After my recent trip to Disney World in April, I got a ton of questions about what it was like with all of the new restrictions and Covid safety measures in place. So I thought it would be easiest to answer those in a blog post format so you can bookmark, save, or pin this and refer back, especially if you’re planning a trip any time during 2021!

Keep in mind that things are constantly changing, so this is solely based on my personal experience from the last week of April, 2021. I’m headed back in June, so I’ll post an update with anything that may have changed by then!

I want to make it clear that my family and I did not make this decision lightly. I’ve been extremely careful throughout the last 14 months, even going so far as to quit my day job to help keep my risk factors down, since I was quarantining with my 65+ age parents. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve tried to be a positive influence and take my duty to be a good example on any public platform very seriously.

All three of us are fully vaccinated (at the time of our travel, it had been over a month since all of our second shots), and we purposefully waited until after peak Spring Break season to do our best to avoid crowds. We also chose to stay in a cabin at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground since it was separate (no shared hallways or common spaces) and came with the option to virtually check in as well as decline housekeeping for the duration of our stay (which we did).

Alrighty.. let’s get into it! I’ve divided this post up into several sections based on the most frequently asked questions and my observations of things that were noticeably different than pre-pandemic life.

PARK RESERVATIONS

First things first, and definitely the most important thing to know if you’re planning a trip - you’ll need a park reservation for any days you’re planning on visiting. Because of reduced park capacity (which is currently set at 35%), there is the potential for certain parks to reach that percentage during “busier” times.

I would suggest purchasing your tickets as far in advance as possible and making your park reservations immediately afterwards. You can also check in advance to make sure there’s still availability for the days you’re planning your trip by visiting their Reservation Calendar.

For example, you can see that, based on the calendar below, there are several days in May that are already filled up. Most other days have at least some park availability, and when you select each day, it will tell you exactly what is available and what isn’t.

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If you’re using your own transportation, the cast member at the park entrance turnstiles will ask you if you have a reservation for that park. We did, so I’m actually not sure what would happen if you said “no”, but my assumption is that if they still had room, they would let you in, and if not, they would attempt to assist you in finding a park that was still open that you could visit instead. My guess is that this is simply for documentation, so they can add someone coming in without a reservation to the number of guests they already know will be coming with a reservation, so as not to exceed capacity at any given time.

PARK HOPPING

If you have a ticket that includes the park hopper option, you can take advantage of this after 2pm each day. You won’t have to make a second reservation for this. We didn’t have any issues with capacity keeping us from park hopping (even on days when it said certain parks weren’t available for reservations), but you can always check with Guest Services or call the capacity hotline at (407) 560-5000 for up-to-date information.

Similar to when entering a park first thing in the morning, we were asked if we had a reservation when driving through the entrance turnstiles. I simply said “We’re coming from (the previous park we had visited that morning)” and was let right in!

I’m not sure how strict they are about the times - we stuck to the 2pm rule most days, but did hop a bit early (around 1:15pm) on the last day and we were not questioned about it.

ENTERING THE PARK

Due to the greatly reduced capacity, trams are not currently running from the parking lot to the entrance. Therefore, your walk from the car to the entrance might be a little longer than you’re used to. We didn’t find it to be much of a problem (Magic Kingdom was the longest hike, just because of how their lots are laid out), but if you’re concerned about the additional steps, my suggestion would be to inquire at the entrance turnstiles about Preferred or Disability parking.

You’ll see tents at the entrance to each park (in front of where security typically is) where you’ll have your temperature checked (touch-free). If you or anyone you’re with happens to clock in at a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, that person (along with their entire group) will be directed to a separate tent to be re-screened. If it comes back high a second time, no one in the group will be allowed to enter the park. If it comes back lower, you’re all good to go!

Next, you’ll head through security, which requires you to walk through a metal detector (with any bags you might have with you). The bag check lines are gone (I’m not sure if this is a permanent thing), but if something sets off the detectors, you may be pulled to the side for additional screening. I also noticed that people with strollers, wheelchairs, and ECVs were being directed into a separate line to accommodate those guests.

Finally, when you arrive at the main entrance to scan your tickets, you’ll no longer need to provide a fingerprint (for sanitary reasons). Your card/magic band/phone is all you’ll need to scan.

