It’s tough being a Liner / Planner atm. Everything is day-to-day due to staffing & attendance levels. A shop that has / hasn’t been open for weeks can one day open / close.
Best advice is to make a “wish list” plan for all the places you currently have seen reopening & a “must-do” list of eateries that have been in operation since reopening day.
I don’t plan on going in 2020 anymore, but if I did this would be the first year since 2012 that I’d just “wing it”
I totally get it! This is a whole new environment for everyone.
I’m a planner, so I like to have at least some kind of direction before I step foot into the park. But I have lowered expectations and fully expect to “wing it” at many times.
Great idea on the wish list.
My husband get a bit annoyed with my TP schedules, I always have to explain the why behind my method of madness, lol. Im trying to get him to go to the Mouse this December (very early in the month). I may use the “we have to wing it, no TP this time” as a bargaining chip!!!
Going in with no TP at all is brave in my book! But being at Disney with no TP is better than not being at Disney.
I pretty much know the parks by heart. I dont need maps anymore. I use TP for wait time mainly. I want to find the best route to minimize wait times and also do less walking. I may do a couple secret TPs and just come up with a basic strategy, lol. I just dont know how reliable it will be. The last time we “winged it”, and I still had a basic TP in mind, was when only same day paper FPs were offered.
It can be, but it helps to remember a “typical” WDW daily attendance level, at MK, is 40K - 50K this time of year. Attendance over the last couple of weeks is averaging 5K each day. It’s just not the same environment these days.
We will be there the week of 9/6/2020. I’m really curious to see what the attendance numbers are going to be like. September is historically a low month.
If the attendance numbers that we are seeing now still hold true over the next 4 weeks, I’ll feel a lot better about “winging it!”
The best numbers to look at are going to be Florida’s COVID cases / RT and how schools are fairing there, and across America, after reopening in the next couple weeks. Those are the biggest influencers on travel these days.
Oh! Plus, don’t forget about the annual Sept. storms & hurricane season. That’s peak time for those weather events.
If I had to guess I’d say other than Labor Day weekend, September should be very low waits. So if you are going to the parks the 6th or 7th, be prepared for more crowds (maybe more similar to last weekend), but the rest of your days will probably by idyllic.
We skirted a hurricane last year. It’s definitely a risky month, but it can have a great reward!
We travel in on the 6th. Epcot on 7th (thinking it will be least crowded park on Labor Day).
Animal Kingdom tends to be the least crowded park due to the sheer size and the fact that people finish all the attractions quickly and leave. But Epcot would be the next best option so I’d stick with that.
Just curious, when you picked your park, was it open to close? I just picked some for early Dec and the hours of entry are shorter than the park hours now. Ex. AK says till 5pm, but all the parks were the same. Wondering if they are planning shorter hours that time of year. Never been in December.
You’re preaching to the choir! 
I typically go in Sept most years too. I’m “one of those parents” that takes my kid out of school for a week +.
I like to go in late April / Mid-Sept / First week of Dec.
I haven’t looked beyond September for hours. My guess is that there are still a lot unknowns for what the later months of the year will look like.
I was just wondering if, when u picked a park, if the hours shown in the plans coincided with the current park hours.
Maybe someone with an August trip can see! I think, if they do coincide, that may be an indication of what Disney expects their park hours to be with future dates.
The TPs and the current park hours are matching for my September trip. It looks like the TP park hours are currently “predicted hours” because I don’t think Disney has released the December park hours yet.
If you are trying to figure out how close the predicted hours will be to the released hours, I don’t have that answer. It’s such a new environment that it’s really hard to predict.
Typically, the hours a little shorter in the winter, but not that much shorter. Everything is still usually open after dark. I have no idea if this year will be the same, but park closes were definitely more in the 8-10pm time range last year.
WDW doesn’t finalize it’s park hours until about 15 - 12 days in advance - even then they are still subject to change.
sorry yall, bare with me