Will Disney World’s Low Crowds Continue?
It’s no surprise that crowds are low at Walt Disney World right now. In Summer Is Not Peak Season at Walt Disney World, we’ve covered how this has been the “new off-season” for the last few years at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and especially Epcot. In this post, we’ll look at how things are now–and offer predictions as to whether Walt Disney World’s low crowds will continue this fall and Christmas.
At the beginning of this year, we predicted that Summer 2020 was likely to be one of the least-busy stretches of the year at Walt Disney World. This was despite Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway being open, and our expectation that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure would likewise debut prior to summer. That was also well before the prospect of the parks closing was even on our radar, which obviously changed things dramatically.
Shortly before the parks reopened, the big question was whether there’d be a surge in crowds due to pent-up demand and a spike in wait times due to rides operating at reduced capacity…or not. Here’s what we’ve observed thus far on numerous visits to all four of Walt Disney World’s theme parks in the last 2+ weeks since they reopened, plus what we expect in August, September, October, November, and December…
With regard to the above question, regular readers of this blog know that we’ve been firmly in the “or not” camp for a while. Back at the beginning of April, we published How Crowded Will Walt Disney World Be When It Reopens? That predicted crowds would drop at least 50% for the remainder of the year (even more for October), and that was as we made several best case scenario assumptions. As should be obvious by now, nothing about this has played out in manner that could be described as the “best case.”
In other words, low crowds and depressed attendance was easily foreseeable months in advance, albeit not to the extent we’re now seeing. There’s a lot of new information and circumstances have changed pretty significantly in the last couple of months, which will have ramifications for the remainder of 2020 (more on that below).
More recently (in the beginning of June), we predicted that after a brief period of pent-up demand was exhausted, organic demand would be low at Walt Disney World for the next few years. This is something we’ve covered in numerous posts, most notably our Dawn of a Temporary Disney Era: Low Crowds & Prices.
Our expectation that overall demand will plummet was (and is) predicated upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to health & safety concerns, Florida’s growing case numbers, various state quarantine rules (read this before booking), mandatory mask opposition, unemployment levels, economic uncertainty, high heat & humidity, general travel trepidation, and Annual Pass cancellations. On top of that, many guests feel that the value proposition simply isn’t there with shorter park hours, reduced entertainment, and more.
What’s a bit more inexplicable is how Walt Disney World is handling Park Pass reservations. If you’ve seen our AP updates, you’re no doubt aware that dates and parks have fully booked up for Annual Passholders, sometimes over a month in advance.
However, it’s important to reiterate that Disney is using three separate “buckets” for Park Pass inventory, and the ones for resort guests and theme park ticket holders have been green for the entirety of the calendar. So it’s more a matter of Walt Disney World artificially restricting AP access to the parks, and not fully reallocating unused resort and day guest availability to APs, rather than intense demand.
Walt Disney World’s reluctance in reallocating Park Pass inventory has been a point of frustration for Annual Passholders. While we’ve felt this ourselves, we also have to laud Disney in their cautiousness. After scathing headlines and unflattering social media commentary from reopening weekend, Walt Disney World is undoubtedly sensitive to negative PR right now. Restricting attendance probably is a savvy and safe course of action until Florida’s numbers subside.
The point of this is not to critique Disney Park Pass policies. We’ve done that enough elsewhere. It’s to point out that even though many dates in some parks are “fully booked” for Annual Passholders, that’s an artificial constraint that isn’t indicative of how busy the parks actually are. Conversely, even ‘opening up the floodgates’ to Annual Passholders would have a negligible impact on crowds outside of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is a different beast entirely.
Suffice to say, over the course of the last couple weeks, Walt Disney World has consistently been the least crowded we’ve ever experienced. Less busy than the 1990s when “times were different.” Less busy than at the peak of the Great Recession. Less busy than immediately before or after Hurricane Irma.
And while capacity is capped, this phenomenon is largely occurring due to a lack of demand, not due to limitations Walt Disney World is imposing on attendance.
You’ve no doubt seen photos by now that show how an eerily uncrowded Walt Disney World. As is probably clear, these are not flukes or Photoshop trickery–you could enter Magic Kingdom this afternoon and maybe see a dozen other guests on Main Street.
The same is true in various areas of every park. You could do bioluminescence angels on the ground in Pandora (not recommended), skip through Toy Story Land (toss-up), or have a lightsaber duel under the Millennium Falcon (highly recommended), without being stepped on, getting weird looks, or decapitating an innocent bystander, as the case may be.