FASTPASS & VIRTUAL QUEUES

Fastpass is currently not available. However, with the reduced capacity, most wait times are significantly lower than normal. For example, Flight of Passage (inside Pandora at Animal Kingdom) is always one of the longest queues, sometimes topping out at 2-3 hours. There were a few times I saw the line as low as 45 minutes, and I never saw it go over 70 minutes the whole time we were there. Long story short, wait times are not something to be concerned about. The My Disney Experience app will be your best friend, as you can easily check wait times to best plan your day.

There is still one ride that you’re not able to just go stand in line for, and that’s Rise of the Resistance (inside Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios). You’ll have to get what’s known as a boarding group, which puts you in a virtual queue, meaning you’ll be notified when it’s your turn to ride. You can attempt to join the virtual queue at 2 different times during the day. For the first chance at 7am, you won’t be required to be inside the park, but you will need to have a park reservation for Hollywood Studios on that day. For the second chance, you’ll need to physically be inside the park at 1pm.

On the day we had our Hollywood Studios park reservation, I set my alarm for 6:50am so I could attempt to join the virtual queue at 7am. The very second the clock switched over, I hit the join button, but unfortunately wasn’t successful. When I tried again at 1pm from inside the park, I got in with no problem.

I actually have a theory that the 1pm time is much easier to snag, and here’s why: EVERYONE with a Hollywood Studios park reservation will be attempting the 7am time. However, since you’re required to be inside the park for the 1pm time, you’ve greatly reduced the amount of people trying for a spot by eliminating everyone who either got a time at 7am, switched their reservations to another park, or simply didn’t even come into the park at all that day. Plus, you can only park hop after 2pm, so you don’t have an entirely new pool of people inside the park yet. My advice is to definitely attempt the 7am time (and if you get it, that’s great!) but don’t be discouraged because the 1pm time seems to be a little easier to snag.

Pro tip: be sure your group’s tickets are all linked and synced in the My Disney Experience app before attempting this! Literal milliseconds could be the difference between getting a spot in the virtual queue and being unsuccessful. If you’re not sure how to do this, call before you arrive or ask someone at Guest Services to help you once you do arrive.

MOBILE ORDERING FOR MEALS

Another reason the My Disney Experience app will be invaluable during your visit is because most meals are currently only available through mobile ordering. The smaller stands throughout the park (ice cream, pretzels, etc.) are open for walk-ups and some full service restaurants are still operating (most require a reservation due to limited capacity and spacing), but for anything considered “quick-service” (where you typically walk up to a counter, place your order, and then wait for your food to be prepared), you’ll have to place a mobile order. Disney was already trying this out pre-pandemic, so some of you may have used this service in the past, but it has become the norm for now. I’ll admit, for some reason, I thought it was going to be super annoying, just because it was different from what I was used to, but after I got the hang of it, I actually found it super easy and convenient.

You’ll simply choose the time slot (a 30 minute window) you’d like to pick up your order, select your food and beverages from the menu, including any customizations, and check out with the card you have on file inside the app. When it’s your time slot, you’ll get a notification. Head to that area, open up your app and tap “I’m here”. That will let them know to start preparing your food, and it will typically take anywhere from 5-10 minutes for it to be ready. Once it is, you’ll get another notification letting you know which window to pick up your food from. There will be a cast member available to direct you if you need help.

Most places have time slot availabilities ASAP, but you may need to order several hours in advance for some of the more popular ones. Your app will bring up all of the options and time slots based on what you’re closest to. This way, you can either plan your whole day in the morning, or you can go with the flow based on what’s available throughout the day.

Pro tip: We found that the easiest go-with-the-flow way to do this was to get in line for a ride before mealtime and pick a time slot that started when we estimated we’d be off the ride. For example, if we jumped in a 30 minute line at 12:30pm, we would want to set our time slot for the 1:00-1:30pm pickup window. Waiting in the ride line gave us plenty of time to decide where/what to eat, and we knew it would be ready as soon as we were done!

MASK REQUIREMENTS

As I’ve mentioned several times, the park capacity is greatly reduced (currently set at 35%) so that automatically gives you a feeling of ease when every single space isn’t totally filled with people. Masks are required, whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. There are signs throughout the park (and frequent loudspeaker announcements) reminding you that if you are not properly wearing your mask over your nose and mouth, you will be asked to leave. There are exceptions, of course - you may remove your mask when you are:

• Eating and/or drinking while stationary and physically distanced

• Taking a photo while stationary and physically distanced (this had just started earlier in April, so I’m glad we were able to take advantage of it!)

