Betty Boop! Universal Orlando Resort is holding two days of Passholder Previews before the official reopening on June 5. My daughter and I went on the first day, and we had a fantastic time. Universal has gone above and beyond to make sure that people stay safe. It is up to the guests to follow the rules, which they were doing while we were there. At least they were following them most of the time. There were people cutting in line at the temperature check station, but that was the biggest problem that we experienced as far as other guests were concerned.
Didn’t work for us… The other problem that we had was that the Virtual Lines would not work for us. It’s supposed to be simple. You download the Universal Orlando Resort App, open Virtual Lines, pick a time, and then return at that time. The problem was that we got an error message every time we tried to pick a time, for each ride that we tried to grab a spot for. It wasn’t that the spots were gone, because I would close the app all the way and then open it again, and the times would still be there. When there were no times available, the app clearly said so. I don’t know if others had this problem, but we didn’t get into one Virtual Line all day.
This isn’t an empty line, it’s a line spaced for social distancing That was okay, though, because there were plenty of rides without Virtual Lines, and we had a packed full day. The standby lines were spaced so that we had six feet clear around us in all directions. It was kind of fun to move forward, because I felt like we were playing a game of Red Light/Green Light. There was a lot of peeking around corners to see if the group in front of us had moved. It made it almost as if we were in a mystery story. It was also nice to not have people crowded around us in line.
Empty seats on flight of the Hippogriff The rides themselves were also spaced for social distancing. A Team Member would give everyone hand sanitizer before each ride, and there were stations of it at many of the ride’s exits. I liked this. I have always carried a small container of hand sanitizer with me and used it when I got off of rides, so now I feel like I am a trendsetter.
Scooby-Doo and the gang I was surprised by the number of characters that were out. They all stood a good distance from the guests, and some of them wore face masks. Some characters were on stages, while others were in vehicles. Even though there were no up close encounters, they were posing with people for pictures. It was fun and safe.
Frozen Butterbeer We used Mobile Ordering for our Frozen Butterbeer. This worked better than the Virtual Lines did. I had never used Mobile Ordering before at Universal, and a Team Member walked me through it. Universal is encouraging touchless payments, and this is an easy way to order and pay without human contact.
U Rest Area Face coverings are required, and it really wasn’t a big deal. There were a couple of spots that they called U Rest Areas where you were allowed to remove it for a few minutes. People have been arguing about these on social media ever since, but I think that they are a good idea. They can allow you to take off the mask for a little while, but the areas are big enough so that there is plenty of space between people. There were Team Members at the entrance with counters, to make sure that the number was limited. I don’t think that we were within 50 feet of anyone else when we went in.
Outside of The Mummy I think that Universal Orlando Resort has done a great job to keep people safe. It was nice to be able to visit a theme park again. I have no doubt that Disney will do just as good a job once they reopen next month. It’s nice to know that we can be safe, but still enjoy the Theme Park Capital of the World.