Good Afternoon from Walt Disney World!
We’re reporting live from Walt Disney World, where it has already been a busy morning (although it’s basically midnight to us given how long we’ve been awake…assuming time still has any meaning). We started today with the modified character breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace, bookended by Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Tourist—err, attempting to book Disney Park Pass reservations.
That was followed by a morning stroll around Disney’s Riviera Resort before heading over to Disney’s BoardWalk Villas and checking into our room. As you can imagine, things are a bit different from when we were last here a few months ago. We can’t take the Skyliner to Epcot to stroll around World Showcase or Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Boarding Pass Dash.
We’ve already been back to Disney Springs a few times since that shopping and dining district reopened, so a lot of what we’ve experienced thus far here is familiar territory. At the same time, it just feels different. I’ve made clear that I’m not a huge fan of Disney’s Riviera Resort, but the atmosphere thus far is, in a word, better.
Disney Springs has become our local mall, where we went to see movies (back in the “normal times” when that was a thing) and where I’d go to buy socks. By mall standards, Disney Springs is very nice–but it still doesn’t exude the same charm and atmosphere as the resorts, especially the Crescent Lake ones.
To be sure, a lot is still very surreal about being at Walt Disney World right now. As with Disney Springs, there are visual reminders everywhere that we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic. Warning and liability disclaimer sandwich boards, ‘what to wear & how to wash’ signs, enter/exit info, and where to stand markers.
After seeing all of that several times, it’s mostly just white noise that our brains filter out at this point. (I’ve compared it elsewhere to California’s Proposition 65 warnings. That pretty much everything in the state may cause cancer freaks out visitors, but locals don’t even notice the signs anymore.
The bigger thing is seeing everyone in masks, which will take more getting used to.
Right now, Cast Members outnumber guests by around a 20 to 1 ratio (that’s not even remotely an exaggeration–maybe it’ll pick up more later today). All of them are wearing masks, many are waving giant Mickey Mouse gloves, and everyone is eager to welcome guests home.
Already today, I’ve had more in-person interactions with people not named “Sarah” than I have in total over the course of the last three-plus months. I’m normally fairly introverted, but talking to Cast Members has honestly been pretty great.
There is a palpable energy, and a lot of Cast Members are clearly happy to be back. I wasn’t quite sure whether that’d be the case, but it is with everyone we’ve encountered. Cast Members are incredibly high-energy, and their enthusiasm is contagio–uh, their joy rubs off on you.
As for other guests…we can’t really speak to that. Between Disney’s Riviera Resort and BoardWalk Inn, we’ve seen a totally of maybe one dozen other parties. Probably fewer than that. Disney’s Magical Express buses are out and about, and it’s still early, so I’m assuming more guests are en route.
I’m cognizant of the fact that this is a very optimistic tone to strike on the same day that Disney Park Pass went live to predictably catastrophic results. However, that was easily foreseeable by pretty much everyone who has any experience with Walt Disney World release day. My bar is so low with Disney IT that I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t eat away our entire day.
This isn’t to diminish your frustrations if you haven’t gotten through to make Disney Park Pass reservations. We feel for you. (Seriously–we’ve been in your shoes many times and it remains mind-boggling that Walt Disney World’s IT infrastructure still is this bad.) Take solace in knowing that the vast majority of dates are not going to run out of availability any time soon (if ever) and things will probably/hopefully be much smoother by tonight.
With that said, as cheesy as it might sound, there is a certain magic about being back at Walt Disney World, even if it’s just the resorts.
We’ve been grinning ear to ear all morning (not that anyone can tell!), and this has already been way more fun and satisfying than I anticipated.
It’s probably fair to say that pretty much everyone is in need of a vacation. After the last few months of only leaving the house for groceries and a handful of other occasions, this has already been fantastic.
Walt Disney World offers something uniquely reassuring and nostalgic. Even with some of the “illusion” blemished, it has already done us wonders to be back. This is the most relaxed and decompressed we’ve felt in months–like a weight has been lifted.
This is not to “pitch” you on booking a return trip to Walt Disney World as soon as possible. (It’s not like you can right now, anyway.) Our circumstances as locals and regulars are very different from once in a lifetime or infrequent visitors, and that’s worth reiterating. As we’ve said before, if this were our first/only trip to Walt Disney World, we would not be visiting in 2020.
