Despite the Covid restrictions right now, Disney is still so magical. Can I tell you a secret? I loved it even more this time around, shhh. Less crowds, more mobile orders, virtual queues, less wait times, spaced out in lines, and did I mention, lessss people?!
Reservations:
Although, Disney recently upped their capacity in the parks, it is still not operating at 100%. Once you purchased your tickets, grab a park reservation right away. Each park has a reservation requirement. You can’t just go to Disney on a whim or change your mind which park you want to go to, but if you plan ahead of time, it is an easy process.
Safety:
Disney is serious about their safety protocols. A few days after we left, Disney loosened their mask restrictions and no longer require wearing masks outside while walking around, but still in lines for a ride (even outdoor queues), on the actual ride, and indoors unless eating or drinking. Masks must be covering your nose and mouth. There are several signs throughout the park & cast members are not afraid to call you out. Lines have equally spaced markers for people to socially distance while waiting. If the queue wraps near another queue, plexiglass is placed for even more safety. Some rides have assigned seating like the carousel. A cast member will give you a number which is assigned to a seat. Our oldest daughter was bummed because she already picked our a “favorite” horse to ride on before knowing there were assigned seating. Even the monorail was marked with numbers & a cast member will tell you a number to follow. On the ride back to our car, we had an entire monorail car to ourselves! No butts in your faces or crammed with sweaty people. Be sure to check the safety protocols when you go as they may change.
Entertainment:
The theaters are also running on limited capacity with skipping rows and chairs per group. We went to Frozen Sing-A-Long 10 minutes before showtime, thinking no biggie, but we were denied entry; they already met their capacity. We came back for the next show 20 minutes early and we were the last people to enter. They literally squeezed us in. Despite having empty chairs next to us, they asked us to have our kids sit on our laps. When we attended the Disney Junior dance party, we made sure to get in the queue early. Usually, they cram as many people as they can for the show, but now each group stands on a circle placed on the floor socially distanced throughout the theatre. It was nice as we had room to dance around.
Virtual Queues:
Only 1 ride in Disney World requires a virtual queue. Rise Of The Resistance in Hollywood Studios virtual queue starts at 7 am on the dot. First, download the Disney World app, if you haven’t already. Once you have the park reservation, you will be able to join the queue on your Hollywood Studios day. I was on my phone at 6:55am, waiting for 7am lol Once it’s 7am, you can join the queue: don’t unselect anyone on your app, just keep hitting join, join, join. During the day, my app would let me know once it was getting closer to our time slot, 25 minutes, 15 minutes, and finally… ready, walk to the queue! This ride was absolutely worth it.
Mobile Ordering:
Quick service restaurants are mobile ordering only to limit crowds. As I mentioned in our Disney On A Budget blog, we did pack lunch, but we did also eat in the park. At Hollywood Studios, our favorite place was Ronto Roasters at Galaxy’s Edge. We both got the Ronto Wraps (highly recommend!) and to drink, I had the Tatoonie Sunset to and hubs had a Trandoshan Ale. We had to order our food using the Disney World app and could not enter the restaurant until our order was ready. I enjoyed using the mobile order in the app. It was a smooth process from ordering to notifying in the app that I was here. There were also plenty of tables available so we were able to enjoy our meal, a breeze, and a moment to relax. At Animal Kingdom, our favorite meal was at Satu’li Canteen in The World of Avatar. We both got the Cheeseburger Steamed Pods- Bao Buns. To drink, I had the Pandoran Sunrise and hubs got the high country ale. I also tried the Blueberry Cream Cheese mousse since it was Mother’s Day after all. At Magic Kingdom, we ate at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. Both my husband and I had a cheeseburger and fries. The kids had chicken fingers with mandarin oranges. This isn’t my favorite at Magic Kingdom, but after walking so many steps that hot day, that meal and AC were satisfying. Same mobile ordering rules apply here, as well. *there were restaurants available with reservations (Be Our Guest, Cinderella’s Royal Table), we just did not want to have a specific time when to eat like our previous time. We wanted this to be more “go with the flow” trip. We also had to use mobile ordering at Aloha Isle to get a Kakomora Float and Dole Whip.
Cavalcades:
Parades aren’t back yet, but Disney now has Cavalcades aka mini parades. They happen throughout the day and at random times. We were sitting down drinking coffee on Main Street then a cast member advised us that we needed to move because a cavalcade is coming. We saw another one in Adventureland, but it was the same characters we saw already. We never saw the princesses agh.
Did I miss anything?! Comment below if I did or if you have any questions.
rise of the resistance was amazing 
socially distanced lines- so nice not to have someone bumping into you 
Frozen sing-a-long 
Mother’s Day dessert 
one group per circle at Disney Junior Dance party 
we got a whole cart on the monorail to ourselves 
cuties ready for Disney 
mobile order for Pongu Pongu 
meal at Satu’li Canteen 
masks on the ride 
mobile order at Aloha Isle- gotta have the Dole Whip 
no character meet & greets- this is where Pooh & friends would be at 
we were the only ones on the People Mover tram 
love the less people 🙂 
meal at Ronto Roasters & packed lunch
MRSABBYS 
Disney World is always fun! Glad the girls had a blast! Let’s all go next time.