This is mostly a byproduct of the low crowds, but the lack of virtual queues–which allow guests to effectively be in two places at once–also play a role.
It also seems that most guests are avoiding the scorching wide-open outdoor areas, and instead spending time in the comparative comfort of shops, restaurants, or attraction lines.
Speaking of lines, if you’ve been watching the My Disney Experience app, the low wait times you’ve seen should largely speak for themselves.
For readers who are normal and don’t stalk the My Disney Experience app from thousands of miles away (not that there’s anything wrong with that), these numbers have generally been low.
Even those generally low numbers could use added context. One thing to note with regard to wait times is that they’re inflated across the board at Walt Disney World right now. This is typically true, but maybe by about 10-15% on average.
Now, it’s not uncommon to see posted wait times that are double the actual number, if not more. Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster have been the biggest offenders in our anecdotal experiences.
The good news there is that the actual wait times at most attractions are easy to eyeball. Due to physical distancing, many lines spill outside their entrance if the wait is actually long. In addition, the lack of FastPass+ makes everything more predictable.
Rather than going by posted wait times, we’ve primarily just been looking at the queues wherever possible and jumping into line when the wait appears short. There’s a bit of a learning curve with this, but by your second or third day in the parks, you get the hang of it.
The vast majority of attractions we’ve done have been walk-ons or under 10 minute waits. This includes headliner attractions like Avatar Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash, Soarin, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and more.
The longest wait we’ve experienced thus far was for Jungle Cruise, and that was more a result of incredibly low capacity and boat cleaning than it was guest demand. (For unrelated reasons, we’d skip Jungle Cruise going forward.)
As we’ve ‘found our groove’ visiting the parks, we’ve done more late arrivals, arriving after midday and staying until park closing. We’ve already shared some of these in our various park reports, but want to reiterate how well this is going.
It’s very clear that most guests arrive around or shortly after park opening, get everything done relatively quickly due to the low crowds and relatively short waits, and leave by mid-afternoon due to that plus the oppressively hot and humid weather.
Consequently, by showing up in the last few hours the parks are open, you can do pretty much everything with wait times of under 15 minutes. In the last two hours Animal Kingdom is open, Flight of Passage wait times are so low that you can literally re-ride with zero wait.
The only park where this has not proven true for us is Epcot. Due to that park’s appeal among locals (and the fact that it’s open until 9 pm), it seems to be the primary ‘after work’ draw with larger crowds in the evening than the morning. Consequently, we’ve had to wait in line for ~15 minutes at Frozen Ever After and Test Track after 8 pm. Short waits by normal standards, but long by current ones. (At least Soarin’ and Living with the Land have been walk-ons at night.)
Another thing that’s worth noting here is that weekends are the “busiest” time to visit Walt Disney World. This is a trend that will undoubtedly be true throughout the remainder of 2020. This is the case because weekends are the best time for Floridians to visit, and they currently make up a larger than normal percentage of all guests.
We’ve visited on weekends a few times already, and the difference is noticeable. It’s still nothing that would qualify as busy or even moderately crowded by normal standards. If we were using a numerical scale, weekdays would be a .5 out of 10 and weekends would be 2/10 or 3/10 depending upon the park.
This might leave you wondering what this could mean for crowds in the coming months. Frankly, we don’t anticipate significant changes between now and December 2020.
Attendance will undoubtedly tick upwards, but we expect that to be driven by the lifting of Cast Member blockouts and more Park Pass availability being allocated to Annual Passholders. The big result of that will be a greater chasm between the low weekday crowds and higher (but still historically low) weekend numbers.
It’s doubtful that tourists will return to Walt Disney World in significant numbers for the remainder of 2020. As covered in the commentary section of yesterday’s Walt Disney World Delays Resort Reopening Timeline post, occupancy rates have actually been falling for the remainder of 2020–cancellations are outpacing new bookings.
This is not particularly surprising. Anecdotally, we’ve regularly heard from countless readers over the course of the last few weeks that Florida’s rising case numbers are giving them pause or have already caused them to cancel. Suffice to say, the real world circumstances in Florida are dramatically different now than they were when Walt Disney World announced its reopening plans in late May.
The silver lining there is that since peaking in mid-June, virtually all indicators have been trending in the right direction for Orange County (where Walt Disney World is located) for several weeks now. The county was ahead of the curve on masks and restricting bars after tracing several outbreaks to Orlando nightclubs. Universal and Disney have undoubtedly helped, setting a precedent for safety standards and habituating locals to effective mitigation measures.
