Recent Changes at Walt Disney World

There have been a few changes lately at Walt Disney World that I thought that I would share with you. These are all based on my personal experience. Other things might have changed, but if I didn’t see it for myself, I’m not going to cover it.

The first change I noticed when I parked my car. At both Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot they were no longer staggering parking. This was one reopening change that I hoped that they would keep around. I liked having a space between cars, it made it easier to get out of the car when arriving. I have a small SUV, and at Epcot I ended up parking next to a large pickup truck. The woman in the passenger’s seat and I played that fun game of “who opens the door first?”. I think that it’s also safer to stagger parking, so I hope that Disney rethinks this one.

The second change is also outside of the parks. Temperature check is gone. This step was mostly unnecessary to begin with. I know people who had COVID-19 and never had a fever. As always, if you aren’t feeling well, please stay home.

Of course the biggest change is that face coverings are no longer required outdoors, in most circumstances. You need to wear them in a theater, even if the theater is outdoors like America Gardens. (I was told that in that theater you can take it off after seated, but I didn’t watch a show so I can’t confirm that.) Indoors, you wear them. You are also supposed to wear them while in line. It was hit or miss on what was meant by this part of the rule. The Cast Members outside of some attractions allowed people to keep them off until getting close to the ride. Others asked guests to wear them the entire time. You are still required to wear a mask on rides, even if it is an outdoor ride. I put mine on anytime I talked with a Cast Member. They still have to wear them, so I figured I’d do the same.

Disney had announced that there would be changes to the physical distancing markers, but I didn’t notice any. From what I saw, parties were still kept at least six feet apart. I do expect that to change soon, especially since lines are still being kept mostly outdoors, and we’re about to hit the busy summer season.

These are the things that I noticed are different over the past week or so. As always, please be respectful to Cast Members when you’re at Walt Disney World. I’ve heard some horror stories over the past week about people getting upset when they (the guests) were asked to follow the new guidelines.

And thank you for not adding anti-mask comments on Facebook and Instagram. Those will be deleted, but I haven’t done that often because you guys are the best.