What do you feel it will be like for us when WDW opens again using our mobility wheelchairs & scooters?

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #300 & #301-Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cast Member preview Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith Rocks On with Vehicle Cleaning & No Pre-Show with Social Distancing Markers and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #302 & #303-Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cast Member preview Toy Story Mania Reopens with New Queue Dividers and Social Distancing Measures and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #302 & #303-Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cast Member preview Toy Story Mania Reopens with New Queue Dividers and Social Distancing Measures and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #304-Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cast Member preview Alien Swirling Saucers Spins Back with No Interactive Queue and Social Distancing Measures and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #305-Getting Around Walt Disney World in the COVID-19 Era - dvcfan Paul Krieger - July 15, 2020

Several years ago, in an attempt to get from Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort to The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian for a massage appointment, Amy and I had a collective travel time of over an hour and a half and came away with manicures instead of massages (don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it). You’d think we would have learned our lesson regarding Disney Transportation at that time, but here we are many years later still trusting those Disney buses to get us where we want to be on time.

COVID-19, however, presents another added twist to the complexities, or should I say, inconsistencies, of Disney Resort Transportation. With new social distancing measures in place and limited transportation options, guests will likely be waiting even longer to get where they want to go.

Here is a quick recap of some of the measures that are being implemented:

Disney transportation has implemented multiple physical distancing measures throughout transportation loading zones and queues. These measures also extend onto buses, monorails, and boats where capacity is being limited for the safety of cast members and guests.

Masks are required at all times while onboard Walt Disney World Transportation.

With park hopping unavailable at this time, complimentary transportation between theme parks is not currently occurring.

Disney has temporarily suspended monorail service between the Transportation & Ticket Center and EPCOT.

Minnie Van Service is temporarily unavailable.

Ferryboat transportation is available from the Transportation & Ticket Center and the Magic Kingdom.

Water taxi transportation is limited and, in some cases, unavailable at this time.

Boat transportation from Cresent Lake to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will resume on July 29th.

For many Disney Vacation Club Members, another added layer to this is the limitations that now surround using Disney’s Magical Express for transportation to and from the Orlando International Airport. Guests choosing to use Magical Express are currently required to retrieve their luggage at the airport. Airline check-in has also been suspended, requiring guests to now manage their luggage both onto the bus and at the airport.

With all these restrictions and limitations associated with resort transportation, we have heard a lot of chatter recently regarding alternative ways to get around the Walt Disney World Resort. Car rental is the best alternative method of transportation, but also presents its fair share of changes due to the ongoing pandemic:

Self-service parking remains available for members and guests.

Valet is temporarily unavailable.

Guests are asked to please use cashless payment options.

Parking trams have been temporarily suspended.

Disney Vacation Club Members and guests can enjoy standard self-parking for free while staying on property at a DVC Deluxe Villa. Members will also receive standard theme park parking as well as part of their stay. Parking fees apply for other Disney Resort hotel Guests.

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #306-Disney’s Hollywood Studios Cast Member previewStar Wars Launch Bay Becomes a Mask-Free Relaxation Station - PHOTOS - July 15, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #307-EPCOT's First Look at International Gateway Arrival Experience, Security Screening, and Temperature Check - PHOTOS - July 15, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 15, 2020

Post #308-EPCOT's Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros Reopens With Regular Boat Sanitizing and Socially-Distanced Queuing - PHOTOS - July 15, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #309-Disney Skyliner Resumes Service at Walt Disney World with New Health and Safety Measures - PHOTOS - July 15, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #310 & #311-Disney’s Disney World Transportation Today with New Queue Dividers and Social Distancing Measures and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - DFB Janelle Sheetz - July 14, 2020

Driving and Parking at Disney World
We arrived bright and early this morning — as did A LOT of folks! There was quite the crowd waiting for Magic Kingdom to let cars through. The toll plazas opened a little after 7:45AM and began slowly letting a few cars in. This part of the arrival process took a good deal of patience, so make sure your vehicle is fully-equipped with some Hamilton tunes to rock out to!

Magic Kingdom AP preview entrance crowds. More lanes began opening, and more cars slowly started to move. Every now and then, we’d be stopped for a few minutes before we started rolling again which gave us ample time to snap a pic of the parking rates sign.

Parking Rates Sign. Disney World is also encouraging guests to use contactless payment options whenever possible. This sign informed guests to have their cashless forms of payment handy.

