Walt Disney World parks and water parks are closed, but some key shops and restaurants are open in their free open mall-like section, Disney Springs. Reports make it sound somewhat chaotic and like they’re not enforcing social distancing or mask-wearing. It sounds dangerous, but at least they’ve kept Disney World proper closed and are adhering to the very lax regulations of the state of Florida. Their trash governor, Ron DeSantis, implemented a “Phase One” reopening on May 4th that allows restaurants, retails stores, gyms, tattoo parlors and even hair salons to open in most parts of the state. (Miami-Dade and Broward counties took a little longer to open up. To be fair, our Dem governor in Virginia, Northam, is allowing businesses like salons and retail stores to open at 50% capacity too.) I think we’ll be seeing so many more cases in a couple of weeks, particularly after the ridiculous crowds we saw around the US over Memorial Day Weekend. There’s no word yet on the reopening plan for Disney World, but Universal Orlando is reopening on June 5th. They’re going to have temperature checks for guests, will limit crowds, and are handing out masks for people who don’t have them.
He then went on to detail several ways the theme park experience will be different, for now — all of which he says have been vetted by health and safety officials. Here are 10 of the most noteworthy:
1. Water and mist elements in the park and on rides will either be eliminated or reduced. This will be done in an effort to prevent the potential spread of the virus through water.
2. Parking will be staggered. Staggering parking times in the numerous lots will keep visitors apart as they arrive and allow for easy social distancing.
3.There will be required temperature checks at all main entrances. If a visitor does not pass the temperature test, they will be given time in a cool area to see if their temperature drops below the required level. If not, they will be sent home. Guests will be asked to test their own temperatures at home before arrival in order to avoid this.
4. Guests and employees must wear masks. If they arrive at the park without a mask, a free disposable one will be provided to them.
5. Single rider lines will be eliminated. Normally these lines allow employees to fill up each ride completely when there are odd-numbered parties. The new practice will ensure no guest will have to come within six feet of someone who is not a part of their party.
6. There will be no meet and greets. Characters will still be performing in shows throughout the park, but will not leave the stage to interact with guests post-performance.
7. Capacity will be reduced in the park and on rides. Fewer people will be allowed to enter the park, and fewer people will be allowed on each ride at one time. Many rides will have entire rows of the ride vehicles blocked off to promote social distancing.
8. Touchless payments will be requested. Cash will still be accepted, but touchless will be the preferred method of payment for food, merch, etc. All menus will also be single-use and disposed of after each use.
9. Lines will look different. People will be able to enter a “virtual line” for some attractions meaning they will not need to stand close to others to wait to enter. Entrance times alerts will be shared digitally. Where lines are required, there will be markers on the ground to indicate where people should stand in order to remain six feet apart.
10. Interactive play areas will be closed. Social distancing is near-impossible in these sensory-focused playground areas meant for young visitors, so they will be closed to ensure no children are at risk.
The digital line notification is smart and I hope they keep that available after this passes. Otherwise I have so many questions and concerns. So many people with covid are asymptomatic, or have mild symptoms and no fever. Without immediate testing, there’s no way to know who has it and can spread it. There’s antibody testing but it’s not widely available or particularly accurate. Plus testing positive for antibodies does not necessarily mean a person is immune to re-infection. There are just too many risks to open up theme parks in the US at this time. Meanwhile, there are still over 100,00 crewmembers of Cruise ships stranded at sea with no word on when they will be allowed to go home. I know that’s a completely different issue, but it seems relevant when a huge theme park is about to reopen.
These photos are from 2018 and 2019, Credit: C. Cagnin and Craig Adderley via Pexels.com
Disney is apparently submitting a reopening plan to the state, so they’re not far behind universal.
Universal’s plans seem decent, especially with the digital line (Disney does this for one of their new Star Wars rides, so it seems to me they could expand it to other rides fairly easily) – but even reduced capacity still seems like it would be crowded. I don’t know.
I mentioned before I am stressing about this bc we had a big Disney trip planned for August, and now I don’t know what to do. My husband really does not want to go. I kind of want to wait and see what happens over the next month or so, but then I feel like…its stupid. we can go in 2021. We don’t need to go this year. But I’ve been looking forward to it so much…and then I feel like a whiny brat. Sigh.