It’s basically just to share how things are going thus far. We’ll have plenty more measured planning advice and commentary–this more more stream of conscious, heat of the moment excitement we wanted to share while we’re here.
To that end, let us know if you have any questions or want to see anything in particular from the Barefoot Bay Boarding Bailiwick (the “cool” name we gave the Riviera and Caribbean Beach Resort area that, shockingly, never caught on) or Crescent Lake Resort Area. Don’t expect real-time responses (same goes for the posts about Disney Park Pass–sorry!) but we’ll catch up later and incorporate answers into upcoming posts.
We plan on spending most of the day savoring our stay, making laps around Crescent Lake, eating sugary snacks, doing more laps to burn off said snacks, and taking photos. Our goal is 20,000 steps and 3,000 photos today to make up for lost time, so hopefully we can see and document quite a bit and return with a more thorough report in the next few days. If you’re at Walt Disney World today and happen to see us wandering, don’t be afraid to say hello–from a safe distance of more than six feet away, of course!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you have any questions about the resort experience at Walt Disney World right now? Anything you’d specifically like to see or know about Disney’s Riviera Resort or the Crescent Lake Resorts? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or are you waiting until 2021 or beyond? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Thanks much for the needed slice of hope, it’s good to at least live vicariously!! Coming July 8-13, DVC AKL Jambo, so I’m worried about what pools and restaurants will be available, especially on the day of my daughter’s 30th. We appreciate all of the updates! Have fun!
We were planning on a November 2020 trip from Oregon for two weeks. My husband doesn’t really do rides but enjoys the restaurants and shows. It takes us about o5 years to save up for this vacation is it worth it to go this November or wait until 2021? I always plan the trips when they have good deals so we can afford to do other things while in Florida
Woof. I’d wait.
A bummer! I plan a December visit and three of the adults never went! But if your husband doesn’t like rides, I’d wait until more shows, fireworks, character meals, etc. start back up. Did you ever go on YouTube and see what some of the rides are like though? Some are very slow and informative, like The Land, jungle cruise, safari ride, Imagination and more. They are NOT roller coasters or virtual reality rides that make some dizzy. Don’t rule out rides at Disney.
This was just fun to experience from my home in Rhode Island, thank you for this little slice of vacation life 🙂
I wish I could breathe with a mask on. As a lifetime allergy sufferer with a deviated septum, raised on a hog farm, my job was to grind grain into feed. I have tried every type of mask. It is slow suffocation. Once my nose closes up, it is mouth breathing from then on. The inside of the mask gets wet, and then the only air I get is forced in around the edges of the mask. Pull the mask off, and one can see the feed dust inside the mask, attached to the moisture from all the mouth breathing. You see for some of us, it is not political or conceit or not caring about others as to why we do not wish to wear masks anywhere, including Disney. We’ve pushed pack our trip to December, and since we are pulling the COVID-19 “band-aid” off slowly, we are prolonging the impact of the virus. Who knows how long this thing will drag out if we end up with more stay at home orders, waiting on a bunch of scientists who cannot agree with one another, to come up with a vaccine, when the human body can develop antibodies to combat illness on it’s own? I, on the inside, cannot wait to get back to Disney, but NOT with current policies in place. As DVC members we already have a considerable amount of money invested in Disney Vacations, and I prefer not to go if I am not getting what I originally paid for. That is not selfish, I do not need to be demonized. I will not go to Disney to suffocate in a mask. I just hope that Disney is on the ball with those of us who want the full experience and are willing to wait until such time that it is possible before we go. Something will have to be done about the points we would potentially lose if a member decides that they do not want to use their points if masks are required. It is academic that WDW cannot break even with only locals in the parks. Financial sense would dictate that they need to get back to capacity asap.
I’m sorry to hear about your health struggles, and they are certainly reason to not wear a mask. Curious though, have you tried a face shield? It might work and offer you and others some protection. Otherwise, your inability to wear a face covering is yet one more reason the rest of us should. Not unlike herd immunity, the many who are able can help mitigate risk for the few who are unable.
Can anyone get ahold of Disney? My tickets were linked incorrectly, but every number I try to call doesn’t even ring (just says call failed). I was told the only people who can help are technical support.
