You probably know that Walt Disney World opened up again last month, after being closed for four months. If you’ve wondered what’s happening there since they reopened, my family visited last month. We took our twin girls on a surprise trip before they left for college, and we had a wonderful time!
New COVID policies:
- Masks must be worn by all kids 2 and over. You must wear your mask at all times inside the parks, except when you are eating or drinking while staying stationary. You cannot walk around the parks with your mask off drinking or eating. Cast members are telling people to put their masks on if they see you not wearing a mask or wearing it incorrectly.
- Social distancing in all attraction queues. There are markings on the ground in all queues to tell you where to stand.
- Social distancing in all restaurants and dining locations. And some dining locations, especially locations that typically serve buffets, are not open during this time.
- Disney is encouraging the use of mobile ordering at all quick-service dining locations to avoid waiting in lines.
- Physical barriers have been placed in areas such as cash registers where social distancing is more difficult.
- Temperature checks are being performed for guests and cast members each day. Temperature will be taken before entering each park and Disney Springs.
- Limited capacity in the parks. Guests must make a park reservation for each day they wish to visit. No park hopping allowed at this time.
- Limited capacity at the resorts. Some Walt Disney resorts are not open at this time, and those that are open are operating at a limited capacity.
- Enhanced cleaning of resort rooms before guests arrive. After you arrive, housekeeping will only empty trash and replace towels in your room to minimize contact.
- Limited capacity on Disney transportation, including Magical Express buses, buses to and from the parks and Disney Springs, and the Skyliner. Only one family is allowed in a Skyliner gondola at a time.
- Limited capacity at resort pools. We had to wait to get into our resort pool, and then it started storming right after we were let in!
- Hand sanitizing stations everywhere in the parks and in Disney Springs. Hand sanitizing stations after each attraction, to help keep guests safe.
- Cashless payments are encouraged including using magic bands or credit or debit cards to reduce contact between guests and cast members.
The Good:
- Wait times for your favorite attractions are drastically reduced! Our longest wait for our entire trip was 35 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash. We only waited 25 minutes to ride Flight of Passage—and that was our second time riding it that day!
- Pop-up parades and character appearances. No need to sit and wait on Main Street for an hour before the parade begins! Disney is giving us smaller parades more often throughout the day to enjoy. Characters are not doing autographs but are popping up to say hello (from a distance, of course) throughout the parks.
- Masks are honestly not as bad as I thought, and we visited in July! I honestly thought it would be tough to wear a mask all day, but after a while you sort of forget you have it on.
The Not so good:
- You may want to wait to visit Walt Disney World, depending on your “must-do” list. If this is your first visit, you may want to wait just a bit. If your child has certain things they want to do, such as visit Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or hug Mickey Mouse, then you may want to wait. Or if you HAVE to dine at Chef Mickey’s or stay at a certain resort, then you may have to wait until those places have reopened.
Tips:
- Make your park reservations as soon as possible! Disney is limiting the number of people that can enter the parks each day, so the reservations will run out. You can always change them later if your plans change, but I would make those park reservations as soon as your resort or ticket reservations are made.
- If you purchase on of Disney’s masks, make sure to get a larger size than you think you’ll need! Even the large masks were tight on my face. It’s hard to find the Disney masks in extra-large, but I was able to find one. That extra-large was a lot more comfortable to wear.
- Be patient! With the capacity limitations you may have to wait to get into your favorite shop or your resort pool. Please be patient and kind to the cast members, who are only following rules to keep guests as safe as possible!
- Please follow the rules! These rules are in place for your safety. Please follow the guidelines that Disney has put into place.
I would honestly visit Walt Disney World again in a heartbeat! I felt very safe in the parks and in our resort. Of course only you can determine your level of comfort visiting, but Disney is doing everything it can to keep their guests safe.