Cashless Payment. Once we showed our Annual Pass and went through the toll plaza, it was still a bit of a wait. Cars were being directed to park in every other spot so that guests could social distance while exiting their vehicles.

Parking at the TTC. Once we finally had our parking spot, we had to walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center because parking lot trams are not currently in service. We were able to pass through the temperature screening and bag check at the Ticket and Transportation Center so we could skip this step once we arrived at the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Temperature Screening at TTC. And once we made it through both checkpoints, the next step was choosing how to get to Magic Kingdom. Available options include ferry boat, monorail, or bus.

Riding the Bus From Ticket and Transportation Center
For us, buses seemed to be operating the fastest this morning, even with significantly reduced capacities and other new protocols. Physical distancing markers have been placed on the ground at the bus station while Cast Members wearing bright orange vests direct guests to the next available bus.

Disney Bus. Each bus is now divided into six zones and each party is assigned to a group of seats. If your group is bigger than what one zone can accommodate, your group will get two zones.

Zone Seating. Some zones are also marked off as “unavailable.”

Marked Out Seating. Note — bus service will resume from the resorts to the theme parks once they are officially open to the public, but for now buses are only running to and from the TTC and Magic Kingdom and to and from the resorts and Disney Springs.

Riding the Monorail From the Ticket and Transporation Center
The lines for the monorail looked lengthy this morning. Markers have been placed on the ground in spread-out intervals and our team members who rode the monorail today said it looked worse than was. It actually wasn’t that bad of a wait.

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #310 & #311-Disney’s Disney World Transportation Today with New Queue Dividers and Social Distancing Measures and Limited Capacity - PHOTOS - DFB Janelle Sheetz - July 14, 2020

Monorail Lines. In the loading area, railings are taped off in yellow indicating guests should not lean or stand to close them.

Monorail Line. Monorail cars are now split with physical distancing barriers. For the initial phased of Disney World’s reopening, the monorail will only run to Magic Kingdom and not EPCOT.

Riding the Ferryboat From Magic Kingdom
Luckily, a ferryboat was waiting at the dock and we were able to board it immediately. If there isn’t a ferryboat, guests need to wait at social distancing markers until one arrives.

Ferryboat. Once we climbed aboard we noticed little green dots have been placed throughout the boat. This indicates where parties should stand while the vessel is in motion.

Ferryboat. Benches have been marked as unavailable.

Ferryboat. Meanwhile, both levels of the ferryboat were open to guests, even though our ferryboat was relatively empty when we left towards the end of the day.

Ferryboat. Once we arrived at the TTC, we saw social distancing numbered markers have also been placed on this side.

Euby · Jul 16, 2020

Thanks for all of these pictures. It appears that there may not be the opportunity to conserve ECV battery life in the queues. I usually turn off the ECV until people start moving again. I don't think starting and stopping every six feet is going to work well for the battery. I normally rent from Gold Mobility and their ECV's have an extra battery. This may be a good test when I go in October. In the past, it was rare for the battery indicator to go below (what I interpreted as) 90% when I returned to my resort.

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Euby said:
Thanks for all of these pictures. It appears that there may not be the opportunity to conserve ECV battery life in the queues. I usually turn off the ECV until people start moving again. I don't think starting and stopping every six feet is going to work well for the battery. I normally rent from Gold Mobility and their ECV's have an extra battery. This may be a good test when I go in October. In the past, it was rare for the battery indicator to go below (what I interpreted as) 90% when I returned to my resort.

Hi, Euby.

Thank you.

I don't get to go through many of the WDW attraction rides queues any more and I am always interested in seeing what the different queues look like if I were able to roll through.

I always hope that I could ride some of those WDW attraction rides again.

Those WDW attraction rides I do go on sometimes enter through the exit instead of mainstreaming.

I hoped a few others might like to see the nearly empty WDW attraction rides queues to see what it might look like if they were there, especially with the new precautions.

In reference to you usually turning off your mobility scooter when not moving, I usually turn off my electric wheelchair, too.

I think that both you and I should both be fine.

I charge my batteries for the correct length of time every night if I use it all day at the parks and carry y charger with me, too.

Your advantage is using a mobility scooter with almost new batteries.

You will be renting from an excellent company that changes out their mobility scooters for brand new ones every 6-months.

I think you should be fine.

