What It’s Like to Visit WDW During a Pandemic

Life as we know it has changed over the past six months. A lot of places are closed, and the places that are open are open with safety modifications to keep guests and customers safe. Lucky for us Disney fans, we are able to visit Walt Disney World again. I did just that on opening day at Magic Kingdom, as well as Animal Kingdom and Epcot soon after. I have found that as an annual passholder, reservations to Hollywood studios can be hard to obtain, though.  So, many are wondering what it’s like to visit mid-pandemic, and I am here to shed light on any questions you may have.

Magic Kingdom

Opening day at Magic Kingdom was a pleasant surprise. I did not truly know what to expect, as part of me expected large crowds due to fans being deprived of our happy place for so long.  The other side of me expected to see hardly any crowds at all due to the fear of the pandemic. When I arrived, the parking lots were nearly empty, and the crowds were nearly non-existent. We were able to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Jungle Cruise, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain with no wait at all. We waited about ten minutes for Haunted Mansion.  Twenty minutes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and about 30 minutes for Splash Mountain.

Social distance markers were used in all queue lines and I felt safe the entire time that I was in line. Although the crowds did seem small, we did have a bit of an issue securing reservations for lunch, as we did not plan ahead for that. We were finally able to secure a reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern.  Aside from half of the tables being empty due to social distancing, everything was just as wonderful as it always has been. Overall, we were able to do a lot more on opening day that we would have been able to do on a pre-pandemic park day. Between all of the social distance guidelines and precautions being taken, the face coverings, and all of the enhanced sanitation processes, I felt totally safe during my entire visit.

Animal Kingdom

Approximately two weeks after visiting Magic Kingdom, I was able to make a short, three-hour visit to Animal Kingdom. Just like Magic Kindom, the crowds were low, the safety precautions were in full swing, and the ride queues were short. During our three hour visit, we were able to ride Kilimanjaro Safari, Na’Vi River Journey, and drumroll please…..we rode Flight of Passage FOUR TIMES in a one and a half-hour time frame! If you’ve never been able to secure a fast pass for Flight of Passage, now is your time to visit Animal Kingdom. Everything we rode had a wait time of 10 minutes or less. Unfortunately, though, we were unable to secure a dining reservation for the day and all table service dining options had a significant wait time. As more in-park dining locations open, I do not look for this to be as much of an issue.

Epcot

Lastly, we visited Epcot for the International Food and Wine Festival last week. As most of us know, Food and Wine time can mean a more crowded Epcot than usual. However, like my previous mid-pandemic park visits, crowd levels were low. We were able to walk on Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Living With The Land, and Journey Into Imagination with Figment. We waited approximately 25 minutes for Frozen Ever After and about 45 minutes for Test Track due to sanitizing the vehicles between riders. Social distancing was similar to the other parks as well both in ride queues and festival booth queues.

We were able to open and close Epcot on this day.  Along with the rides we were able to ride, we were able to enjoy the festival offerings from about 12 of the booths. The offerings for this year are as fabulous as ever, and we did notice more tables to relax and enjoy your food and drinks. One thing I especially appreciated, was the ability to relax and get out of the Florida Summer heat at the World Showplace Pavillion, which also had multiple festival booths inside. We spent a lot of time here enjoying the air conditioning and live entertainment.

Final Thoughts

If you are wondering if the magic is still at Walt Disney World given the circumstances, things are not the same, but there is still plenty of magic in the air. Although you cannot do traditional character photos and there are no parades or fireworks, there are still character appearances and plenty of fun new things to do. I am confident that anyone who visits will see all of the new safety precautions and feel completely comfortable during their visit. Walt Disney World is doing a great job, and if you enjoy low crowds and little to no wait times, now is your time to visit. I lam looking forward to a visit to Hollywood Studios in the near future!