So, I started at 7am yesterday and took my phone to work and left it open, occasionally checking to see if space mountain was still on the screen as I waited for my turn to choose park passes. Every hour or so it kicked me out and I had to log back in, getting either the pink castle or space mountain. Low and behold, 7 hours later, while I was rooming a patient, I got through and was able to select my parks. Way easier than I expected it to be once I actually got in to do it. No complaints here, I was frustrated at the time, but I got my parks chosen and I’m excited for our trip in November.
Went right in around 5pm cst and made park reservations for December with no issues. Looks like fast pass but by park.
Tom
Nice article with good info. Fortunately for me our next resort stay is in Dec at AKL. Club level which is our annual splurge. Will be interesting to know how the Kilimanjaro Club will operate at that time given the open, grab the food yourself concept in the past.
Also, I have one question that might come up regarding the park pass system which is,
What will the process be if you exit a park that you have a pass for that day, are you able to re-enter that same park later in the day. Example. Animal Kingdom Park pass, eat lunch at Rainforest which requires you to exit the the park by 50 ft or so. After lunch, will you be able to re-enter the park.
Inquiring minds want to know. Hope you enjoy your stay this week.
Hi Russ – it’s been confirmed that you can enter, leave, and re-enter a park on your park pass throughout the day. Club Level will also not be available for the foreseeable, so you may want to confirm your AKL reservation details as you get closer.
Hi- we are planning a trip for Nov. Are the swimming pools open at the resorts? What restrictions do they have?
Your blog is the best and always a big part of our vacation planning. We’re booked to arrive on July 11th and this month of uncertainty has been so nerve racking! Woke up at 3:45am pst this morning to call to modify to a hotel that would be open…..only to sit on hold for an hour to be told the system wasn’t open to modifying yet and to check the app every 15-20 mins..this was before the system crash. Finally got through a 2nd time and modified to a new resort (okw) and got all the park reservations. Still not positive if we want to brave it and go… this post put a smile on my face, thank you.
In the past we’ve used your advice on best rooms at particular resorts, any advice on building # at okw?
I waited on 8pm to book everything for my July 24th trip. I had no wait time.
I wish they would have simply show your dates and let you select from a drop down. It would have made things easier and pushed people off the site quicker this morning.
Still no word from Disney on where we will be staying. We were supposed to stay at the French Quarter which is out favorite resort.
Hi Tom & Sarah! Thank you for this post, I needed a little magic today. I am curious about room amenities, is everything like shampoo and such back to the little bottles? I read somewhere that coffee makers would be pulled and glassware individually wrapped or something? Also wondering if they added anything new like little bottles of hand sanitizer? Thanks for any info you can share!
I would love to see pictures of the Yacht and Beach Club area and Swan and Dolphin please. I’m from Canada, so I don’t think I will be back soon but we usually visit in summer, so if we can’t be there a picture would be fantastic. I really miss Disney! Thank you:)
Mike
My wife and I are huge fans. We are going to Disney World the first week of September. Not sure what it will be like but we need to be there.
I must have been lucky on first day of Park Pass. I logged on at 9am and after a 10 minute wait I walked right through the process. 6 days worth of passes in 30 minutes.
Thank you for a first look.
I can’t tell you how good it is to read something full of joy and pure happiness. I felt the magic through the phone! Thank you for all your insight, sharing your wisdom and letting us tail along on the journey! Your site is my #1 go to for the latest Disney news.
Are you still thinking it will be August before we can add tickets for a 2020 visit? I have had a hotel reservation since last October but don’t have park tickets yet.
Thanks!!!
Kelli
Thanks Tom for your tip to get in for park reservations!! Using your links got me right in!
Tom,
We’re absolutely dying to know if the water parks will be open in the near future.. also, we have a week booked a beach club in Sept and can’t really get a clear answer on wether or not Stormalong bay will be open or not…..
No plans of going to WDW again this year, but I cried reading this. So good to see something happy.
Nothing has tested my love of Disney like the past 20 hours, so thank you for reminding me of how beautiful and happy Disney World can be.
We will go in August and enjoy ourselves no matter how different it is from the trip we imagined, hope for light crowds, be as careful as we can be, and pray we don’t get sick.