However, Orange County is located within Florida, where things still do not look good on the whole. That’s what makes the headlines and shapes public opinion. We’ve been hoping Florida would do more to get those numbers trending in the right direction, but that has yet to happen. Perhaps as more major businesses require masks (and actually enforce the rules) or once the weather cools down and more Floridians get out of the air-conditioning the situation will improve.
Either way, time is running out and we’re nearing the point where the rest of the year is a lost cause for Walt Disney World from a tourist perspective. On average, Walt Disney World vacations are booked 5-6 months in advance. In order to salvage November and December, people would need to be booking trips right now. Between the news and the quarantine rules, that’s unlikely to be happening in any large numbers.
Even assuming more people than normal are willing to book last minute trips due to the fluidity and uncertainty of the times, Florida’s numbers probably need to trend downwards significantly by late August. Even if that does happen, we’re still looking at Walt Disney World’s least busy Christmas season in over a decade.
With that said, we do expect the holidays to be busier than now. November and December still have more vacation packages booked than September and October (although that’s not saying a ton) and many of those with trips booked who are on the fence will delay cancelling as long as possible. That could give Florida enough time to get its act together.
On top of that, Christmas is a very popular time for Walt Disney World fans. It’s also a time of year when the weather is more pleasant, making mask-wearing more comfortable and dining outdoors more practical. Add those factors to Disney’s glowing health safety reviews, and there’s likely to be an uptick. Still much lower than normal, but likely busier than right now.
September and October are different stories entirely. The weather is still uncomfortable then, schools are back in session, whatever pent-up demand exists among lower-tier APs will likely be exhausted, and Halloween has effectively been cancelled. September is always the slowest month of the year at Walt Disney World, and that’s likely to be especially pronounced this year.
In short, September 2020 will likely be the least busy month at Walt Disney World since the same month in 2001. We expect September to be so slow for Central Florida tourism that we’re genuinely concerned some non-Disney parks will shift to seasonal operating schedules, potentially closing on weekdays.
October is usually a different story, but so much of that is fueled by special events. By that, we mean not just Walt Disney World’s offerings, but also conventions and group events. None of that is happening this year. There are also questions about how (or if) school breaks will cause crowd spikes.
We doubt it, and instead expect October to resemble a slightly busier version of September. August will likely be somewhere in between, but that’s a bit of a wildcard with schools returning to session but also lower levels of Annual Passes and Cast Members starting to be unblocked.
Ultimately, a lot still remains to be seen. As we’ve stressed many times, we would not travel to Florida right now if we lived out of state, and we don’t recommend anyone else do so, either. Walt Disney World’s exceptional safety measures give new meaning to the “Disney bubble,” but the parks still don’t exist in a vacuum. You have to travel to get here, and are exposing yourself to higher risk scenarios along the way and during your visit.
However, a lot can change in only a short period of time–a lesson we’ve probably all learned dozens of times over recently. If the prospect of low crowds and short waits outweighs the currently compromised experience, your best option is to be as flexible as possible and able to book a trip on shorter notice than normal. If you’re on the fence, choose target travel dates for October or beyond and be ready to pounce if things start looking more promising. If they are not, cancel or don’t book. That’s really the best advice we can offer right now given the fluidity and uncertainty of everything.
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
Are you considering a trip later this year, or have Florida’s rising numbers (or other factors) already made that out of the question? When do you think the ideal time to visit this year will be? Expect more discounts or low crowds for the remainder of the year? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of crowds at WDW? 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!
Never thought I’d see actual photos from in front of the Millennium Falcon which had as few people as the publicity pictures Disney released as the ride opened.
It was that way for our trip last October. Awesome trip.
Have a 2 week trip for end of Sept – not reading this from Mass Gov Charlie Baker.
We cant come back from a 2 week vacation and spend another 2 weeks at home in quarantine. No idea about getting a test while on vacation – or if we even can get a test Anyone have any idea if it is possible?
Gov. Charlie Baker is throwing up roadblocks to interstate travel, signing into law a new mandate requiring nearly everyone who enters Massachusetts from Aug. 1 onward to quarantine for 14 days or face being fined $500 a day.
Visitors and returning residents, including college students coming back to campus, will have to fill out an online “Massachusetts Travel Form” and either quarantine for 14 days or submit a negative test result from no more than 72 hours before their arrival here – unless they’re coming from a select few states with low transmission and infection rates.