Gold Mobility Scooters LLC replaces scooter inventory every 6 months so our renters have new or like-new equipment. It is highly unlikely there will be a mechanical failure in a unit that is 6 months old or less. Worst case scenario, should there be a mechanical issue (not a dead battery), your personal concierge who is available 24 hrs a day (including all holidays) will be able to first troubleshoot the problem over the phone, then if necessary, replace the unit.

Plus,

All of Gold Mobility’s scooters come equipped with the longest Extended-Range Batteries in the industry. All of Gold Mobility Scooters are equipped standard with the longest range batteries available in the industry.

Our GoGo Sport line of scooters can range up to 9 miles on a single charge

And our premium Victory 10 line of scooters can range up to 17 miles on a fully charged battery. Keep in mind the average guest covers about 6 miles a day. The biggest variables to factor in are the weight of the driver and the terrain such as going up hills and climbs.

Q: How long does it take to fully charge the scooter battery?
A: Simply put; overnight. More specifically consider an average of 8 hours, but it could go 10 hrs for a fully discharged Victory 10 extended range battery.

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #314 & #315-Disney EPCOT's Journey Into Imagination With Figment Returns with Social Distancing, No More Skunk Smell, and Highly Modified ImageWorks Labs - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #314 & #315-Disney EPCOT's Journey Into Imagination With Figment Returns with Social Distancing, No More Skunk Smell, and Highly Modified ImageWorks Labs - PHOTOS - July 14, 2020

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #316-Disney Is Riding the Skyliner Any Different at a Reopened Disney World?! We Found Out! By - PHOTOS - DFB Carly Terzigni - July 16, 2020

Arriving and Waiting in Line. When we arrived this morning, the gondolas were down temporarily. Cast Member encouraged guests to take the available buses. Those of us who wanted to wait for the Skyliners to start up again waited in a line outside of the main queue.

Pop Century Skyliner Line. Once we were on the Skyliner, we noted that relatively long queues are not uncommon, but these queues move quickly!

Riviera Resort Station. The line wasn’t down for long and we were able to move up to the station! Definitely keep an eye on hours when you’re using the Skyliner to get around.

Waiting in line for the Skyliner is much like waiting in line for the Disney buses. Physical distancing floor markers were present in the queue area.

Gondola Line. The stations have health and safety signage as well as hand sanitizer stations. A Cast Member we spoke to told us that the gondolas are being cleaned once a day.

Health and Safety Measures, We were riding from Disney’s Pop Century Resort to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so we had to transfer at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort station.

The distanced lines are a little confusing here, but Cast Members are happy to point you in the right direction.

Boarding and Riding in the Gondola. At this time, each gondola will carry only one travel group at a time. The Cast Member asks how many are in your party and you are guided to your gondola, much like our experience on the Skyliner prior to the closures.

A Gondola Cabin All to Ourselves
A Cast Member told us that you should keep your mask on for your ride.

Overall Experience
The experience was similar to riding many of the attractions at Disney World. All groups are spaced by seating every other row or given an entire ride vehicle to themselves. This policy is also reflected in the gondola by seating one group per cabin to limit prolonged contact from other guests.

The line looked long due to physical distancing but moved quickly once the gondolas were running again. As far as cleaning procedures, we were told by a Cast Member that the gondola cabins get cleaned once a day. Overall, riding the gondola is not much different before it closed in March. But there is more room inside the gondola and the potential for longer wait times.

RaySharpton · Jul 16, 2020

Post #317-Disney Three Disney World Attractions Permanently Cut - PHOTOS - kennythepirate Monica Street - July 16, 2020

Closures at Animal Kingdom. Disney has now confirmed that three attractions are permanently closed.

First, Primeval Whirl at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has been permanently cut. This ride has been plagued with closures since last year, only coming out once in a while during busier times when Disney needed more attractions to handle the crowds.

Also at Animal Kingdom, Rivers of Light will not be available anymore – even after shows and parades return. It is currently closed anyway due to the fact that Disney canceled any type of experience that would bring people close together.

Magic Kingdom. Finally, Stitch’s Great Escape at Magic Kingdom is also permanently cut. This was to be expected since they completely emptied the inside of the building.

You can currently “meet” Stitch on the Tomorrowland Stage! Guests can walk up to the front of the stage (as long as they maintain a physical distance from other Guests) and grab a selfie with him!