Trip report after going to all the parks (8/16/20)

I want to just say that if you are a major park hopper, you may not have a great experience. Expect to do a park on like 5 hours and not be able to go to another park.

Hollywood Studios:
Crowds weren't bad, but I think Rise of Resistance virtual queue is bad. It's super hard to get a slot and literally has to be done immediately at 10:00 or 2:00. Got there at 10 and by 4 we had done everything we pretty much could.

Lines got worse as more people came in, lack of shade made it brutal.

Animal Kingdom: Probably the best park in terms of crowds and waits. Rode flight of passage multiple times and everest. Crowds were maintained well. Plenty of shade, and it's a nice addition not having to lug around an UV umbrella everywhere. Easily a park you could do in like 3 or 4 hours.



EPCOT: Have to say at least in my experience, the crowds and lines were the worst. They were fine the first two hours, but once food and wine really kicked off, it felt like social distancing just wasn't enforced. More that people just didn't care. People getting close to you and such, maneuvering around or just standing around drinking. The big rides were consistently like 30+ minute waits, even towards the end of the day. I will say the first two hours was great though.

Magic Kingdom:
First like 3 hours were so nice, Splash, Pirates and the Mine Train were practically walkon. Crowds were practically nonexistent, but got worse a bit later. But the scenery shots are super nice.


Disney Springs:

It's ok but there's no CMs to enforce rules here. People don't care about others and won't maintain proper distance and such. World of Disney is crowded, to a point that 6ft pretty much is impossible to do.

 

[Storm]

Thank you for your trip report , finally something else other than "oh i went and everything was perfectly fine and well enforced" that we always hear here.

 

[HongKongFooy]

(Animal Kingdom)Easily a park you could do in like 3 or 4 hours.

You make that sound desirable or as if it is an advantage.

 

[Hcalvert]

Pretty much what I experienced when I was there July 11-24. I told my husband I am not going back to Disney Springs and EPCOT until they sorted them out. I really did enjoy DAK and the relaxation stations and the rides were mostly walk-ons. I was able to get boarding passes every time I was at Hollywood (3 times), but only rode twice due to the ride continuously breaking down. I found Hollywood to be the busiest, but I was there on opening day. It got better after about two hours when I was there and everything, but Slinky, were walk-ons eventhough they were not advertised on the boards as such.

 

[tanc]

You make that sound desirable or as if it is an advantage.

I mean there's literally 8 rides open and not really else much to do. You have one park a day, a full 10 hours would be pretty boring.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I mean there's literally 8 rides open and not really else much to do. You have one park a day, a full 10 hours would be pretty boring.

Especially if you're not waiting around for nighttime entertainment. There would literally be no point in expanding your day.

 

[tanc]

Especially if you're not waiting around for nighttime entertainment. There would literally be no point in expanding your day.

Even then the "nighttime entertainment" is at 6pm for AK. The full 5 hours is plenty of time to do basically all the attractions. It's like literally speed running Disney, and then go back to your hotel or go to Disney Springs. DS is easily the worst place because people have to ruin the "trust" system. Today I went and saw a child running around with no mask and sneezing for example. Especially during a pandemic, that is something I don't want to see.

So here are the park days

Wed - HS
Thurs- MK
Fri - AK
Sat - EPCOT
Sun - MK

Yes, I would imagine rhe weekend contributes to the crowds, but really due to there being hardly anything to do in EPCOT, I see why so many people flock to the world showcase

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Giss Neric]

If you're concerned about the crowds and social distancing problems at Disney, you're gonna have a nervous breakdown at other parks. Disney and Universal to me currently have the best in terms of safety and implemention of rules and how guests follow rules.

Went to Hershey Park recently. 70% of guests are not wearing masks properly. The queues on rides don't have plexiglass dividers so social distancing is impossible.

I'm not that paranoid when it comes to social distancing, but if I feel unsafe I will adjust and double the cleaning/sanitizing. I don't expect the CMs to do all the work and enforcement. Guests are guests pre/during/post pandemic.

 

[Herdman]

The biggest thing I've seen from watching videos of people who have been there is the mask wearing in the parks. If that is happening by virtually everyone it definitely lessens the effects of lack of social distancing as statistics show. I know that goes out the window when people are eating or drinking, but hopefully that is the only time.

As for touring the parks and lack of attractions, I think a lot of people go to Disney parks not just to knock out the attractions, but to take in all aspects of the experience. To me, it's a lot different than going to Kings Island or Six Flags, even Universal. We look forward to taking in some of the little things that we might not have enjoyed on previous trips because we'll have the time.

All in all, I hope all who are going now are able to enjoy themselves and feel safe.

 

[KimAnnFran]

So the hopper passes are not allowed?

 

[festus]

I was there 8/10-8/13 and my experience was pretty much the same as described. DAK was definitely the least crowded. There were parts where it felt empty. Most everything was walk-on or a 10 minute or less wait. DHS felt the most crowded with the longest waits. The headliners were all at least 30 minutes for most of the day. RotR was down the entire day... and yes the virtual queue is the pits. It fills up in seconds. When attempting to "join" don't add anyone to your party - you can do it later - the extra time to do so will most likely cause you not get "in". In MK it was just nice to be able to walk around without having to dodge throngs of people. Getting there early still makes a big difference. We were able to do SM, BTMR, PotC, PPF, THM... all in the first hour as everything was walk-on. Later in the day most had waits of 30 minutes or less.

In all the parks most everybody respected the distancing rules and wore their masks. I noticed CM's scattered throughout the parks who looked to be simply "mask monitors."

All of the stores have less merch so to allow for more space to move around. It definitely made a difference. CM's also monitored the number of people in each store. It was actually pleasant to shop.

Even with the reduced hours I felt like there was plenty of time to do anything and everything in all the parks.

It's not all perfect in the parks, but Disney seems to trying very had to keep everyone safe.

 

[wdwmagic]

So the hopper passes are not allowed?

No park hopping is currently allowed regardless of ticket type.

 

[tanc]

I was there 8/10-8/13 and my experience was pretty much the same as described. DAK was definitely the least crowded. There were parts where it felt empty. Most everything was walk-on or a 10 minute or less wait. DHS felt the most crowded with the longest waits. The headliners were all at least 30 minutes for most of the day. RotR was down the entire day... and yes the virtual queue is the pits. It fills up in seconds. When attempting to "join" don't add anyone to your party - you can do it later - the extra time to do so will most likely cause you not get "in". In MK it was just nice to be able to walk around without having to dodge throngs of people. Getting there early still makes a big difference. We were able to do SM, BTMR, PotC, PPF, THM... all in the first hour as everything was walk-on. Later in the day most had waits of 30 minutes or less.

In all the parks most everybody respected the distancing rules and wore their masks. I noticed CM's scattered throughout the parks who looked to be simply "mask monitors."

All of the stores have less merch so to allow for more space to move around. It definitely made a difference. CM's also monitored the number of people in each store. It was actually pleasant to shop.

Even with the reduced hours I felt like there was plenty of time to do anything and everything in all the parks.

It's not all perfect in the parks, but Disney seems to trying very had to keep everyone safe.

I still thin EPCOT was the park I felt iffy about. Essentially it feels like half the park is under construction, waits are pretty much consistently 30+ minutes the whole day and the World Showcase seemed very crowded when I went.