COVID Vacation Diary: Disney Differences Part 1 - PARKS

You didn’t think a global pandemic would keep us away from Disney World, did you? Well, it did. For many, many months. We finally felt comfortable going and kept our plans for Spring Break – visiting the parks for seven days from April 4-10.

I have to say that Disney, both Cast Members, AND guests, did a fantastic job with mask-wearing. The resort and the Parks were the cleanest I’ve ever seen and there were hand sanitizer stations everywhere (they were full about 90% of the time). It is tough to stay six feet away from others when waiting in line – we did our best and tried not to worry about what other folks were (or weren’t) doing.

This post is about some of the most notable differences at Disney during this time – some things you may be aware of, and some things that surprised this veteran WDW family. Enjoy Part 1 - What's different at the Parks.

Bye-bye bag check – that’s right! You get your temp checked and walk through a metal detector, but unless you have a stroller or a wheelchair, there’s no bag check like there used to be. This was a welcome change as far as I’m concerned because those lines are eternal.

Forget your finger – you’ll just scan your Magic Band or park entry ticket, no need to scan a finger (or thumb) print when entering the Parks.

As a reminder, a reservation is required for each Park you want to enter. Park Hopping is back, in a limited way, starting at 2 pm each day.

Red light, green light – you can’t walk around eating and you can’t eat while waiting in line for a ride or attraction. This will add time to your day, so be prepared to have a seat while enjoying that Dole Whip.

Lines to enter shops and pavilions – if you’re used to waiting in line for rides and attractions, good because you’ll also need to wait in line to enter some shopping locations as well as the more popular pavilions in EPCOT. This happened to us in Galaxy’s Edge and Mexico…not ideal when you’re hot, tired, and hungry – but necessary to keep everyone distanced and safe.

No parades, but there ARE cavalcades - and I liked these so much better! It was a lot of fun to hear the background music change and 'turn up' a few times each day, catching your attention to see a mini-parade come through the Park. I hope Disney keeps these!

Check out this video of a character cavalcade we caught at Disney's Hollywood Studios one day as we were heading back to our car: https://youtu.be/nyHMgzjZjQs