Navigating WDW in the Bizzaro COVID World

chipndaleluver

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
After having our March vacation canceled, we felt comfortable enough to re book our trip for October, so we thought we would share our experiences good and bad within the Disney bubble. Deciding how to get there from Illinois proved a sticking point initially as we would have preferred to drive with all things considered in a Covid world, but the time factor (18 hours one way) forced our hand into looking at flying down.

Only one airline met our needs with their seating protocols and heath measures, so we masked up and flew down to MCO from Midway Airport. The airline was fine with on time takeoff and landing, though the security was definitely a challenge to get through with zero social distancing in place at the body scanning area.
On arrival we headed to the Magical Express Bus which was efficient as ever, and with social distancing in place, we were on board with maybe eight other people. After a short five-minute wait, we were off to our resort, Saratoga Springs.

Thirty-five minutes later we were off the bus and greeted by happy cast members who were eager to assist us with our bags. We must say they were all super friendly and went above and beyond during our whole stay and even got us a room upgrade. Mouse keeping as ever were great too. This was our first ever stay at SSR having stayed at other DVC properties and we loved the grounds and picturesque views. The main pool was quite crowded but great when we used it. Despite hearing bad things about the bus service to the parks, we had no real issues. We could tell the resort was not at a high capacity, so obviously the buses reflected this.

The only downer with the resort which was probably not helped by the virus situation is the layout of the Artists Palette. The choice in the store was poor for both merchandise and for food to mobile order. Not only that, but the place was not very well sign posted and the layout was confusing and hard to maintain a safe distance between people. When families return from the parks, tired, sweaty and hungry and are faced with very little food choices, it can be disheartening. There are those who say “Disney Springs has lots of restaurants close by” well yes, they do. But sometimes we do not want to get back on the bus or walk to DS for food. More about DS later on. We want something in our resort that we can take back to our cool room and chill out and enjoy or a nice sit-down place for dinner. The fact that their signature restaurant The Turf Club never reopened did not help either. At SSR this was not easy to do. How many times can you eat the same chicken wrap or flat bread?

In fact, the whole process of booking restaurants and eating in general was probably the biggest hurdle of our entire WDW trip. For a start, within the Disney bubble the choices of actual restaurants to choose from was limited, due to the amount of closed resorts and premises that have not reopened at all even though their resorts have opened. ‘Ohana’ being an obvious example. Even though some places are open it is difficult or impossible to obtain a reservation for dinner especially. We did however get lucky a few times; the best time was at The Wave for our anniversary. We had no luck in the parks unfortunately for sit down dinners, with Hollywood Studios being as usual the toughest to find a lunch or dinner reservation. Luckily our experience using the mobile food ordering app was positive which was a surprise.

The same cannot be said for the ‘hell hole’ that proved to be Disney Springs. Unfortunately, with the park's early closures, droves of families are forced to go somewhere in the evening to have dinner, and that combined with resorts lack of dining options makes DS an obvious choice for many. We witnessed buses teeming with folks from the parks funneling into the Springs looking for something to do. DS looked overwhelmed. The lines were enormous for everything including the huge ‘World of Disney’ store. We did eat there one time but otherwise it was a no-go area for us. We saw too much bad/no-mask wearing there. Don't get us wrong, we like DS, it’s just during these trying Covid times you need to lower your expectations and ‘pack your patience pants’.

How else has Covid-19 changed a day at a Disney park?.....well, the moment you step onto an internal bus it's obvious. The driver tells you which number to sit at, normally number three for us oddly and the buses never had more than eight people on them - now that was different too. There was many a time in the past when we stood on those buses when they were crammed full. Once at the parks, everyone gets a temperature check, then the security check, done in an orderly fashion following either dots or tape lines 6 feet apart on the ground. Followed by a magic band swish and you’re in the park as before. That said, not all parks were the same; Hollywood Studios entry points seemed more streamlined and faster somehow mainly due to their super-duper brand-new body scanners.

So, other than the lines on the ground what else was new....some plexi-glass barriers in narrow areas on certain rides and at all point of sale registers everywhere including food carts. There will be periodic down times for all rides when cleaning takes place, otherwise the rides are basically the same, all fun, fun, fun!

At Hollywood Studios we got to experience not only Toy Story Land for the first time but also Galaxy’s Edge, both amazing and immersive. We had already lowered our expectations for getting onto Rise of the Resistance, with its ongoing problems and only two per day boarding groups. As expected, we missed out on a regular boarding group, but did get a Backup boarding group #94, so our chances of getting on the ride seemed slim. Fortunately, Rise was having a good day and we got on the ride and we loved it!! Watching online videos of it does not do it justice; the whole experience was incredible from beginning to end. Speaking of great - Slinky Dog Dash was huge fun too, but far too short.

We especially enjoyed seeing the cavalcades, and were lucky to catch the “Nightmare Before Christmas” one, and the “Cadaverdans” go by on their trolley car. We also took time to keep to ourselves and forget those around us and made our own fun by spotting new hidden Mickeys. Speaking of rides, we took our first ride on the Skyliner this trip and we loved it. It’s so relaxing, and provides great views of the resorts it serves.

Now avoiding other people and social distancing was basically impossible of course. People just forget where they are and walk in front of you, bump into you and are generally obnoxious - but what’s new? That said, the parks were fun despite there being many things closed which was unfortunate, including rides, restaurants, food carts, parades, fireworks etc. We were hoping to see less crowds as we had been seeing on YouTube vlogs, but by the time we arrived, the park hours were reduced and the capacity was definitely increased. Consequence being longer wait times of course, and more people in the park. Surely, it’s time to bring back the Fast pass system to ease the long wait times in the Florida heat.

Do we feel the Magic is gone? No, but their star is not shining quite as brightly as it once did, and it’s struggling to keep its head above water for sure. It’s not Disney’s fault - we feel sad for the laid off cast members as they are amazing. It’s a business struggling to survive and they have to do what they feel they have to do to survive. We will be back and hope the old Disney including parades, fireworks and the rest will be back too, for us all to enjoy.
 
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It’s really helpful to know that social distancing isn’t exactly perfect at Disney despite their best efforts.
 
Thanks for the report. I'm waffling today about cancelling our birthday trip for the first week of December at BCV.

We're local, and have been to Epcot, AK and HS in recent months, but the idea of staying overnight and having to figure out dinner is what's bothering me most. DH and I will not eat inside any restaurants here in Orlando and I keep wondering how that would translate to overnight stays at WDW - pick up food to take back to the room to eat? Seems impractical. Not being able to get birthday breakfasts in Paris in Epcot and then go to another park for the day can't happen.

HS has been overcrowded already and they're talking about letting 10% more people into the parks.

I agree that none of this is Disney's fault. It's an "it is what it is" but we all need to try to stay Covid-19 free.

I'm leaning towards cancelling.
 
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