About to brave Disneyworld/Universal Studios in a bit. Has anyone been post covid? Lines ok? Any recs on the trip? (dinners, bloggers for advice, tour guides, etc). I'm a newbie so any and all advice is MUCH appreciated!!!
Disneyword/Universal Studios advice/recs
- Thread starter austinhorn
- Start date
If you can afford it, buy the skip the line passes at islands of adventure and universal. Go to the Harry potter first. It has been two years but when my wife and kids went that attraction was not covered by the pass.
Just got back from Universal yesterday. It was pretty bad, but it was the week after Christmas. For two days, the park closed due to capacity before 9 am. On the last 2 days we were there, it was fine.
Wait times were not as bad as posted. They do social distance in lines.
I think it would be ok now honestly.
Wait times were not as bad as posted. They do social distance in lines.
I think it would be ok now honestly.
Yep. For my son, we wrapped two days of Disneyland around the 2017 USC game. So that wasn’t too bad. For my daughter, we will do the Disney World thing in a year or two. She will have a blast and I’ll survive.
Do yourself a favor and read everything on this site first...
https://www.undercovertourist.com/
Also, I have an Aggie friend that does a YouTube channel called Ready2Disney:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCg9Nv_rUBFbBX2IdgQe3U9Q
https://www.undercovertourist.com/
Also, I have an Aggie friend that does a YouTube channel called Ready2Disney:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCg9Nv_rUBFbBX2IdgQe3U9Q
We went the week before Christmas and it wasn't bad (Disney only). I have older kids and they were really more interested in the rides and food. If you have younger kids that want to see the characters, I would not bother. There is very little to no character interaction. We saw a few pop up parades, but no real handshaking or pictures with any characters. Also, you cannot remove your mask anywhere in the parks or resorts. Including picture taking. The Photo Pass thing with the Disney photographers included (we have a mask on in every picture).
The lines were not terrible. I think most were under an hour with a few exceptions. Pro tip, if you want to ride the Avatar ride and not wait for 3 hours in line, you have to get to the park as the doors open and race to it. Park opened at 7am when we were there and it looked like the start of a marathon with everyone trying to claim there spot in line.
Good luck
The lines were not terrible. I think most were under an hour with a few exceptions. Pro tip, if you want to ride the Avatar ride and not wait for 3 hours in line, you have to get to the park as the doors open and race to it. Park opened at 7am when we were there and it looked like the start of a marathon with everyone trying to claim there spot in line.
Good luck
2023-2024 Disney World Planning Guide
Our Walt Disney World vacation planning guide offers tips & tricks for this year and 2024 on how to avoid crowds, save money & time, with info on Genie+ & Lightning Lanes, best rides, restaurant
www.disneytouristblog.com
Also, I always purchase access on https://touringplans.com/ and their Lines app. Can pick and choose exactly what attractions and restaurants you want to do in a day. Haven’t been during covid, but it helped me get through 18 rides at Magic Kingdom last January.
We just booked a trip for the week of Feb 5 - Feb 12. Used a Disney planner and had everything booked in about 30 minutes. In fact she texted my wife this morning that a new promotion just hit and would save us about $198, so she credited our card the amount. Our kids are 10 and 7. We're not doing Universal due to the capacity issues our Disney Planner told us about. We're staying at the Carribean or something...
Have been four time since reopening. have both Universal and WDW Annual passes.
1. First time was when they reopened the parks took our camper and stayed at Fort Wilderness. Campground was pretty empty the Parks where almost deserted. Great time to be there.
2. The next time we were at Old Key West the resort was only about a quarter full and parks were still empty.
3. Stayed at Boardwalk over for what is usually Wine and Dine Race weekend. Hollywood Studios was a crap show all else was pretty empty.
4. Stayed at Boardwalk again Thanksgiving week. Parks were starting to become a bit busier and Hollywood Studios was a complete crap show.
