A Handful Of Things That Passholders Noticed On Their Return To The Magic Kingdom
If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog then you no doubt know that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are officially opening tomorrow, July 11, 2020! You’ll also know that yesterday was Passholder Previews for both theme parks! With a slew of new health and safety measures implimented prior to opening, many of you may be wondering what it “feels like” to be at Disney in the COVID-19 area. Well yesterday ClickOrlando ran a piece looking at precisely just that!
The news network spoke to several guests yesterday who were among the first to experience Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom and here’s some of what they had to say!
SOCIAL DISTANCING PARKING
One things that surprised annual passholders right off the bat was that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom have applied social distancing to the parking areas! Cast members were guiding cars to park in every other parking spot to maintain the 6 feet apart rule from the moment you arrive. One passholder Giovanna Gorra told the news network, “I got here about 30 minutes after they opened and it was flawless.” She added, “They parked you really quick, there is social distancing with parking so they are parking every other spot which is really cool.”
SMALL CROWDS
During Disney World’s initial reopening phases, the theme parks will be limiting the amount of people that are allowed into the parks each day as part of the new Park Pass System. Passholders were surprised at how small the crowds were within the parks. Gorra explained, “I expected to leave at noon because it was going to be too hot and too crazy but honestly it’s been an unexpected surprise.”
SMALL LINES- NO WAIT TIMES
One of the perks of the smaller crowds was that it mean little to no wait times! Guests were reporting less than 30 minute waits for attractions that would normally be at 60+ minutes. Passholder Tori Kate Williams told ClickOrlando, ”Everything that we wanted to ride we rode before 1 p.m.” Tory Campbell from ClickOrlando also said that lines for Flight of Passge at Animal Kingdom were under 20 minutes! Campbell said. “It’s pretty much walking on with the social distance markers, so you are stopping at each marker which slows down the pace, but you just walk through the queue which keeps a steady flow the entire time.”
CAST MEMBERS WORKING HARD TO KEEP THINGS CLEAN
At Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Cast Members could be seen diligently working around the clock to make sure that attractions were cleaned regularly. Rick Buencamino noted that Cast Members were wiping down all the seats of the Kiliminjaro Safari ride. He noted that Disney also put up screens between the riders on the attraction noting, Over at Magic Kingdom Cast Members were also reporting that cast members were wearing face shields and hosing down attractions like Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride at regular intervals. Gorra said, “In between people they actually hose it down and they do all this stuff and send it up in the air for one rotation and then they bring it back.”
CHARACTER CAVALCADES
This is by far one of our favorite elements of Disney’s new way of doing things. Though character meet and greets have been temporarily suspended Disney has come up with a clever way of letting you know that the characters are still around! Spontaneous character cavalcades were happening throughout the day at Magic Kingdom. Many guests loved the randomness of it all. Williams said, “It’s fun to be walking to a ride and you stumble upon a cavalcade that doesn’t have a lot of people waiting.” She added, “They don’t have set times to when they go out, it’s all random. Which keeps the crowds from gathering and everyone staying a good distance away.”
MASKS ARE HOT
All guests ages 2 and older MUST have a face mask on. That means even in the sweltering Summer Orlando temperatures. For those need a bit of reprieve from the mask wearing, they do have relaxation stations throughout the park. However, passholders were quick to point out the discomfort of mask-wearing. Williams said, “It is definitely hot in the heat with a mask but they have designated areas where you can take off your mask and take a sit to cool off.” Se added. “I’m sweating and I have a fan and I’m shoving my fan in my mask trying to make the best of the situation,” Gorra added.
DISNEY MAGIC IS STILL THERE
Despite the changes, all of the annual passholders News 6 spoke with Thursday said the still felt the Disney Magic. Videos show as soon as guests walked in cast members lined Magic Kingdom’s famous Main Street to welcome them.
”The magic is 100% here. Honestly, I’m having like the best time because the cast members saying ‘Welcome home’ and ‘Welcome back’ or they saw me taking pictures and they were doing goofy faces and having fun, it’s just a happy place to be,” Gorra said. “Happiness is something I needed after these past few months being locked up in my house, so if I have to do it 6-plus-feet away from people I’m happy to do that.”