We’ve got annual passes at $1200 a piece. Used them 4 times. I probably won’t be back until late fall at least. And that’s only if there is no resurgence in the fall. I might just be taking a big loss.
I have a annual pass too, only used it once in February to go to Galaxy’s Edge. It was packed, so won’t be going back until late this year or next. A waste of money but I’m not being a guinea pig for the Mouse.
I’m a passholder too (who lives in Tampa Bay area) and will not be returning to WDW until at least the fall, if not later. I have no desire to be part of their crowds while things are being figured out.
Side note: All of us CB passholders should get together and have a Disney CB day (-; !
I have a trip planned for Sept but am going to move it to lare Jan, early Feb. Taking my granddaughter and want her to have the fullest experience that she can.
Personally, I’d wait until 2021. In addition to the dangers of traveling to Disney and being among so many people, you won’t have the full experience with so many (necessary) restrictions. I think it’s worth the wait!
I look forward to a long-weekend trip to Disney/Universal every Halloween all year long. It’s a tradition I have with my dad and it’s really special to me. Don’t feel bad for being sad about the thought of postponing. It really sucks to let go of something you’re excited about!
I wish companies would stop promoting temperature checks like it is the end-all, be-all. As it says above, you can very easily not have a temperature or any symptoms and still spread the disease.
Also, social distancing guidelines are only as effective as the people enforcing them. It doesn’t really work to just post signs and hope for the best.
And how can you ask employees to enforce them when there are people who purposefully cough on them in retaliation? And in some cases, shoot them? There’s going to be a lot of problems this long, hot summer.
I read that around 60% of those hospitalized in NYC didn’t have fevers. So, it really is meaningless.
Yep, just talked to a couple of patients, adult and child, who had it and they reported no fevers…and they had already been quarantined before they got sick except the one day mom let kid play outside with the neighborhood kids on Easter…none of those kids reported getting sick or having symptoms, so probably someone was an asymptomatic carrier.
Agreed! I’ve been working on our company’s opening plans and we immediately ruled this out. It “looks good” but it’s meaningless. Temp checks have a 30% false positive rate &temps are only common now in about 50% of cases and people can cheat it by taking tylenol/advil before arriving. They’d have a better investment with the Rapid Tests – still a false positive issue but at least better than the temp check.
Can’t believe they’re re-opening right now. Should have waited until July/August for things to settle further.
I had 3 short but fun trips planned and booked. I did it in January. Memorial day weekend at the jersey shore, next week I was to be in New Orleans (my first time), and July 4th I have the Palms booked on fire island. I know I’m going to have to cancel that last one too, I am waiting to see what the hotel does, because I am hoping for some money back. It’s very expensive. But either way, I am not going. And it’s because I smell the Big Crazy out there in America right now. I’m more afraid of Trumpsters than I am of the virus, by far. Spitting, coughing, shooting…I have a balcony that overlooks a pool and I am sitting my ass at home this summer. I hate it, but I have fully accepted that 2020 for me, is cancelled.
And btw the chief loon is threatening to shut down social media companies this morning. America has lost it, and trump is leading his merry band of violent thugs straight to your local summer getaway right now. I’ll pass!
I understand the need to shut down the water elements but without those misters, they’re going to have other problems in that hot Florida sun.
Indeed! And I doubts that the misters would increase risks of transmission in the 1st place since the bigger droplets don’t get carried very far. Heat strokes and dehydration are bigger risks
It will be interesting to see what happens. Social distancing seems to be the most important piece of the puzzle for reducing transmission rates, along with mask wearing. I wish we were looking more to the 1918 Pandemic for guidance on what to expect in terms of second waves, etc. People just have to be smart. We’ll get through this but it may take two years before SARS-Cov-2 gets absorbed into the seasonal flu cycle, and things really can go back to normal. That’s what happened with the (so-called) Spanish flu. It devastated at first, and then it calmed down as the greater portion of the human population, worldwide, biologically adapted to it. But that process took a couple of years, not months.
The article about the cruise ship situation is horrifying. The poor staff being stranded at sea for months. I’m not sure how that industry will recover after. I don’t think anybody will have the courage to jump into a cruise ship in the nearby future.