Hey Mike. Not sure if you’ll find this helpful but I’m from Maine and our Governor also has a mandatory quarantine rule for every state but NH and Vermont as they have the same transmission rates as us. What she is allowing though is if someone from Mass, New York etc come up they can quarantine for 72 hours and then get a COVID test. If it comes back negative they are good to be out and about and obviously if it comes back positive they need to stay in quarantine. This is also how my work is handling travel for vacations right now. Maybe Mass will be similar. I still have my whole family down there and plan on continuing to visit once a month so that’s what I have to do when I return to Maine.
Hi JB – I believe Maine has the same guidelines which is – show proof of a negative COVID-19 test conducted no longer than 72 hours before arrival.
Am I reading this correctly, you need to get a test while on vacation no longer than 72 hours before arriving back to your state. The same as Mass.
I have been reading many places simply won’t test people who admit they are not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or have not been in close contact with someone who is known to be infected.
So prior to even leaving on 2 week vacation, how can we even get confirmation that we can get tested while on vacation in Florida? Baffled by this rule and making it a challenge to get a test. Putting place this rule of getting a test prior to arrival back is unrealistic.
Also impacted by
The turn-around times for results also vary greatly, from 24 hours to as many as four days.
While health insurance typically covers COVID-19 testing, residents are finding that sometimes doesn’t apply if they are seeking one for vacation. Some places won’t quote a price, saying they will first try to bill the customer’s health insurance plan, and if that’s not successful, will then send a bill to the customer. Other testing sites post their fees, with each COVID-19 test costing about $160.
Gets better
Just called my health provider — Covid test is not covered and would have to pay out of pocket for the test.
Also called a test site per Gov Baker site locator — was told that test cost $350 and would right now takes 4 to 7 days for results. But my insurance would only charge us $200 per test due to their discount rates.
Great news —
So now we then need to quarantine coming back from a 2 week vacation until we get our test results. I guess that would have to be done if I were to follow Mass Gov Baker new travel restrictions.
But — by Gov baker travel restrictions we need to get a covid test while on vacation within 72 hours or our return — but we are not going to be able to get a negative test back if it takes 4 to 7 days for results — correct. Or am i missing something.
Now need to find a test site near Disney in Florida to see if i can get a test and how long to get test results
@ Mike. Ya that is tricky. I am not sure how the insurance stuff is playing in, but some of my co workers that have traveled to hot spot states are allowed to return to Maine and then quarantine and test after 72 hours. My co workers have had luck pushing with their doctors to get the COVID test done by explaining that their work requires a negative covid test upon returning and therefore their doctors have done it without push back. Typical test time I have seen for them are 24 to 72 hours to get the test back. We have on staff going out to California today, she will fly back in next week, and quarantine in Maine. She does not need to prove negative before she comes back and her doctor already knows she will need a covid test done since she needs that to return to work. In Maine it has been pretty easy overall to get tested. We have some drive up sites that do take up to 5 days to get results back, but seems like people have had a lot of luck going to their own doctor and explaining they need the COVID test to return to work with quick turnaround back for results.
We’re still on for our early October trip. We cancelled our April trip when the parks closed but cannot reschedule again so we will take our chances and vacation in the “bubble” as we’ve been wearing masks since March and still believe planes are safe. From leaving PHL airport, to arriving at MCO, masks are worn. Hand washing and social distancing is key. We will have a great time because we haven’t been to Orlando since 2012 and this is probably our last chance as we are Boomers without kids or grandchildren. We will relax and enjoy the magic of the parks, from Galaxy’s Edge, to the Tree of Life, to Pandora, to the World Showcase, to It’s a Small World. That’s what a Disney vacation is all about! We’re also going when locals aren’t coming to the parks in droves, and by then, they may all be in isolation anyway (learn from NYC, despite having a moron for a governor).
Steven, glad to hear some other folks aren’t cheekin like Carlos. There’s a lot new to see since 2012. I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic trip experience. Epcot is really, really torn up right now with a winding, convoluted path to/from front entrance and SSE. It was really bad in February. I recommend using the side entrance near France instead.
Be sure to hit Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge both in morning and at night for totally different experiences. Oga’s Cantina is amazing, as is the whole land for details. In Pandora, the Mo’ari Margarita is quite good.
I´m planning for May 2021 and I´m even worried about that!
Same. Rescheduling from this Nov to later April. Just want the full experience for the kids first trip, but I got a feeling even April is too soon.
