Disney World reopened their gates in 2020, but many people are wondering if a Disney vacation with COVID restrictions will have the same magic it did before the pandemic (and rightfully so).
Disney, like any other theme park, is typically full of crowds, high touch areas, and many character interactions that cannot function in the same way they did pre-2020. That being said, Disney has done a tremendous job adjusting their operations and implementing tons of new health and safety protocols to help ensure everyone’s safety while still enjoying themselves.
If you’re on the fence about planning your next vacation to Disney, hopefully this list of pros and cons will help you make your decision!
PROS & CONS OF VISITING DISNEY WORLD WITH COVID RESTRICTIONS:
Crowd Levels: At the time of this posting, Disney World is operating at 35% capacity.
- Pro: This means there are significantly fewer people in the park each day. A huge plus, especially as we move towards the hotter summer months.
- Con: This does not mean the park will feel empty. There will still be waits for popular rides and for food and drinks. Although 35% doesn’t sound like much, there will still be thousands of people around you, not to mention the huge number of staff placed throughout the park for extra cleaning and safety measures.
Face Masks are STRICTLY enforced: Disney means business when it comes to masks. Unlike a few other places we have been, they do not let you get away with going maskless. For some this is a pro, for others it’s a con. In our experience, there were employees EVERYWHERE making sure people were wearing their masks at all times except while eating or drinking. However, they just recently announced that guests will be able to remove their masks briefly for a photo! Guests under 2 years of age are not required to wear a mask, luckily we went the week before our daughter turned 2!
- Pro: You can feel confident that you will (hopefully) not end up in a situation where you are close to someone who isn’t wearing a mask. Like I said, there are employees at every turn making sure people are wearing their masks properly.
- Con: Orlando is hot. Masks are hot. They can be an inconvenience, and it makes it hard to see the huge smiles on your kid’s faces. We found that this was the worst part, but that it was something that could be overlooked because we all were still having fun, even if we didn’t have the perfect photo to prove it.
No Fastpasses: If you’ve planned a trip to Disney before you know how crucial getting the perfect Fastpass plan can be. There are people who are experts out there with spreadsheets on how to use the fastpass system to maximize your experience, but for now you will just have to wing it. The only ride that you must get passes for through the app is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. You can read more about that here!
- Pro: The first time we went to Disney World I drove myself (and probably my family) crazy with planning the perfect itinerary for each day. We had to be everywhere at a certain time. Without the Fastpass system, we were able to go at our own pace. We weren’t stressed about missing a scheduled ride or taking too long at a snack break. We just looked at the map on the My Disney Experience app and figured out where we all wanted to go next. I think it helped us all be a little more relaxed and in the moment on our trip.
- Con: You will have to wait in line. The reduced capacity helps with wait times, but you will not be able to fast track to the front of the lines. We waited around 25 minutes for most rides, which isn’t bad at all. The extremely popular rides like Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios and Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom were 60-75 minutes. Still not bad compared to how long we have waited in the past.
No Character Meet & Greets: Disney World has come up with a new way to greet characters with their Cavalcades. These mini parades pop up unannounced but often throughout the parks and give you a chance to see the characters we all love so much.
- Pro: No waiting in long lines to meet a character. I remember waiting 2 hours for our daughter to meet Cinderella in the past (which was totally worth it), but that took up a huge portion of our day. Without the character meet and greets, we were able to get many more rides in each day. With the cavalcades, the princesses and other amazing characters would pop up seemingly out of nowhere and the kids would get excited to see them every time. Disney has left these parades unannounced to help prevent crowds from gathering. So just keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll spot them. They are frequent!
- Con: No one on one interaction with the characters. We are able to find a few like Rey and Chewbacca and Anna from Frozen standing at a distance. They were close enough to wave and have a small conversation, but nothing like the posed pictures you would get before. This was the main reason we chose not to purchase the memory maker on our trip this time.
Mobile Food Ordering: Disney World requires mobile ordering for food and drink. There are still snack stands available, but all quick service foods must be ordered and paid for through the My Disney Experience App.
- Pro: Disney’s mobile ordering on their app works really well. You can pick your restaurant, time period, and prepay. When it’s your scheduled time to pick up food, you simply click the “I’m here” button in the app and it tells you which station to grad it from. We really enjoyed not having to wait in line to get lunch or fun snacks. We never had an issue with the app, and the food was ready exactly when we asked for it to be. It was also really easy to make modifications to menu items and they had many accommodations for special diets.
