New park requirements/activities since shutdown

Of all the things that have changed at WDW parks, what do you like and what are you the most unhappy with?

Love:

Mobile ordering for food. Food ordered, paid and bagged up. It is great! The only location I got food that wasn’t really hot or fresh was All Star Movies. It tasted like it had sat awhile.

The little mini parades at the parks. They are so fun and it is nice to see spontaneous characters. I would imagine the cast members that are characters love these interactions so much better than a queue of people waiting to meet them in long lines. Most kids don’t need to touch these characters, they just enjoy seeing them. Leave the autographs and person pictures for character dining.

Opening of parks. I always took advantage of early entry but I like the new system. The park still openings early for the buses, a continuous line of entry and you still get to ride before the huge wave of guests arrives from outside the resort.

Just walking through without having bags gone through. I would pack up my small bag for the day, all nice and neat and by the time I get through bag check it would be a mess with items hanging out the top. The metal detection units make it quick and easy.

Not having to scan my finger. Even before I used to have to sanitize my hands after getting through ticket check.

The end of Magical Express really won’t be a super big deal. It has been nice and saved money, but we used to take Mears before ME existed and it was pretty much the same system.

Making dining reservations 30 days out instead of 6 months. ( or is it 60 days....?)

I love the special nights at the parks where you pay a crazy price ticket and get all the rides, ice cream, popcorn and drinks you want. I know they are expensive but I love them. The park is closed anyway at those times so it doesn’t effect the day guests.


Things I wish would go away-

I hate the new ticket system in so many ways I can’t even list the reasons. It is almost to the point I don’t want to go to parks because the $$$$ spent for me isn’t worth the experience. I have been on the rides so many times that without easy park hopping it really isn’t worth the big bucks. If a guest is going very infrequently it probably isn’t as big a deal.

I hope Fastpass+ is brought back but I think they should just run it the same way the disability passes are run. You get one FP at a time, get it the day you are in the park ( not have to plan it ahead of time) and once you get one and use it, go get another one. I hate planning FP before my park day.

I keep getting information about a company that will get your dining reservations on day you want for a fee. I think everyone should just make their own and have a chance, without a computer program that grabs up all the reservations before people calling in can get one. I realize people with extra money are going to get priority through whatever system dining has in place, but give us a chance.

I haven't been to the parks in over two years (and it will be over 3 until I get back) so I haven't dealt with any of these changes yet. However, I have a January trip booked and was already able to 'reserve' my park days. I like that, to a point, but would like it more if, when you reserve your park you were 'awarded' FP+ options for that park. (At least once they reimplement FP+, IF they do.)

DME is going to be a loss to me, but you are correct about Mears and paying for the trip to and from the resort. I've done that before and will do it again. LOL The part I will miss is Bags, Inc. no longer delivering your baggage for you. It was nice to get off the plane, get a ride to your resort, and go right to a park without worrying about when your bags would arrive in your room, or lugging them to the resort bus. For people arriving early, your room may not be ready, so you have to check your bags at Luggage Service, then come back to get them and haul them to your room later.

I like the thought of the 30 minute 'early' opening for resort guests. I did not realize it was just for resort guests...OR is this something different with resort/bus entry?

As much as I like the 'parties,' the cost has gone up so much, with shortened hours, that I don't know if I could justify the 'bang for the buck' for something like this again. I guess it would depend on how much they 'oversell' these events. Last time I was at MNSSHP the crowd wasn't much less than a normal day crowd.

The character cavalcades seem like a great idea vs. scheduled parades, as far as crowd control goes. Hope they are still in effect when I visit.

Will have to wait and see about your ticketing comment. I am going to be activating an AP when I get there, so I will 'hold my breath' for now. Just hoping Hopping comes back completely before I return, although with the later opening of EPCOT and shortened hours at almost all parks, hopping may or may not be worth it anymore. (I DO tend to spend a lot of evenings in World Showcase, so some form of hopping needs to be available! LOL)

As a solo visitor dining reservations generally aren't a priority for me, but Mobile Ordering MAY be. We shall see.

It is still over 200 days until my next visit, and things MAY (and probably WILL) change, so I refuse to 'get my back up' about anything right now. I will just watch and wait....impatiently!

What are your referring to with the "new system" for the opening of the parks exactly? Also, are they not going through bags anymore when you enter a park? Thanks.

We just got back from a week at WDW. Here's my thoughts:

I agree that we really liked the mobile ordering. Not having the stand in line to place your order was fantastic. However, the aspects of charging your orders weren't made clear to us initially and the MDE could use some improvements in this area. All in our party were granted the ability to add charges to our rooms via the bands, However, this ability does not extend to the app and each member of your party must manually add the credit card to their app. It took us two days to figure that out with the help of a good CM.

We also liked the easier security check and ability to add MobileMagic to your phone and watch. I still used my band at the pool, but it was nice not to have to be "banded" all week. We're travelling lighter these days and generally it was just my wife bringing a purse to the park. Nine times out of ten she walked right through. Occasionally she did need to do a bag check but it was generally quick and easy.

DME wasn't great this time and we weren't thrilled about having to do more bag handling, but we'll chalk that up to COVID. We will certainly miss DME. Hopefully the train will be a speedy alternative.

It was fantastic not to have to wear masks (except for transportation) as of Tuesday. And we we were super excited for the outdoor CMs who were able to drop their masks as of Thursday. We felt so bad for those folks out in masks under the near 90 degree heat on top of long sleeves and pants or dresses. However, it seemed dumb that they waited until Tuesday to update the guidelines after an overnight change the first time around. Did that much really change between between Friday and Tuesday when the updates took effect? Finally, and I realize this is the US government and not Disney, but it's crazy that I can queue in a plexiglass enclosed cattle-chute with thousands of other people mask-less, but I have to wear a mask on a boat on monorail were other parties are nicely spaced? Crazy!

We'll be glad when the parks reservation system goes away. I'll admit it was a little stressful having to pick your park days weeks ahead. However park hopping was relatively easy. It's just unfortunate that you have to visit the park you chose in order to park hop later. In one instance we went to Epcot to check in, rode Spaceship Earth and turned around to take advantage of a pool day. Plus, good luck if you want to change your park reservation on the fly. We did it, but needed the help of a CM to rebook because all parks were noted as "full" for the day we wanted to switch.

Finally, we praying for a lasting death to FP+. We are not fans and not having FP+ was such a relief with this past trip. Sure, there are people with touring guides and very occasional people still using the FP+ lines. However, it made the queues generally very manageable. The longest waits never exceeded 85 minutes or so and generally waits were at least 10 to 15 minutes shorter than the posted times. I feel like with FP+ some of those waits would have been over 2 hours. It just adds too much congestion and chaos. However, I heard the rumors too that a "premium pass" is coming.

Overall we were pleased with our park experiences.