Has anyone had any experience with young children and the mask requirement? We have a trip planned in Nov with our 2 year old. Though the experience is diminished I still think it would be very fun for her and I’m worried to postpone to 2021 due to crowds. My only concern is getting booted out of the park or harassed because I can’t get a 2 year old to consistently wear a mask. She will wear it for a while but full compliance is unrealistic.
A 2 year old won’t know anything about the parades and fireworks not being there. But you will still have the amazing experience of seeing her face light up hundreds of times a day at little details or surprises. And THAT’s the reason to take her. I’ve told people for years that would be one of the best reasons to have kids, just to take them to WDW! If she’s 2 and not way big for her age, I think you’ll be fine just doing the best you can on the mask.
We are going on August 18th for 4 days! Breakfast reservations in each park are nil and dinner reservations are so so! Any advice?
Haven’t been since ‘95 so really unsure of the counter service availability too!
We have tentatively rescheduled our cancelled June trip for the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving. We’re hoping things calm down a bit and there is still some holiday magic around the parks. I do worry about traveling that time of year and having someone get a cold and not being able to visit the park due to symptoms.
Wow Debbie, that’s a long time! You won’t recognize the parks, especially Animal Kingdom… So, so many changes since then that it will be like a first visit for you in many ways.
We never eat a sit-down breakfast, so I can’t help you out much there. We either eat in the room, grab a Disney pickle and a Coke or grab something quick. In a pinch and it’s my least favorite place in the entire universe, Starbucks has some hot sammiches that are good for breakfast. Be warned they often have no salt or pepper, so bring your own.
MK is weakest for food, although Skipper Canteen and Be Our Guest are good to experience at least once. Do lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, get the pot roast. The Plaza is really good for lunch too. Counter service, Casey’s Corner for hot dogs.
Epcot, just eat at the festival booths! Get different dishes so you can share and try many more things. DO get the SPAM hash, it’s the best festival dish by far, trust me. Tokyo Dining is good for sit-downs, but my favorite there is Biergarten.
HS, Prime Time Cafe is good for table service. For counter service, Woody’s Lunch Box and Ronto’s Roasters both have good stuff, and have mobile ordering for no waiting. Mobile order beers form Woody’s! Sometimes Fairfax Faire has good things seasonally, as does Minn and Bill’s by Echo Lake.
Animal Kingdom, table service at Yak N Yeti is great! So is their counter service outside. Get Mr Kamal’s Fires at the cart in Asia area. Haven’t tried Nomad Lounge yet. BBQ at Flame Tree is pretty good too, big portions.
Disney Springs has so, so many choices. Gotta see Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar no matter what. Raglan Road is great too.
Will the Wilderness Hotel open back up by mid November?? We have reservations!
We had for December and our travel agent had to put us elsewhere or Disney would assign us elsewhere without our choice or would cancel. The travel agent was able to book us in Polynesian! This was at same price as Wilderness for the transfer. Although I fear we might not be able to go, that is a high deal to turn down! See what you can do, but Wilderness Lodge closed.
We have reservations for mid November 2020 at The Wilderness Hotel! Do you think it will reopen by then??????
We had a trip planned for Nov/Dec and just cancelled it. With the Covid rate through the roof, no park hopping, limited dining options and reduced events with no reduced price, I just couldn’t justify the expense. I was looking forward to the reduced crowds but i am sitting this year out. The wife agrees.
Exact same situation for us. Are you eyeing any dates for next year? We’re hoping for late April but feeing like next fall (Oct/Nov 21) might be more likely for the Full experience.
The no park hopping thing is the worst for me in all of this. But we’re still gonna go!
Tom, with such low numbers in crowds and the cuts in entertainment and hours, why do you think Disney hasn’t offered discounts to those beyond Floridians? I am on the fence about December, hoping for changes by then but not expecting them.
Disney is backed into a corner here. After receiving so much negative PR due to the timing of reopening, it would be really bad optics to release aggressive general public discounts and “lure” tourists to a hotspot.
I think general public discounts will come…as soon as Florida isn’t making daily national headlines for its case numbers.
I think they should advertise to people in other hot spots. I’m from Myrtle Beach and I would love to drive to Disney for a couple days. But no way am I going to pay rack rates for a hotel room. Best deal so far is Swan for $130, they don’t seem to mind advertising. Universal is also offering discounts. It is so weird.
Well also you are getting less for the same amount of money you paid before not to many people are going to pay full
Price and get half of what they would normally get. We are pass holders and live very close. But we have not gone yet bc the weather and not walking around with a mask at least sea world you still get what you paid for. And the more and more people that come down here the numbers keep going higher and higher.