- Con: If you want something specific, you might have to plan and order early. Disney World is well known for their many snacks, from Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom to the Raspberry Poptart at Woody’s Lunchbox in Hollywood Studios. Some of the popular menu items will quickly fill up their time slots. So if you think you want a poptart or other special treat, logon to the app early and order it for later in the day. You will still have a little flexibility on when you hit the “I’m here” button to pick up the food so you won’t have to time it down to the minute.
Parkhopping & Park Reservation System: As part of their phased reopening, guests are required to make reservations for the park they intend to visit each day. Try to book these reservations as soon as possible because the parks will fill up. Disney also recently brought back the park hopper option. After 2:00pm you can move to another park without needing a reservation.
- Pro: The reservation system helps spread out guests over the four parks so that no single parked is overwhelmed. The park hopper option allows you to visit more than one park in a day.
- Con: The limited hours at some parks make it hard to park hop. For example, Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00pm. If you tried to park hop there after 2:00pm you wouldn’t have much time in the park at all and you might spend more time on transportation than you do enjoying Animal Kingdom. Also, we found that Disney doesn’t even begin boarding busses between the parks until 2:00pm so you really wouldn’t be entering the parks until closer to 2:30pm depending on the wait for transportation. You could take the monorail or try the new Skyliner but it still takes up valuable time.
Transportation: Almost all of Disney’s transportation options are available, but (like the parks) are operating a significantly reduced capacity. They have built plexiglass partitions between many sections and have numbered sections on busses. Masks are required at all times on Disney transportation. On the busses, the driver will ask you how many are in your group and then tell you which section to sit in. There is no standing allowed. This slows down the boarding process but helps maintain social distancing. You can read more about Disney’s transportation options here.
- Pro: You can feel confident knowing that Disney has made every attempt to keep their guests safe, and that you will not end up scrunched up next to someone who is not in your group.
- Con: Reduced capacity on transportation could lead to longer wait times. The busses fill quickly and you might have to wait for multiple rides to come by before you get to board. We found that this was especially true in the mornings when everyone was trying to get to the parks at the same general time.
Ride and Attraction Closures: Disney does a good job of posting when rides will be closed for refurbishment, but it is always disappointing when something you love will be closed during your trip dates. With COVID, more rides and shows are closed than ever before but there are still plenty of fun things to do to fill your days. Click here to view a recent listing of what rides closed as of March 1, 2021.
- Pro: Not much in the way of pros here. Some of our favorites like Festival of the Lion King and Enchanted Tales with Belle are still shut down, but they will likely return in late summer of fall of 2021.
- Con: One of the biggest bummers was that the fireworks and nighttime spectaculars are still shut down. Not sure when they plan to bring these back. There are still plenty of rides open, but most all of the character interactive rides and shows are still shut down. For some, you may choose to wait until these things return to spend the money on a Disney vacation.
OUR EXPERIENCE
We had an amazing Disney World experience when we went this Spring (2021). The crowd levels were low, and we were shocked at how safe we felt in the parks. All the rides and lines had well placed markers for where to stand, and for the most part, everyone respected these boundaries. We didn’t ever feel like we were jeopardizing our health while being there. That being said, there are disclaimers everywhere that read “an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present.” Disney has done an incredible job with the current situation, and have an abundance of Cast Members stationed throughout the park to make sure that health and safety standards are being met. It was hard to wear a mask all day, but even the kids were ok with it, and we had a great time. We missed getting to see and hug the characters, but the magic was still there.
If you do choose to visit Disney World, our biggest tip would be to bring DISPOSABLE MASKS! We found that the disposable medical masks were cooler than our cotton masks, and we weren’t worried about bacteria growing on them when we weren’t able to wash them at the end of every day. You could bring a different cotton mask for every day of the trip too, but we found the medical masks to be more comfortable. We got these great masks from Amazon in adult and kid sizes before the trip. It was nice to be able to throw away a mask if a kid spilled food on it or dropped it on the floor of the bathroom (gross) which did happen a couple of times.
You can learn more about Disney’s current reopening guidelines here. We are anxious to visit Disneyland now that they are open too. Have you visited Disney World or Disneyland since the parks reopened? Share your thoughts with us below!