1. Why are the beaches and pools already open if the virus spreads through water?
2. Vehicles can’t catch coronavirus. Staggered parking can’t control anything anyone does once they step out of the vehicle.
3. The biggest problem with coronavirus is that it spreads through ASYMPTOMATIC carriers, so temperature checks might weed out the few people trying to go to Harry Potter World with an active fever, but it will be useless overall.
4. This is good, but who’s gonna be on mask patrol to make people keep them on? This seems like big potential for jerks to heap abuse on minimum wage teenagers.
5. How are people going to be 6ft apart on the rides? That’s 5 or 6 people per rollercoaster? The lines are going to be ridiculous even with fewer people.
6. This is good.
7. Who gets to go in each day? Do season ticket holders get priority? Is it first come first served? If 100,000 people originally had plans to go on June 10th, which 50,000 still get to go? I’ve been wondering this about Disney too, and everywhere else with reduced capacity now.
8. Touchless payments should be REQUIRED.
9. That’s nice, but where are all these people going to physically be while they virtually wait in line?
10. That’s good, but what is there for these kids instead of this? (I don’t know, I don’t have kids).
I had plans to go to Disney and Universal for the first time ever this December, already bought a Disney annual pass (that fortunately does not start counting my year until the first time I use it). I desperately WANT to go, but I don’t see how these parks will be anything but perpetual petri dishes until we get a vaccine. Nobody seems to be considering how all these people will be traveling to Orlando and then back to their own homes and contaminating everything between. Everyday I am depressed that I currently don’t have any plans for the rest of my life (not even exaggerating!) and I just have to be thankful that I am not sick or unemployed or dead to keep the big and small things in life in perspective.
Staggered parking isn’t to protect vehicles; it’s to protect people getting in and out of those vehicles.
Their employees are not all teenagers and are not paid minimum wage. I suggest you look into how Universal has treated their park employees during this time.
It’s going to happen eventually and I think the plan they have is miles above any other plan when compared to every other business in central Florida that has reopened.
I understand that, but my point is there’s nothing to keep the people distanced once the people walk away from their forced vehicular-distancing. They have no real plan for social distancing inside the park and I didn’t see anything about cleaning the rides between customers or all the handrails, etc. All of their employees are going to need extra security and protections from MAGAts abusing them when they try to enforce what little rules they have. This is going to be a disaster. All it’s gonna take is ten asymptomatic people spending the weekend in the park and then all the employees and a million other people are sick again.
My partner works at Universal Orlando as a Guest Service rep. He was called in to work starting Friday. The employees haven’t been given any briefing on how to handle the re-opening. He will be on the front lines as people refuse to wear a mask, people complain that other guests aren’t wearing masks, etc. It will undoubtedly be a clusterf**k.
Hopefully, anyone caught in the parks without a mask will be banned for life. Good luck to your partner.
Thank you. I agree with the banning policy. Hopefully the parks have the backbone to support public health over profit.
I feel completely defeated by the whole “reopen America” narrative. It’s all too much too fast, and while I’m sure theme parks will make every effort to make the guest experience safe, it’s hard to trust fellow tourists, many of whom have never taken this seriously to begin with. I feel like I’ve changed my tune from “we need to stay shut down until this is properly handled and we have better treatment options” to “well, at least their plans to reopen seem relatively thoughtful and safe!” because what other option do I have at this point? It’s not safe, because the people visiting these places are not all being safe. But it doesn’t matter what I think. All I can do is stay home for as long as I feel is appropriate and hope I’m not called upon to travel for work.
So when ten thousand people return home to their various states sick after their fun in the sun at Disney and spread the virus to everyone they know, no one will be able to blame Disney. No one will be able to prove a thing. How utterly reprehensible and disgusting. It’s all about the dollar to them, isn’t it?
We are Universal APs, ride or die. We go several times a year & have already canceled 2 trips so far. It’s either safe to go, or it’s not. All of these new measures are just to make people feel safer about high-risk behavior. I want to go, but not badly enough to die for it. Nor do I want to infect others. I can’t imagine how Uni is going to police social distancing in the Harry Potter areas, especially Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.