My husband and I are here now. We are blown away by the low numbers. We are from North Myrtle Beach. Disney feels very safe to us as masks are worn by everyone and thus far physically distancing from others has been easy. We have been pleasantly surprised. We were at the Boardwalk which was so quiet and unoccupied it really was strange. Not anything like previous experiences. We have also spent a few nights at the Gaylord Palms five minutes away, and they are also doing an amazing job with safety! Only 10% occupancy there the nights we stayed. Felt like we had the sprawling place to ourselves. We drove and didn’t fly which made us more comfortable. We’re happy to say we’ve been impressed with the safety and health measures put in place at both resorts and parks.
Curious what the state of the DVC rental market will be for now and for the next couple of years. I think people were severely burned on some rental companies’ policies. However, my family is planning a trip Nov 2021 and still wanting to utilize that, unless room discounts are so big that it makes sense to book straight with Disney.
Your comment sort of sums it up, I think. People will continue to take the risk, so long as there’s a significant discount…but that might not be the case once Disney releases the next wave of discounts.
I just canceled our Nov/Dec trip. I like that the attendance is low, but with a lot of the “Magical Extras “ cancelled, it seems like it would be too un-magical for the money. We like the rides, but those aren’t the reason we go. Maybe some other time.
I hear you, Tom! I see this situation from numerous angles. While I feel strongly that prices need to normalize, I fear that the Disney company will be vulnerable to restructuring, and massive cost reductions, as Disney+ cannot pick up the check for all of all the other struggling lines of business. It will be interesting, (and probably more than a little disappointing), to see what the 50th anniversary announcements bring.
We’re headed to WDW in September, so I hope you’re right about the crowd levels. We are a 6 hour drive away, which is just close enough to avoid having to stop for gas until we are on Disney property. If we had to fly or stop anywhere on the way down, we for sure would not go. I read that there is no indication of Covid outbreaks relative to the theme parks; I think I’ll feel safer there than my neighborhood where most people can’t be bothered to wear a mask.
This gets me even more excited for the upcoming September trip! I just hope Southwest doesn’t screw us on our flights or times. And maybe we’ll need to do a Christmas or NY trip this year…
I am a little concerned they won’t bother with the seasonal decorations though. That would suck, as the Fall and Christmas stuff really shines.
The big question is whether the pumpkin Mickeys will go up on Main Street without the Halloween Party. I think and hope they will–it’s a small way to signify a return to some degree of normalcy, and it shouldn’t cost too much to install them.
Lots of wildcards with what’ll happen in terms of Christmas decor and entertainment.
I would expect Christmas decorations to go up. Given that it’s mostly AP holders visitng now, and I would expect seasonal offerings, however small, to lure locals to the parks more frequently. I also think it’s notable that Disney did decorate the parks in 2001, which was another slow and strange time in the theme park universe.
Yeah, I think the bigger cost item is the castle lights. That’s a whole lot of effort and equipment.
I hope they decorate the parks! That would be so sad and depressing If they didn’t. We still have our November trip on the books. Can’t bring ourselves to cancel yet. It is the week before Thanskgiving so hoping for decorations. I am thinking of making dinner reservations at the hotels with the decorations we really want to we also to ensure we are allowed in–Grand Floridian, etc.
I’m curious about how Disney is approaching the ride management. Are they filling all of the ride vehicles to capacity or are they trying to attempt to social distance on ride vehicles?
Thanks,
Physical distancing is being done on the attractions. Sometimes that means a vehicle entirely to your party, other times it means empty rows, seats, etc. Depends on the attraction, but it’s pretty well done.
In June of 2019, we originally booked a May 2020 trip. That obviously got cancelled. We rebooked in September with free dining, then the free dining got yanked, but we got a nice room discount.
One thing this pandemic has taught us is we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. We have no idea what’s going to happen next. We’ve assessed the risks, the requirements, and the reduced offerings. We’ve now been waiting over a year to go on this trip. We’ve made the decision to go in September.
There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow! See you there in Sept Ted!
We have reservations but need to reschedule. We have a lot of little kids, so waiting for no masks required. Not really sure when we will want to go.
The shortened hours, cutting of shows & parades, (high prices that don’t reflect those cuts), as well as mask wearing during the Florida summer heat are all cons, obviously. But for my family, the unprecedented short wait times & emptiness of the parks is well worth it! We are from out of state, but are thinking seriously about coming last week of August.