Your kids are great ages to enjoy a trip including SAB and to have good stamina.
Can’t speak to this
Only you can know how anxious you might feel based on your family’s risk aversion and vulnerability. I have been 3 times since the reopening, in July/August, February and early April. I did feel in our most recent trip that social distancing in lines was more lax, some people were cognizant of it and some just weren’t. But you are moving along so quickly you can often just put more space between yourself and the tailgaters, or politely ask them to leave more space. Crowds are increasing, but Disney is still leaving spacing in many ways and settings.
You have the perfect plan here…RD and evenings are the best times. I really don’t miss FPP much yet. Lines can be long but move fast, and you can choose to leave less popular rides for busier times of day. It’s definitely worth experiencing the way things are now without FPP.
We visited BB last week for the first time. I have not heard yet of it reaching capacity. It did not feel terribly crowded although it was busy. However, I felt people in slide lines there often left even less spacing than in the parks, and with no masks as well it felt a bit more risky. But, it’s all outside. You do have to wear masks to purchase any food/drinks/merchandise or to use the restrooms. Overall I still felt fairly safe there and we had a great time.
It may still be possible to find park passes for HS, and if you don’t, hopping there once or twice should give you good opportunity for riding with shorter lines later in the day.
We (a family of 5) will also be at Yacht Club in late June. Son has a convention there. For us, Stormalong Bay will be an afternoon or possibly evening thing most days. I am preparing everyone to be willing to wait. We also plan on eating at some of the nearby hotels (Boardwalk, Dolphin) as we hear dining reservations could be an issue. We will see April 20 when our dining window opens. The fact that you can walk to Fantasia Golf as well as Epcot and Hollywood Studios (you can always park hop there) to me makes park hopping worth it, and adds more options .I am sure you will have fun.
I am booking dining on the 22nd but for the first time in over 10 years I will only be booking one ADR. I do hope to get to Bluezoo Lounge one night and I am so happy Swan/Dolphin will offer options. I plan to use my park hoppers to try all the items on my Flower and Garden list.
I was at Beach club villas this week so cam speak on SAB crowds. It has been hitting capacity most days. Usually around the 1-2 range. Weekends are busiest as you have people checkimg in and out that want to use the pool. A queue will form outside but it does move quickly as there are constantly people leaving throughout the day. We would get there about lunch time and never waited. We would stay about 3 or 4 hours and leave. The end of the day there was plenty of room at the pool. One thing that should be pointed out is the beach club resort is still not open, set to open next month I believe? Not sure what that will do to the current pool situation.
Thank you for all of your insight! I just bought our park tickets last night so we are officially going! I held my breath as I went to make our park reservations. I was fully prepared to not be able to get many other than Epcot- but was fine with that figuring we would sleep in, go to Epcot, and then park hop. But lo and behold I was able to get a reservation for each park even HS! The calendar had been showing that only Epcot was available for most all of our days. So it was such a great surprise and I’m glad to have the chance at a ROR boarding pass.