Disney During Covid-19

Going to Disney is an escape from our everyday lives and into a magical world. But when that fantasy is interrupted by a world-wide pandemic, it may not seem as magical. In fact, Disney had to shut its gates for about three months before deciding to open back up. But with the reopening a lot had to change in order for their guests to feel safe during a deadly virus outburst.

Some of the things that changed for example is that the waterparks and most resorts remained closed, a few restaurants remain closed in the parks, park reservations are now in place to get into the parks, fewer park hours, and much more.

I had the opportunity to visit Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot in July and here is my experience…

Right from the beginning at the parking lot gate, they were spacing out the cars so only a certain amount of cars would be parking at a time. When they direct you to a spot, two cars are parked at a time, one in front of the other, with an empty spot in-between each pair of cars. They do this so that when everyone gets out of the car at once there is much more space for families to get out. When they have parked the majority of cars in the day, later they start parking cars at the beginning again in the spots that were empty earlier that day. Even though the cars are now next to each other, the ones that just parked will not have other families next to them getting out of the car at the same time. The trams are not in service so be prepared to walk from your car all the way to the gate. Magic Kingdom does have the monorail and boat in service.

Once near the gate, the first thing to do is get your temperature checked. If your head is too hot from the walk over, they do check on the side of your neck as well. Once through, then you will head over to security which has adjusted their procedures as well. You will need to take out any metal objects from your bag such as an umbrella and hold your items in your hand while walking through their new metal detecters. If you get buzzed, you’ll head over to a table station where one of the security guards will ask if you have anything else in your bag. If they feel the need to check your bag they will. Then head over to the main gate where they disabled the figure print for access.

Once in the park, there are a few changes. The photopass photographers are still taking pictures, most merchandise stores are still open, and most quick services are still open. Some of the smaller quick services/outdoor food stands were not in operation, there were no more fastpasses or single rider options, there were “Please Stand Here” sticker markers on the floor where there are normally lines, and of course the biggest change of them all, had to where a face mask.

I will say wearing a mask in 90 degree weather is not ideal, but since it is our reality now here are some tips for wearing them while in the parks. I HIGHLY recommend wearing a medical mask over a fabric mask. I started my day at Animal Kingdom with a fabric mask and within 10 minutes I changed over to my medical mask. Let me tell you, it is much more breathable! And don’t think you can get away with wearing your mask under your nose because you will be asked very quickly to pull it over your nose. Now there are a few times where you can have your mask off, for example if your are actively eating (you must be stationary) or if you just want to sit at a bench for a bit. I have done that and seen many people just sitting at a bench without a mask and it is understandable to the cast that we get a break once in a while, as long as your distanced from others. They want you to have your mask on even for photos but I feel like if your away from others, you can sneak a quick pic. but use your best judgment. Please, please, please, follow their rules for safety. It is private property, they didn’t have to be open, but they are for our enjoyment so don’t get yourselves kicked out.

Food safety has always been a high priority of Disney’s but now they are even more cautious. Many cast I saw were also wearing a clear face covering or goggles in addition to their masks. For quick service, they are asking everyone to mobile order their food on the Disney World app. and only those whose food is ready are allowed to go in and pick them up. If you really are not tech. savvy, they will allow you to go up to the counter and order. For table service, some restaurants will be closed, especially the buffets. They would like you make reservations to make sure that they will have enough seating since they have to lower the amount of tables in the restaurant. However, since the parks were pretty empty they do accept walk-ins. Once seated, you’ll see a QR code on the table that you can scan with any smart phone and the menu will pop up. You won’t be able to pay your bill through the app so they will take your payment like normal.

I have never enjoyed going on rides as much as I did during Covid, and that is for many reasons. For one, the wait times are not 4 hours for the big rides anymore. The longest I waited for a ride was 15 mins. and that was for Pandora’s Flight of Passage! The moment we stood on a “Please Wait Here” marker we walked straight to the next one so I felt we were slowly walking the whole queue.  And since your all distanced from other parties, you won’t get others breathing down your next the whole line. Most of the rides were walk-ons which was nice! Remember the good ole days when you went to Disney during the off-seasons that don’t exist anymore? Yeah, it felt like that. Except with a whole lot of hand sanitizer and hand washing stations everywhere, and most of the time you get the whole ride vehicle to yourself or your party!

If your nervous about planning a trip to Disney during Covid-19, just know that I felt safer at Disney than I do at a local grocery store. Everyone is spaced out so much that you feel like you have the park all to yourself, which is an amazing feeling! Everyone is wearing masks and distanced. In my personal opinion, this is the best time to go.

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