Disney is Doing COVID Safety Right!

Corona Virus has made it very difficult for anyone to travel. I had a chance to visit Disney World this last September, and let me tell you Disney is doing COVID safety right!


From the moment that you get on the bus from your resort you can see changes. There are dividers between every few seats to create barriers between parties. Also, only one cart or wheelchair party is aloud on each bus. There is no standing room so if there are no seats available you can't get on the bus.

When you get off the bus the first thing you will likely see is a hand sanitizing station. Next you will see signs like these warning you about various things, giving you instructions...and so forth.

Before you can get very far each person has to go through a temperature check station. If your temperature is above 100.4 degrees you will not be allowed to enter the parks.

There are hand sanitizing stations all over each park. Particularly before entering the queue, in line, and after every ride. There are also hand washing stations throughout the parks.

The flaps on all of the trash cans have been pushed up and locked so that you don't have to touch anything to throw your trash away. I hope this(and the sanitizing nations) will remain after the COVID 19 pandemic has passed.

There are designated entrances and exits in every building in order to help people stay physically distant.

There are quick service and sit down restaurants that are open, the seating, however, is more limited in order to help with physical distancing. There are also changes to ordering and menus. You can see a video on this is working below.

Although you do have to wear masks at all times in the parks, Disney has placed relaxation stations at various places around each park which can be found on the park maps. This is an area where you can safely remove your mask and relax without having to worry about getting exposed.

For safety in ride queues there are markings on the ground set six feet apart. There are also spaces in between each line so that there is 6 feet of space in front of, behind, and on either side of you. I didn't see a single ride in any of the parks that didn't have some form of safety precautions taken in order to help guests and cast members stay safe and healthy. You can see the video with all of this information below

Most attractions that have interactions through touching or draw large crowds are turned off and canceled right now. Also, queues to get into buildings or areas with various kiosks/stores inside have a queue outside the store and queues at each kiosk in order to limit the number of people within six feet of each other.

There are still character interactions happening at each park. Though you cannot physically touch or get close to any characters you can still take pictures with them and talk to and interact with them at a six foot distance.

There are no parades in the parks right now, but they do have little mini parades called cavalcades at every park. The cast members, however will not tell you when they will come through or how often. They happen often enough that you are sure to see one or two at each park in a day. If you want to see some examples of those in real time you can click the links below.

There are still ample opportunities to get photos taken all over the parks. In fact, I think the photographers took more time with us this trip than they ever have in the past. The draw back is that you have to keep your mask on for the pictures. But hey, that is part of the memories too.

COVID 19 Disney World Trip

We took a 10 day trip to Disney World and here is what we noticed.

The Parks are opening earlier than posted times. We entered all the parks earlier than posted on two separate occasions in each park.

All of the parks have shortened operating hours. That being said, I did not feel like I was spending less time in the parks or that I wasn't getting enough time at the parks. On a normal Disney visit we would get to the park right at opening. Early afternoon we would head back to the hotel and rest and take a nap. Then we would head back to the park in time for the parade. Right now we just get to the parks when it opens and stay until it closes. After that we head back to the hotel and eat dinner and swim and just relax in general.

Disney is being very cautious about COVID-19 and it made me feel safer.

A temperature check is required before entrance to every park. The temperature check stations are located before the security screening at all entrances to the parks. It is very non-invasive and very quick.

Security check at most of the parks is fast and easy. Right now they are asking that you take out any umbrellas and sometimes they ask for cell phones also. You can leave back packs on and just walk through a scanner. It was so much better than having people rummaging through my bag. The exception to this is Magic Kingdom. They ask you to take any metal out of your bags and then you walk through a metal detector. So not as great.

They have place markers in every queue.

There is also space between queues where possible.

Disney has placed sanitizer before each cue in each queue and after the ride at every attraction.

Masks are mandated everywhere. The only times you can take a mask off are at the relaxation stations and eating when stationary. There are also washing stations throughout the parks.

They have also opened the flap doors on all of the garbage cans so you don't have to touch the germs dirty lids to throw things away. Hopefully that will remain once COVID-19 is over.

All buildings have designated entrance and exit doors to keep people from getting too close to each other.

All over the parks right now there are signs posted reminding everyone about safety guidelines for COVID-19

and every 20 minutes or so PA announcements will come on over the speakers reminding everyone to keep their masks on and wash hands frequently as well as staying apart and covering mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing.

Buses have barriers and assigned seats. If you are staying at a resort then buses are one of the ways to get to and from the parks. Right now the buses are running earlier than the posted schedule. Disney has placed barriers between every 3 or four seats.

The bus drivers are assigning parties to seats for that specific trip and are only taking one cart/wheel chair type device per trip.

The Skyliner is not a good way to get to the parks right now if you want to be there when the gates open.

Ride wait times at all of the parks are shorter than posted. At every park we went to almost without exception ride times were quite a bit shorter than posted times. Test track in EPCOT was posted at 55 minutes and it took us 25 minutes to get through the queue. Frozen was posted 30 minutes and took us 16. It was consistently like this throughout all of the parks.

Interactive elements closed or altered. In all of the parks Disney has temporarily shut down or altered all interactive elements of rides and attractions. All of the interactive elements on the Seven Dwarves Mine Cart ride are turned off and roped off to remind people not to touch them. At test track you can't design your own car. At animal kingdom kids can still do wilderness explorers badges, but they pick up their own badges and some of the sites for them are moved or changed for safety. At Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all of the shows are cancelled. In the theater where Beauty and the Beast is normally showing they have a band playing at certain times and on Rockin' Rollercoaster the studio scene is not playing for now. Pin Trading is happening, but there are some alterations.

Reservations being accepted for open restaurants, while others are only serving dinner like Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom. If you don't do reservations or planned your trip last minute don't worry. Some quick service also open at every park and have moved to mobile ordering for now. You can see how that works on my YouTube Channel outdoorgirlreviews.

No Fast Passes are being distributed. At this time there are no fast pass lines in any of the parks. Fast pass tickets are not being distributed. This did make for a bit less before hand and in the parks as we did not have to worry about getting fast passes. One perk is that we also got to see parts of many of the ride lines that we have not seen in the past.

Being a pass holder has its perks, but right now the perks are just a little bit better. Right now at the parks and resorts pass holders are getting an extra 30% off. 2020 merchandise is buy one get one free and some packaged candy and sweets are also on sale.

Mini Parades called Cavalcades and seeing characters. Although parades and character meet and greets are cancelled right now there are still ways to get pictures with characters and enjoy the magic of the parades. At various locations around the parks there are places to see and take pictures with characters at a safe distance.

Parades are a no go right now, but you can see small cavalcades in each of the parks. In Animal Kingdom you can see the characters come by in boats while music plays over the speakers. In EPCOT and Hollywood studios the Characters ride in cars or on small floats. In Magic Kingdom right now you can see small portions of the halloween parade as well. You can see some of the cavalcades that we saw HERE.

Our trip to Disney World was still magical and fun and relaxing for all of us despite all of the changes because of COVID-19.