Answering Coronavirus Questions about Disney Trips
With the announcement of the reopening of Disney Springs Shanghai Disneyland, park officials have given a strong indication about the future of theme parks.
During the pandemic, Disney parks won’t remain closed. Instead, they will operate while cast members enforce some safety measures.
I understand that many people have questions about what happens next. Today, I will address some of your Coronavirus concerns about Disney parks.
Which Disney Activities Will Reopen on May 20?
Okay, let’s start with the most disappointing answer. Don’t worry! It’ll get better from here.
Technically, no Disney activities will return on May 20. When Disney Springs reopens, the only businesses in operation are third-party enterprises.
In other words, you can’t shop at The Art of Disney or Marketplace Co-Op yet. Instead, your options are more along the lines of Wine Bar George.
MickeyBlog will update you whenever we learn of new restaurants and stores returning on May 20 and beyond.
However, all we can say for sure right now is that no Disney businesses are ready to return at Walt Disney World. The situation could change at literally any moment, though.
When Is the Best Time to Visit?
Let’s be realistic. Nobody will agree on this answer.
Photo Credit: @bioreconstruct on Twitter
Some people will want to visit at Rope Drop on the first date of Walt Disney World’s return. Others won’t return until a vaccine is available or herd immunity has kicked in.
I respect everyone’s opinion on this subject. I would never suggest someone to attend the parks OR stay away from them. People have free will to do what they believe is best.
What I will say is that at least one medical official has provided a thoughtful answer to this question.
She posits that the best time to visit the park is immediately after it opens. Her belief is that guests will follow Disney’s safety measures more carefully in the earliest days.
I understand this logic. As a society, we’re not known for our attention span. So, once the new normal kicks in, some of us will get a bit lazy about wearing masks or violating personal space.
Photo Credit: Deadline, Shanghai Disney Resort
For these reasons, visiting earlier does make a great deal of sense. In place of this strategy, waiting until daily infection numbers are low is another smart play.
There’s no right way or wrong way here. The only thing I’ll stress is that you’ll need a reservation at an official hotel to guarantee a park visit.
So, you should book via a trusted travel agency like MickeyTravels. These experts will keep you in the loop about how to guarantee a day at the park. Right now, it’s the only realistic way to do so.
Will I Notice Any Changes at the Airport?
I mean, yeah. The Atlantic published a piece this week that describes the harrowing parts of airline travel during a pandemic.
Photo Credit: Videvo.net
The gist is that it’s stressful. I know that you’re not surprised by this declaration. Weirdly, airports combine the vibe of a ghost town AND the Wild West.
You’ll walk a while without seeing someone. Then, if you do make eye contact with a person, you’re both immediately ready to draw from your holsters.
Photo: AP
People trust themselves to make good decisions. However, giving the benefit of the doubt to a stranger isn’t easy (or arguably smart) during a pandemic.
So, air travel is undeniably strange right now. How long will this feeling last? Nobody can say for sure.
Presuming that you fly to Disney, you’ll want to take precautions. During our most recent trip in late-January, we took hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes.
With these two items, you can wipe down every area you will touch and then kill any germs afterward.
As for touchscreen kiosks and airport security terminals, airport officials swear that they’re keeping these areas hygienic. I have no reason to doubt them.
Still, in the interest of transparency, I’ll acknowledge that my wife and I have discussed driving rather than flying to Orlando for our next trip at Halloween.
Google Maps indicates that we’ll have to drive nine and a half hours to reach the hotel. That’s a longer drive than I’ve done in a long time, but it’s still something we’re considering due to the pandemic.
Is Disney Transportation Safe?
I wrote in detail about this in a previous piece. The short answer is yes…with an asterisk. I worry about the combination of an airborne virus with an enclosed space.
So, I’m a bit hesitant about Disney buses and monorails. I’m still researching the Disney Skyliner, but it strikes me as substantially less risky, presuming that my family rides alone on the tram.
Boats don’t worry me in the least. And I won’t stress about Minnie Vans if everyone’s wearing a mask.
Your mileage can and will vary (dramatically) on this topic.
How Will Park Admission Work?
Okay, we know that the parks will require temperature checks and other new processes.
What’s currently undetermined is how Disney will modify its existing security measures.
Until recently, people have stored all their belongings in a tray. Then, you pass through the metal detector. Assuming you don’t trigger it, you move on to park admission.
At the entrance kiosks, you tap your Magic Band and then perform a fingerprint check, …which is a disturbing thought right now.
Disney officials won’t need to touch you to perform a temperature check. In fact, full-body scanners are available that can do this without any form of physical contact.
We won’t know until Shanghai Disneyland returns whether park officials will use the scanner.
However, I think it’s reasonable to assume that the holding trays at the metal detectors won’t work the same unless a cast member will wipe them down repeatedly.
Occasionally, Disney will ask a guest to go through a more detailed body scanner. That one is like the TSA scanners, which means it’s contactless. So, no change is needed there.
Beyond that, new pandemic systemic changes are difficult to predict. We know that some parts will work slightly differently. We just don’t know what yet.
Do you have any other questions or concerns? Please let us know in the comments, and I’ll try to address some of them in a future article.
Photo: Disney
Feature Photo Credit: Disneyland Park Disney/Rebecca Campbell