Few tips:
1. If going to Hollywood Studios they have opened the Park at least 45 minutes before posted opening. Get in and head to Mickey and Minnie Runaway Rail, then to any other ride. You will get those done before 10. Best palce for Beer is Baseline Taphouse opens at 11 beer is great and much cheaper than other areas of park. Get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, it is a bad ass ride. You need to be on the app and getting right at 7:00, 10 seconds later and they are gone.
2. Universal has been packed due to WDW being reservation only.
3. Epcot will be starting its Art Festival Jan 8. The festivals are great and I can walk the countries all day.
4. Many of the restaurants are closed in the resorts so plan for that.
5. Use the Gondola fun little transportation system
If you have any specific questions message me or reply on here. I am not an agent and one may be able to help more. Just love Disney and go quite a bit (be back Feb 10-14 and March 19-26).
1. First time was when they reopened the parks took our camper and stayed at Fort Wilderness. Campground was pretty empty the Parks where almost deserted. Great time to be there.
2. The next time we were at Old Key West the resort was only about a quarter full and parks were still empty.
3. Stayed at Boardwalk over for what is usually Wine and Dine Race weekend. Hollywood Studios was a crap show all else was pretty empty.
4. Stayed at Boardwalk again Thanksgiving week. Parks were starting to become a bit busier and Hollywood Studios was a complete crap show.
Few tips:
1. If going to Hollywood Studios they have opened the Park at least 45 minutes before posted opening. Get in and head to Mickey and Minnie Runaway Rail, then to any other ride. You will get those done before 10. Best palce for Beer is Baseline Taphouse opens at 11 beer is great and much cheaper than other areas of park. Get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, it is a bad ass ride. You need to be on the app and getting right at 7:00, 10 seconds later and they are gone.
2. Universal has been packed due to WDW being reservation only.
3. Epcot will be starting its Art Festival Jan 8. The festivals are great and I can walk the countries all day.
4. Many of the restaurants are closed in the resorts so plan for that.
5. Use the Gondola fun little transportation system
If you have any specific questions message me or reply on here. I am not an agent and one may be able to help more. Just love Disney and go quite a bit (be back Feb 10-14 and March 19-26).
We went the week before Thanksgiving. Felt safe and it was nice to almost feel normal.
Universal seemed to have it together a bit better than Disney, surprisingly. We bought the express ticket for Universal. Totally worth it. You could also go back and forth between the parks at Universal.
No park hopping at that time at WDW. No fast passes at Disney either (though that may have changed?) Such a hassle. We waited almost 2 hours in line for Mine Train. Not worth it. At Disney, we made reservations for most of our meals.
At all of the parks, even if they are at X% capacity, there are still a lot of choke points where a lot of people end up together--moving between "lands", where ride lines cross, etc. Just move through those as quickly as you can.
All of the parks were adamant about masking.
Great experiences. Glad we went.
Universal seemed to have it together a bit better than Disney, surprisingly. We bought the express ticket for Universal. Totally worth it. You could also go back and forth between the parks at Universal.
No park hopping at that time at WDW. No fast passes at Disney either (though that may have changed?) Such a hassle. We waited almost 2 hours in line for Mine Train. Not worth it. At Disney, we made reservations for most of our meals.
At all of the parks, even if they are at X% capacity, there are still a lot of choke points where a lot of people end up together--moving between "lands", where ride lines cross, etc. Just move through those as quickly as you can.
All of the parks were adamant about masking.
Great experiences. Glad we went.
My wife is a Disney travel planner. angela@crazyimaginationtravel. She provides complimentary planning services for Disney and Universal if you want to reach out to her. Her name is Angela Jones. Also find her on Facebook at crazy imagination travel: Angela Jones
Why in heck would you plan a trip like this now ? Covid is rampant ! Good lord !
Well, Good Lord, first off it's none of your business! Second, we had a kid spend his entire Christmas holiday in the hospital in 2019 so that wasn't much of a Christmas. Thirdly, my wife and I had Covid over this holiday season, so that wasn't much of a holiday for any of the family. Lastly, we don't live our lives in fear. We spent all of 2020 pretty much hunkered down and quite frankly we're ready to get out and enjoy a little bit of life even if we do have to wear masks...Any other brain busters???
Similar threads
