Tell me about your Trip during COVID

[bonnielynn]

Did you feel safe? What is closed and what is open? Do you need restaurant reservations? How are the buses? What should I expect?

 

[cvjw]

Did you feel safe? What is closed and what is open? Do you need restaurant reservations? How are the buses? What should I expect?

We have been twice so far. Week in August at the poly, 11 nights in September at boardwalk. Did parks both times. Parks were definitely more crowded in September. Ate at Disney restaurants every night, both trips. Yes, you need reservations. We booked both trips late, so we mainly just searched for cancelled reservations and picked them up.

We felt very safe in Disney. We would visit again in a heartbeat.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I've experienced the same as @cvjw. We just returned home last Sunday from a 5-night stay at Boardwalk. We felt completely safe and 99% of the guests were following the rules. We also picked up cancelled reservations. You definitely need a reservation for restaurants since capacity is limited. I'd say the only spaces that social distancing wasn't happening were inside some of the shops, especially on Main Street in MK. It's definitely more busy. We didn't take any buses to the parks, but instead rented a car. If you choose to rent a car, reserve early. 10:30 am on a Tuesday and almost the entire car rental garage was empty.

 

[Stargazer65]

I posted a brief trip report here in this thread although I didn't talk much about covid precautions:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/wdw-september-2020-at-the-poly.3814546/#post-62362934
At the Poly Ohana's was closed, and there was no Luau's going on. No resort boat, but you could walk over to T&T for that anyway. No EPCOT monorail. The MK monorail was running and we always had a car to our family by ourselves. Park attendance was light during the week. We also went to Universal and that got busy on the weekend.

Social distancing was there but got loose at times, especially in stores and other places people congregate when it rained. We rode many buses, they limited each load to about 6 groups of people separated by partition or empty space. Lines were light for the buses, only one time did we ever have to wait on the next bus, and that was from Contemporary to DS after MK closed. We road a boat from MK to WL and it was almost empty, that was about 2 hours before park closing. The Skyline from Riviera to DHS was 1 car to every party. We all felt safe but YMMV. (With 5 kids we tend to be a little on the opposite end of germophobia, "Yeah, sure kids, go play in the cow pasture, try not to get too much poo on your clothes"). We had a fun trip, and after the trip we went and got tested for covid and all tested negative.

 

[Akck]

We were there mid-September as a replacement trip to Disneyland. I was able to rent point here and since we had gotten gold APs for a future trip, our total cost was less than the Disneyland trip. We originally planned to use Disney transportation for the trip, but with initially bad reports on ME, we opted to rent a car. I will say it spoiled us and we’re looking at renting for future trips. It was nice not having to wait for transportation and being able to sit maskless in AC.

As to the parks and resorts, we felt completely safe. While mask wearing wasn’t 100%, you could be distant or any exposure was at most a second or two. Due to the limited QS options (both places and menu items), you’re better off making reservations for some meals. We had agreed that if we felt uncomfortable at an inside restaurant, we would leave immediately. That didn’t happen. We had some of our best meals at table service restaurants.

For the most part, expect to see noses, chin straps and people eating/drinking while walking. There will be times where social distancing isn’t possible, but that’s what masks are for and any exposure is very short. For the most part, you can control exposure by waiting off to the side for a few seconds/minutes (I.e., take a water break), and look for a lull in the crowd. So go there prepared for this and enjoy yourselves.

 

[disneywv]

We went the first week it opened, 2 adults and a 10 yr old girl and 14 yr old boy. Back then the place was like a ghost town. There were only about 10 passengers on Magical Express. We stayed 2 nights at BWV and 6 at BLT.

We avoided the buses by renting a car from the Disney Car Care Center. Alamo has an AP discount and they will come to your resort and pick you up. They also bring you back when you drop it off. We didn't eat at any table service on this trip. We prefer to eat outside in this environment. Other meals were prepared in our room or brought back there to eat. It helps if you a one bedroom w/ the full fridge and kitchen

The shops are the worse place for congregants. No park hopping and no fireworks are the biggest downers.

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

Sitting at Wilderness Lodge as I write.
Yes you will want reservations for dinner. We only made 2 dinner reservations before we came. We now wish we had made more. especially for Friday and Saturday nights.
Mobile ordering is how you order your quick service food.
Buses have been fine. As always busy first thing in mornings and at park closures. They allow 6 parties per bus. While at BLT we went to HS and EPCOT. They had 3 buses starting approximately 1 hour before park opening and the whole long line was accommodated. Seems like they are running more frequent buses at peak times due to limited capacity.
I have felt very safe. As others have said 99% of people will wear their masks properly.
We will be here one more week. Have to say this has been one of the most relaxing WDW trips in a very long time.
Have a great time when you are here.
And don't do what I did...I forgot about the mask and tried to sip some coffee..... that was a mess. be sure to bring a spare mask into the parks

 

[jbh275]

It was great, ready to go back.

 

[Lva5]

We had a good experience in mid September. Felt pretty safe overall. Only a few instances of people not respecting the social distancing markers that are all over the parks.

 

[ffwillie]

Just returned last night from a week stay at the Grand Floridian with our 3 year old grandson. I think Disney is doing a pretty good job of managing things and they are very attentive to guests not wearing face masks as required/properly. I felt safe the whole time. My biggest issue is I hate hand sanitizer and avoid using it. I prefer to wash my hands with soap and water.

Most fast food venues require you to order ahead of time and once the order is ready they will then let you proceed into the restaurant to eat. The restaruant crowds were very well managed and I wasn't uncomfortable removing my mask to eat. We had several reservations throughout the week, (Topolino's - character breakfast and dinner, The Wave and Grand Floridian Cafe). Reservations ran about 20 minutes late at each with the exception being Topolino's which was pretty much on time. The Wave was horrible. The wait was long, the service was horrible and they tried to double or triple serve all of the tables around us. None of the waiters or kitchen staff seem to know what table to take food to. The table across from us accepted extra food which screwed the table behind them. I had always heard great things about this restaurant but I am not sure I would go back after this. The food was ok at the Wave and very good at Topolino's and GF Cafe.

Service at the GFV was very good and the pool was managed well. It was our first stay there and found it very pleasant and quiet.

While lines appear much longer due to distancing they all flowed well and I preferred it to the Fast Pass but I think the parks were only about 1/3 as full as normal. Most but not all sit down venues are closed. We were able to see the 3D Muppet show but it may have been the exception. We didn't go to Epcot but all other parks are operating fairly normal outside of several restaurants, stores and show venues being closed.

I was very nervous about going originally but decided i could no longer stand only going to work and my house without a break. I am a retired firefighter and though not adverse to risk I try to minimize it as much as possible. Overall I am glad we went.

 

[bonnielynn]

Thank you all for your reviews/reports on Disney during COVID. ;-)