Ride loading during COVID - May 2021

[eleven24]

Was at WDW in January and rides were loaded so only people in same group/family were seated next to each other. Has anyone been there within the past week or so to verify if they're still doing this? Going in a week and curious as it's 3 of us and my younger daughter would prefer to never sit with someone she doesn't know, regardless of covid.

 

[Magnoliafan]

I’m currently here solo and I’ve been given my own row/section every time. Shows like One Man’s Dream have every other row roped off and then marked seats to keep groups apart. So far, IASW and POTC are the only rides seating every other row, with one party per row. Others have the plexiglass/plastic between rows. I was given my own row for LWTL, MMRR, FEA and NRJ. I also had no one next to me for Mine Train. So if your party doesn’t fit in one row, then you can probably do 2 and 2.

 

[cgattis]

Was at WDW in January and rides were loaded so only people in same group/family were seated next to each other. Has anyone been there within the past week or so to verify if they're still doing this? Going in a week and curious as it's 3 of us and my younger daughter would prefer to never sit with someone she doesn't know, regardless of covid.

Just my experience, but on rides where they do generally try to load all the seats and in single rider lines, my daughter has often quietly asked the CM to please put her with a girl, and they’ve always discreetly managed that for her

 

[soniam]

Universal has started or is starting any day now to load every row/every seat, even with people from different parties, and are bringing back single rider lines. I don't know how that will affect WDW though. I would try to keep your youngest in a spot where she won't be seated next to a stranger. Arrange it so that you are next to the stranger or maybe your older child for rides that are 2 seaters. A lot of times, they don't put a stranger next to a kid in a two seat row, unless crowds are high, like now, or on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train sometimes. We are also a family of 3, 2 adults, 1 kid. Usually the odd man out sits alone on 2 seaters, like Seven Dwarfs, Big Thunder, or Splash, even during Thanksgiving. They do occasionally put someone next to you though.

 

[tbholc81]

For the most part that is the case. I was there a couple weeks ago with my wife and we were given our own row for almost everything. Even had the whole cabin for Smugglers Run to ourselves so we both piloted. The cast member for Smugglers Run asked us if we wanted be by ourselves or if we could go with another group.

FOP was loaded to capacity with and we had other parties on either side of us, and we had a group in the front row of our car for TT and we were in the back.

 

[DisneyOma]

Was at WDW in January and rides were loaded so only people in same group/family were seated next to each other. Has anyone been there within the past week or so to verify if they're still doing this? Going in a week and curious as it's 3 of us and my younger daughter would prefer to never sit with someone she doesn't know, regardless of covid.

Why not just have your younger daughter sit with you then?

 

[Dakota731]

When we encountered rides that only fit two then my husband just rode alone

 

[MomOTwins]

Why not just have your younger daughter sit with you then?

Agreed. This is the simplest solution.

 

[Dug720]

I'm going to be so sad when Kilimanjaro Safaris start seating more than one party per row. I got AMAZING pictures in February from being able to slide from side to side rather than being restricted to whatever side I was on or dealing with heads to get something on the other side.

 

[RoseGold]

I'm going to be so sad when Kilimanjaro Safaris start seating more than one party per row. I got AMAZING pictures in February from being able to slide from side to side rather than being restricted to whatever side I was on or dealing with heads to get something on the other side.

Really? All I got was stupid clear tenting glare from the middle. I couldn’t see anything with the “protection.”

 

[Dug720]

Really? All I got was stupid clear tenting glare from the middle. I couldn’t see anything with the “protection.”

When did they add protection on the sides??? I am always looking side to side on the safaris, not straight ahead.

 

[soniam]

Really? All I got was stupid clear tenting glare from the middle. I couldn’t see anything with the “protection.”

And animal rears

 

[DL1WDW2]

And animal rears

Makes me wonder if that is the worst protection .
Does anybody have a protection they like?
And what do you dislike ?
. I think the plastic dividers on the monorail are the absolute worst ...

Has anybody experienced the departing ferry boat late at night no protection even though the castmembers tried their best....

 

[eleven24]

For the most part that is the case. I was there a couple weeks ago with my wife and we were given our own row for almost everything. Even had the whole cabin for Smugglers Run to ourselves so we both piloted. The cast member for Smugglers Run asked us if we wanted be by ourselves or if we could go with another group.

FOP was loaded to capacity with and we had other parties on either side of us, and we had a group in the front row of our car for TT and we were in the back.

Kind of what we experienced in January, but that trip was just 2 of us. The youngest prefers the 2

Agreed. This is the simplest solution.

As if that wouldn’t be my first inclination. She is hoping they are leaving a seat empty because she wants to ride by herself as it, in her words “let’s me be more silly”

 

[gharter]

We were there in April.
On every ride that had a seat - rollercoaster, safari, or boat ride, we were the only ones in that row.
The only place I had anyone close was FoP where they had somebody sitting on every seat.
ToT, we had our own row and the middle row was empty.
MMRR and RoTR had plexiglass between the rows, but only 1 group per row.

 

[MomOTwins]

Was at WDW in January and rides were loaded so only people in same group/family were seated next to each other. Has anyone been there within the past week or so to verify if they're still doing this? Going in a week and curious as it's 3 of us and my younger daughter would prefer to never sit with someone she doesn't know, regardless of covid.

As if that wouldn’t be my first inclination. She is hoping they are leaving a seat empty because she wants to ride by herself as it, in her words “let’s me be more silly”

Hmm, I don't think this is the same question as what was originally posed, as "prefer never to sit with someone she doesn't know" is not the same as "prefer to sit in a row all by herself without her family."

The second version of the question adds a wrinkle because with the distanced seating on some rides, I've been seeing the budging a lot less on how many people can fit in each row. For example, while in the past we've been allowed to split our family into two rows for some of the boat rides, but now they want us to squeeze in to keep one party per row.

 

[Wood Nymph]

My husband and I rode Test Track on Friday and I was surprised that we were seated in a car with two other people. They were in the front and we were in the back. The cars don't have a plexiglass separator and I think that was the closest we have been placed to other people. It was okay because we have been vaccinated but unvaccinated people might not want to sit with others in the same Test Track car.