Disney World Is Still Magical

Should We Go To Disney World Right Now?

When the long-awaited news came that Disney World was going to open again, we asked ourselves for more than a month if we should go. We were wondering if Disney World is still magical. We researched all the restrictions and went back and forth, back and forth, etc. trying to decide whether or not to give it a try. We said the same things as everyone else, it won’t be the same without the fireworks or parades, it will be hot with a mask on, they close early, etc. Then we had dinner with friends who were there the first day it reopened. They have season passes and just happened to already have a reservation booked, so they went. They told us about how much fun they had and how glad they were they went. That was all we needed to hear. We were going.

We went September 11th through the 14th. I’m telling you the dates so you know what it was like when we were there because the restrictions and processes are changing all the time. We decided on that weekend because Tony’s birthday is the 12th and of course he wanted to go to Disney World on his birthday!

It Was Different Even Before We Left Home

The most important thing to remember when booking your Disney World park tickets is to make sure you can get into the park you want on the day you want. Since they are limiting the number of people in the parks right now, you need to do a couple extra steps to get in. First, you need to look at the calendar on the Disney site to see if there are still tickets left for the day and park you want to visit. There are no park hopper options right now so the only option is one park per day. Once you verify the date and park are available, purchase the number of tickets you need. THEN, and this is very important, you click on the link they provide to make a reservation for that park and date. Just buying the ticket isn’t enough. You also have to make a reservation. If all this sounds overwhelming, contact us over at Adventurous Life Travel and we’ll book it for you. 😉

When we go to Disney World, we almost always stay at a Disney Resort. Anyone who has stayed there knows a few weeks before you leave home, you get yellow luggage tags to put on your luggage before you head to the airport so Disney can pick up your bags at baggage claim for you. You just head straight to the Magical Express and your bags show up in your room. And when you leave to go back home, you can drop off your luggage and Disney will take it to the airport for you and you just pick it up in baggage claim when you get home.

Well, Disney is not offering this service right now. They are using all their extra buses to transport people since they have to physically distance everyone so there are no extra buses to transport luggage. So when you get off the plane, don’t forget your luggage in baggage claim before you head to the Magical Express. And of course, when you get there the nice people at Disney make sure to ask if you remembered to pick up your luggage. This wasn’t a big deal for us since we were just staying a few days we only had one suitcase.

We received our Magic Bands a few weeks before we left just as we normally would. These are really important because Disney is pushing contactless check in. You check in before you go and use your Magic Band or phone as the key to your room. This was an option before but is pretty much mandatory now.

Arriving At the Resort

From the moment you get to the Magical Express, Disney has plenty of people to help everyone know what to do. We were told which row to sit in on the Magical Express which was, of course, not close to anyone else. And masks are required everywhere unless you are eating or drinking while stationary. Don’t forget the stationary part or a Disney cast member WILL remind you!

On this trip we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort which was a new resort for us. As soon as we got off the Magical Express at the resort there was a cast member right there to help us. He had a tablet and checked on the status of our room and it was ready! This was around 11AM which is definitely the earliest we’ve ever been able to get into our room at a Disney Resort. He had a map and told us how to get to our room. He also showed us where the bus stops were and made sure we were aware of the mask policy.

We walked through the lobby on the way to our room and were happy to see the store was open. There were also only two restaurants open on the entire property, Centertown Market and Banana Cabana. Centertown Market is in the lobby next to the store. Like all other quick service restaurants at Disney right now, you have to do a mobile order. There were plenty of Disney cast members around to help if needed. Banana Cabana is by the main pool and you stood in line, socially distanced of course, to order your food. You could also order room service.

We were happy to see the Skyliner was working. You can get to it by walking to the Riviera Resort next door or there was another station on the other side of the Caribbean Beach Resort. There were also internal resort buses since Caribbean Beach is pretty large. Of course, the regular buses were also running. The seats are numbered and every two or three seats have pieces of plastic hanging between them. The drivers also tell you where to sit. The buses still go to all the parks and Disney Springs.

Our first stop after dropping off our luggage in our room was Disney Springs. Every entrance has very nice people to take your temperature. It takes about two seconds. We first got to Disney Springs in the middle of the afternoon so most people were still in the parks. It wasn’t dead but it wasn’t very busy either. We didn’t have any trouble walking right into the stores and restaurants. As it got later though, it got busier. With the parks closing early, most people went to Disney Springs or back to the resort pools. By evening, we had to wait in line to get into most stores. The lines moved quickly and I think by now we just pretty much expect it.

There were lines on the ground outside the stores to make sure people stayed six feet apart while waiting. There were also lines on the floor in the stores at the cash registers. They also have clearly marked entrance and exit only doors. While walking around and looking inside the stores, you are pretty much on your own to make sure you stay physically distanced from others. Of course masks were required at all times unless you were eating or drinking while stationary.

There Is Still Magic at Magic Kingdom

We were only spending two days in the parks so we decided to do both days at Magic Kingdom. The official park opening time was 9AM but we got there at 8AM and it was already open. We walked right through getting our temperature taken without any wait. We never take a bag so security was also a breeze. We tapped our magic bands like normal but you no longer have to use your fingerprint also.

We were expecting Magic Kingdom to be less busy, but it still was not as busy as “normal.” The lines were really long but, obviously, with everyone having to stand six feet apart, that is what made them so long. We didn’t wait longer than about 30 minutes for any ride. On rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Small World, they would sit a group of people in the front and a group in the back leaving two or three rows empty. For example, when we rode Small World, a couple with their little girl were in the first row and Tony and I were in the last row. On Haunted Mansion, they only filled every other car. They were also very diligent about cleaning. They obviously had a good rotation going so that the cars, boats, etc. were being cleaned very often.

Disney did a great job every where we went at clearly marking where you should stand to remain physically distant. In places like Starbucks, they had big circles on the ground indicating where you/your group should stand while you wait for your order. And there were also cast members standing by to make sure everyone was complying.

They also have a new system for checking into your dining reservation. While some of the favorite dining locations were closed (more all opening frequently), the restaurants that were open were very busy. You check in for your dining reservation on your My Disney app and when your table is ready, you get a text. It was actually very easy and the cast members at the restaurants will help you if needed.

We were lucky enough to get reservations at our favorite restaurant, Be Our Guest. On the dates we were there, they were only having the dinner menu all day. So no quick service like usual. But we knew that ahead of time and were perfectly happy with that. After all, it was Tony’s birthday. Since there were no character meet and greets happening, we were happily surprised to see The Beast still made an appearance. About every 20 minutes he would come out and wave to everyone. You could take pictures from a distance. Everything else was pretty much the same as any other time we were there. There were fewer tables than normal but that was just about everywhere. Tony even got his special birthday grey stuff with Mickey sprinkles!

While there were no character meet and greets, the characters still made appearances. There unannounced mini-parades that went along the usual parade routes. One time it would be a float of princesses and the next time it could be Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, etc. They have a few variations which was nice. We actually enjoyed it because you weren’t fighting for a place to see and it didn’t take up much time of an already shortened day. Characters would also pop up at a place where you could not get close to them. For example, we saw Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore on the porch of the closed Crystal Palace.

So as you can tell, things are definitely different at Disney World. Actually, they are different just about everywhere. There were things we missed that haven’t come back yet (fireworks and park hoppers.) Wearing a mask was annoying at times and we missed some of our favorite restaurants (Casey’s Corner.) Despite the changes and all the craziness going on in the world, we were happy to discover that Disney World is still magical and we can’t wait to go back! Like around the beginning of November just in time for the Christmas decorations. 😉