I LOVE Disney! I try to get to Walt Disney World twice a year. I was there last year when they announced that they were closing and I just got back from another trip. What is Disney World like post pandemic? There are plenty of changes so buckle up and we’ll go through them.
Probably the most obvious one is face masks. Notice I said masks and not coverings. That is because it must be a mask. No gators or bandanas allowed. Masks must be worn everywhere on Disney property with very few exceptions. If you are eating or drinking you can remove your mask BUT you must be stationary while it is removed. You also do not need to wear a mask in the privacy of your resort room. I also did not wear one on my private balcony. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we didn’t need to wear a mask while at the pool. You needed to wear one to get food or use the restroom but I spent a pleasant afternoon in a lounge chair reading a book without my mask on. In each of the parks there are also relaxation stations where you can get a break from mask wearing. My family and I used those a few times to catch our breath. Overall, I found the mask wearing not as bad as I thought it would be. However, during a hot, Florida summer it might be pretty unbearable.
You MUST make a reservation for a park each day you would like to enjoy a park. Disney limits capacity so that is why you must register. Earlier this year Disney started allowing park hopping if your ticket allows it and there is room at the park. We park hopped a few times during our trip and didn’t have an issue. In order to park hop you must enter the park you reserved first. You also are not allowed to park hop before 2:00. The times we park hopped were for dinner reservations and for late night hours. I was nervous because the parks seemed at normal crowd levels but we didn’t have a problem. You don’t need to make a second reservation to park hop. You just show up at the next park. Only one time was a park at capacity during our stay and it was the park we had reserved for that day so it all worked out.
No fast pass??? As of right now that is correct. There is no fast pass. Standby for every attraction. I’m not 100% sure of the reasoning behind this. The reason I heard was that they were using the fast pass queues for spreading people out in standby lines. They do spread you out. There are lines every 6 feet but in most cases the lines were out into the park or down little side alleys and not in the fast pass queue. It was very confusing. A cast member stands at the end of the line with a sign announcing the end of the line. Sometimes that person is not anywhere near the attraction. For example, the Frozen Ever After line started in the China Pavilion. Some sections of lines were roped in and others were not. With the 6 foot spacing that led to people jumping into the lines in the middle. It was a bit crazy. Fast pass lines were being used for disability parties. They are given a time much like a fast pass and return to the attraction at that time. We spoke to a cast member who told us that you need to show Disney no documentation to be granted the disability pass. Just show up and say you are disabled. I’m sure abuse of that system was rampant.
With no fast pass attraction wait times were long. Disney posts wait times and we found them to be correct for some attractions and not so much for others. We waited the posted 85 minutes for Splash Mountain and Navi River journey. But, the posted wait time for Big Thunder Mountain was 40 minutes and we waited 15 each time we rode. Same for Haunted Mansion and others. Be prepared to be patient, expect to wait and expect that groups will cut in front of you. On our last day 4 individual groups cut in front of us on the line for Haunted Mansion. I just had to tell myself they didn’t know and let them go.
On a side note, eating dinner in the Mexico Pavilion is one of my favorite things. I am glad I didn’t reserve that for this trip however. There was a line to even get in to the pyramid which you would need to wait in even if you are eating there or just shopping there. Then inside the pyramid there is another line for the Gran Fiesta Tour (single file, zig zagging line with plexiglass between the rows...very claustrophobic).
Speaking of eating, lots of restaurants and shops too for that matter were closed. If you are planning a day look closely at your options because some places just aren’t open. Two of my favorite quick serve restaurants were closed, Pizzafari and Columbia Harbor House. Not sure why Pizzafari was closed but the Columbia Harbor House is being used as the line for Peter Pan’s Flight. They are serving some of that food at the Tomorrowland Terrace but it isn’t advertised. Also, most places have very limited menus. They are not serving their usual fare. I am used to eating a certain way and I just wasn’t able to because of the limited menus. Be prepared to be flexible and adaptable.
Transportation was also not immune to changes. We stayed on the monorail line this time but the monorail to EPCOT was not running. Only the resort monorail and the express monorail. All of the monorails got inside makeovers to match the outside theming (no more blue seats). They also have plastic up in numbered sections and a cast member assigns you a car and section. Each section seats 2 people. The bus is the same way seats are numbered usually in groups of 2 or 3 with plastic between the sections. The bus driver assigns you a seat number. No standing is allowed on the bus. Maybe 5 or 6 groups can fit on the bus at one time (unless scooters are getting on which means even less). We often had to wait multiple buses and they only arrive about every 20 minutes on average. Patience and lots of extra time are needed for the bus. A few times we ended up just calling an Uber because scooters kept showing up for the bus we were waiting for so we knew it would be a very long wait as they get precedence. There is no more Minnie Van service so Uber or Lyft would be the only options now for alternate transportation unless you have a car.
There are now tents set up outside of the parks or before you get on the monorail to check your temperature. All members of your party must have no fever for entry. It was warm and we had no issues. Best advice would be don’t go to the park if you feel ill.
On the plus side of things there is no more waiting on line for bag checks before entering the parks. Disney has these fancy scanners that you walk through now that detect if you are carrying a weapon. You only need to have a bag search if the scanner detects something unusual. It was a much more pleasant experience.
I think that is most of the big pandemic changes. Overall, we still had fun. It was nice to get away after a full year of being home. The magic is still there, you may just have to look a little bit harder to find it.