• Sitting inside a designated Relaxation Station

I was happily surprised to see that most people were taking this very seriously. I may have seen one or two instances where a cast member asked a guest to fix their mask, and it was done calmly and without incident. I know there have been problems in the past, because I’ve heard some pretty outrageous stories about defiant guests and anti-maskers looking to make trouble, but I didn’t witness any during my time there, which was very nice. Cast members truly are the best humans, and we should always be kind and respectful to them.

Simply put, the current rules require masks. You know this before you go, and there’s no way around it. Do not get angry at a cast member for enforcing the rules. It can get a little tiring, especially on hot days (it topped out at 90 degrees one day, and it was kind of rough, not gonna lie), so if you need to take frequent mask breaks, do so. Just make sure you’re following the rules. Drink lots of water, find out where the Relaxation Stations are, and don’t overdo it.

RIDE AND QUEUE PRECAUTIONS

It was very interesting to me to see all of the ride and queue precautions Disney has put into place. As you know, if you’ve ever visited before, Disney World is kind of famous for “fill in all the available space!” and “keep the line moving!” but for obvious reasons, they’ve had to restructure most of these practices.

You’ll see these “PLEASE WAIT HERE” guides all over the park, anywhere there would typically be a line. In addition, they have added plexiglass barriers to some of the more winding queues that have multiple switchbacks where people will be passing each other on either side of the railings and are not able to distance properly. I was extremely impressed with the amount of planning and work Disney has put into the spacing of these guide markers, but as is to be expected, there will always be people and groups that don’t comply. We definitely had our fair share of people not spacing themselves properly by stopping at the line behind us, but we found that the majority of guests were taking the markers seriously.

Because of the amount of time it would take to properly space out guests in most ride pre-shows, the majority of these are not currently running. Some (like Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom) are playing on a loop, and the room simply becomes another queue area. Others (like Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios and Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom) have been eliminated completely and you walk straight through those areas without stopping. Most theatre style shows are closed, but the ones that are open (like MuppetVision 3D in Hollywood Studios and Country Bear Jamboree in Magic Kingdom) typically only seat you in every other row, plus they have seats blocked off to keep you spaced properly within rows. In larger pre-show waiting areas (like those two theatre shows I just mentioned) that aren’t set up like a standard queue, you’ll stand on dots that are spaced out throughout the room before entering into the theatre itself.

Many rides have plexiglass or plastic sheeting dividers between rows, so they can seat the full ride vehicle. Others don’t have this, simply because it wouldn’t be feasible (think most roller coasters), but in the past, where they would have fit a single rider in with an odd-numbered party, those seats will remain empty so you’re not mixing in close proximity with other groups. We noticed the same thing with the Skyliner. Even though each bucket fits approximately 8-10 people, each party gets their own, no matter how small.

Obviously, every ride, show, and queue area is different, so you’ll find varying degrees of spacing with multiple methods in every possible situation. Just be prepared to look for guide markers and dots, and always listen to the cast members who will be helping direct you to exactly where you should be. I also found a really great blog post (with photos!) that details every single ride and the safety precautions being taken in each area. If you’re interested in seeing exactly how a particular ride is set up, this is a great resource.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I truly believe that Disney has done everything in their power to keep all of their guests safe and distanced, while also still delivering the magic. One of the most thoughtful questions I received after my trip was “Would you have felt safe if you were not vaccinated?” and the truthful answer to that is “No”. However, to be fair, my un-vaccinated comfort level during this pandemic has been different than a lot of people’s, for a lot of different reasons. I quarantined with my 65+ year old parents, and I was not willing to take any risks that could have potentially put them in danger. Additionally, I had to have unexpected lung surgery at the end of October 2020 (completely unrelated to Covid) and any kind of sickness (especially a respiratory one!) would have been devastating to my system while recovering from that.

Seeing as this was my first travel experience after 14 months of quarantining, I was still a little twitchy. I’m learning that it’s actually very hard to adjust to being comfortable around large groups of people when you’ve been conditioned to stay away for that long! Even the small (safe) gatherings I’ve been a part of with vaccinated friends lately find us looking around at each other going “wait, is this weird or is it just me?”!

All that to say that I truly believe it’s up to YOU and YOUR comfort level when deciding to plan a trip. Knowing that we were all vaccinated helped ease my mind tremendously, and I personally wouldn’t have made the trip if we weren’t.