Help! Was not expecting to go during covid restrictions....

[Piglet]

I wasn’t keeping up with changes, restrictions and rules and had thought I wouldn’t be back to Disney until covid things settled and now my daughter and her fiancé asked his family and our family to meet them there for a part of their honeymoon in December. I’m a hard core planner but because of wedding planning this trip is going to be bare minimum. What do I need to catch up on? We’re staying at Shades of Green and flying into MCO.

 

[holden]

There's no way of knowing what things will be like in December. I would expect some restrictions to be lifted, but you never know.

As of now:

Masks required/social distancing in lines
Reduced hours
No fireworks, most shows canceled, etc.
No FP+
Some restaurants/food places closed
Must be seated to eat
Dining reservations are now booked 60 days in advance instead of 180
Some resorts are closed
EP monorail loop closed
Poly monorail station closed
ME ending as of 2022

I'm sure there are more, but these come to mind.

 

[ckelly14]

My assumption is that a majority of these restrictions will be lifted by the time the 50th anniversary rolls around. The good news is there is nothing to do right now except grab your tickets and make park passes, and keep an eye on these boards!

 

[Handykapper]

Looking forward to our WDW getting back to semi-normal.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I'll add resort hopping is harder now too. If there is a resort you have your heart on visiting, make a dining reservation so you have better odds of getting in. Mobile order has worked in some cases but has been a hit or miss situation.

 

[Shughart]

There's no way of knowing what things will be like in December. I would expect some restrictions to be lifted, but you never know.

As of now:

Masks required/social distancing in lines
Reduced hours
No fireworks, most shows canceled, etc.
No FP+
Some restaurants/food places closed
Must be seated to eat
Dining reservations are now booked 60 days in advance instead of 180
Some resorts are closed
EP monorail loop closed
Poly monorail station closed
ME ending as of 2022

I'm sure there are more, but these come to mind.

ME as in Magical Express?!

Like doing away with it?!

 

[disneygirlsng]

ME as in Magical Express?!

Like doing away with it?!

Yes, starting 1/1/22. No word on if there will be any kind of replacement (paid or otherwise)

 

[CarolynFH]

ME as in Magical Express?!

Like doing away with it?!

Guests arriving in 2021 will be able to take DME round trip, even if departing in 2022, but beginning 1/1/2022 DME won't take guests from MCO to WDW.

 

[JoanneAZ]

To add to the DME issues, they are no longer handling your baggage. Guests are responsible for retrieving their baggage at MCO and taking it to the DME check in and when you leave to go back to the airport you have to take your luggage to the DME shuttle and then check it with your airline at the airport. Also, they are not doing airline check in at the resorts anymore.
Every day you want to go into a park you have to have a park reservation and the ability to make the reservations is available through the beginning of 2023 and can be booked through MDE. As of right now park hopping is only available after 2PM (if you have a ticket that allows hopping) and only if the park you’re hopping to has availability, an ADR isn’t enough to get you in.

 

[Micca]

I’m a hard core planner

That's good, as you may need to plan and plan again as things change. You may get to plan 4 or 5 times for one trip!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The nice things are now days the only thing you need to plan is what days you want to go to the park and ADRs. As much as I miss FP+ it's nice being able able to to just go and have fun...
It's been confirmed that the park reservations are here till next year

 

[WEDWDW]

If things aren't DRASTICALLY different at WDW by December we have HUGE PROBLEMS!

Some "experts" are predicting Herd Immunity at the end of April.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Some “experts” sound more optimistic than realistic.

 

[ChrisWCE]

We are planning on going over Thanksgiving and this is something we are concerned about. Is it worth spending the money for Disney when we might miss out of some of the biggest things for us. My kids are still young and very into the princesses. Not getting to do character meals with them and see the fireworks will be heartbreaking. Thinking about cancelling for this Thanksgiving and going next year. It will be hard to wait even longer but might be worth the wait.

 

[xipotec]

We are planning on going over Thanksgiving and this is something we are concerned about. Is it worth spending the money for Disney when we might miss out of some of the biggest things for us. My kids are still young and very into the princesses. Not getting to do character meals with them and see the fireworks will be heartbreaking. Thinking about cancelling for this Thanksgiving and going next year. It will be hard to wait even longer but might be worth the wait.

We are planning TG week also.....same fears and issues...

BUT this may be the last time we CAN visit as a family, College starts for my son this fall....and his life will be starting.....so trying to get one more family trip in to WDW before we lose one of the kids to adulthood...

 

[LuvMyEAR]

We are planning TG week also.....same fears and issues...

BUT this may be the last time we CAN visit as a family, College starts for my son this fall....and his life will be starting.....so trying to get one more family trip in to WDW before we lose one of the kids to adulthood...

This is us, too! Only it is all about our grandsons. We are Canadians who have been fortunate enough to visit WDW every few years with these wonderful guys, and were all booked to do so at the end of Nov 2020. We all know how those plans faded before our eyes. Our older DGS will be in Grade 12 this fall, and his younger brother in Grade 11. Right now, they are still very happy to travel with us and share my Disney enthusiasm.

We have always planned our trips to avoid school breaks and holiday peaks but this will truly be the last year for that kind of thing. We desperately want to get in this one last trip. By fall of 2022, #1 DGS will be in university. I am not sure if it is torture going relentlessly over potential travel options for Nov/Dec 2021 or if it is helping to keep my sanity. I really want to book a vacation home, flights, and purchase tickets but can’t make that commitment...YET. We still have money tied up in a couple Disney passes, as well as credits with WestJet (that honestly should have been refunded the second they cancelled our original flights.)

The wait-and-see game is getting kind of old, isn’t it?

 

[MomOTwins]

If things aren't DRASTICALLY different at WDW by December we have HUGE PROBLEMS!

Some "experts" are predicting Herd Immunity at the end of April.

We still can't get our nursing home population in our state vaccinated--hospitals are still working on their own staff and many have not even begun vaccinating others. So yeah we have huge problems.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are planning on going over Thanksgiving and this is something we are concerned about. Is it worth spending the money for Disney when we might miss out of some of the biggest things for us. My kids are still young and very into the princesses. Not getting to do character meals with them and see the fireworks will be heartbreaking. Thinking about cancelling for this Thanksgiving and going next year. It will be hard to wait even longer but might be worth the wait.

The nice thing with your trip being at Thanksgiving is that you have lots of time to watch and see what happens. We had a trip planned for last September and I didn't end up moving it by a year until late August. That being said, I sure stressed a lot before making the final decision and it was a huge weight lifted once the call had been made.

 

[Micca]

BUT this may be the last time we CAN visit as a family, College starts for my son this fall....and his life will be starting.....so trying to get one more family trip in to WDW before we lose one of the kids to adulthood...

I hope it works out for you. FWIW, our DDs are in their late 30s and I can't remember a WDW trip where one or both of them haven't gone with us.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

As other posters have mentioned...who knows what December will look like? Hopefully we will be closer to a normal. Regardless, it's December. It's holiday time ramping up so I would think it will be busy. I'd say get your park passes and make park reservations as soon as you can.