This week has very literally been like being on a roller coaster! Up, down, dead end, go backwards, delighted squeals, panic, and a slightly funny tummy!
We started off with all of the good news and positivity of the Orlando attractions and theme parks getting back into action and starting to reopen. Of course we still don’t know if our trip will happen (US borders still closed, 14 day UK quarantine still in place blah blah blah), but the fact that all of the theme parks will be open on our date of travel filled us with delight. This MIGHT happen – we know it’s a big MIGHT but it’s not a definite ‘no’ due to the parks all being closed, because they will be open.
Our mid-week blog covered the fact that our 60 day window had opened for Fastpass booking, and we did this, fully in the knowledge that it might well be a practice run for a future visit, but anyhow, we got exactly what we wanted. Fastpasses for all the rides and attractions we had wanted, on the days we wanted and to fit in with our schedule, because we also go to Universal and water parks, Boggy Creek and Icon park etc etc. So lots to fit in, but our Fastpass selection worked as we had wanted it to leaving us our other days for other parks, attractions and days out. So far so good. So a good day – high as kites and giddy as kittens.
We are pretty chilled about Universal – they are opening early June and so we feel like they will have got things sussed by the end of July, and even if the parks are still running at less than 100% capacity, getting up early to ensure we get in is not a worry for us, and we are happy to do that. Often during rainy season you are better to get up and out before the afternoon storms hit, so an early start and then an exit mid-afternoon into a shopping mall or restaurant away from the rain/storms is a pretty decent plan anyway. So not a problem.
Following on from the announcements that WDW was reopening in mid-July, there was mention of a park booking system in order to limit capacity in the parks initially, to help with social distancing and to be able to control keeping everyone safe much better. A solid plan to be fair – no-one wants anyone to be in any danger, we all want to relax and enjoy things without worrying that there is someone practically breathing down our necks in a hot sweaty queue. It’s also good to know how seriously WDW and Universal etc are taking things, as the danger hasn’t gone away, it’s just lessening. So far so good. Still feeling at the top of a big drop!
I guess we had naively thought that if you had already booked a Fastpass for a particular park on a particular day, that might mean WDW assumed you wanted to be in that park on that day and somehow, that the My Disney App might allocate that accordingly as part of the new park booking system. However magic and fantastic that App is, we maybe overstretched it’s ability in this instance. In fact what actually happened was that within a couple of days of us booking our Fastpasses, and watching social media with everyone screaming about what was happening on the My Disney App, our Fastpass reservations all disappeared as everyone had said they would. Just – ping! – and they were gone. Strangely though our two ADR (advance dining reservations) remain booked – very odd! So now we’re careering down a crazy steep hill not know where it’s going – maybe it’s a dark roller coaster and we can’t see what’s happening, but it’s making our tummies churn and we don’t know what’s coming next – see, still picking up on this coaster up and down theme!
Eventually we laugh about this whole Fastpass thing – it’s happening to everyone, and we expected it, and in any case we were treating it as a practice run. You can’t make this stuff up, so again like a roller coaster, we’re scared but laughing, maybe our eyes are watering a bit and too, and we’re trying to enjoy the confusion. It’s all part of the thrill right?
Next up – information drips out from WDW and social media suggesting that anyone who has an existing ticket and reservation at a WDW property will get first chance to book their park days. So we’re on the up again, on top of the loop, looking at the views! It seems that the Fastpasses are cancelled because park capacity will be so limited that Fastpasses won’t be required because queues can’t and won’t be long due to the very limited crowds in the parks. So we all get to stay safe, keep distant, not have massive queues etc. Sounds promising. So now we’re at that part on Everest where you get to the bit where the track is broken and you’ve reached the dead end, or the bit in the Revenge of the Mummy where you’re trapped in that chamber with the scarab beetles and the only way out is backwards. We are at the dead end now booking system speaking. Basically we don’t know how it will work, we don’t know if we’ll be able to book the park days we want, we don’t know if our 14 day UK purchased pass will allow us enough visits into the WDW parks to match what we’ve paid for it (we never go in 14 days, but we do usually park hop and sometimes just go in for an evening if we’ve been somewhere else all day). So we’re wondering if we try to get – say 8 visits into the parks, two visits to each park – what happens if we are only successful in obtaining 4 park days in total, and we have purchase a full 14 day pass. Dilemmas all round. Until WDW actually release the information on how the booking system works and until we try and see what we can actually get, we are stuck at this dead end.
We watch the App and social media, and information is coming out bit by bit, but until we know we don’t know. No-one does. We’re still watching and waiting and not intending to cancel our trip, rather just wait and see if it gets cancelled for us. Of course if we can only reserve 4 visits to the parks then we absolutely will cancel as that’s a massive waste of a 14 day park hopper ticket. If we weren’t staying on WDW property I think we would be cancelling for sure – if everyone staying on WDW property and maybe Annual Pass Holders etc are getting first dibs on the park booking system and WDW are not accepting any new ticket or hotel reservations, if you’re staying off-site in a villa or hotel and are expecting to turn up and get into a WDW theme park, I think it would be very unlikely that you would get in.
This is clearly an ongoing situation, it’s changing daily, and WDW and Universal and everywhere else are having to take some tough measures and hard decisions in order to re-open safely. Maybe this year is not our year, maybe we’ll have to wait until next year until things get a bit more settled. It’s no-ones fault, not like anyone has contingency plans for a global seriously infections pandemic. Who could have predicted this?
For those of you specifically looking for facts, rather than our own personal story, here they are:-
Universal Studios Theme Parks
Reopening to the public on 5 June 2020
Capacity will be restricted and controlled (although they haven’t suggested a booking system so far)
Face masks will need to be worn by staff and the public
Hand washing and sanitising stations will be around the parks
More rigorous cleaning around parks and high touch/traffic areas
Volcano Bay water park is opening at the same time
Universal resort hotels are opening in phases
Temperature screening will be required for all staff and guests prior to park entry
Mobile/cashless ordering of food will be encouraged
Limited capacity in restaurants and cafes etc
WDW Theme parks
Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom will reopen on 11 July
Epcot and Hollywood Studios will reopen on 15 July
WDW resort hotels will start to reopen on 15 July
Reservations will be required to get into all theme parks to control crowds and park capacity
Face masks must be worn by staff and guests
Hand sanitising and washing stations will be available around the parks
Extra cleaning around parks and in high touch/traffic areas
There will no parades or fireworks or close character interactions
There will be no park-hopping
Mobile ordering for food will be encouraged
Temperature screening prior to park entry will be required for all guests and staff
Limited capacity in restaurants and cafes etc
There you have it – they are doing their best to re-open and keep everyone safe, guests and cast and crew. You can make what you will of it all – I know folks are disappointed, even angry, at not being able to go, or the restrictions in place or potentially not being able to do exactly what they want to on their holiday. We get it, it is a very difficult situation, and if we were making these serious decisions we would be terrified! How do you get it right, how do you keep everyone safe, how do you create/keep Disney Magic and Universal wonder with the revised restrictions in place? Not something we would like to be in charge of.
So, where were we, oh yes – at the dead end, where the track runs out, or the scarab beetles are crawling into our coaster vehicle, in the dark, at WDW’s or Universal’s mercy until they reveal the next bit of the ride (or plan in this case). On the bright side, these blogs are pretty much writing themselves, as there is so much information coming out of Orlando, and so so many changes on a day by day basis. We look forward to our vloggers in Orlando getting the information first hand, and visiting the parks prior to them being open to the general public, like they did when Disney Springs and City Walk re-opened. They’re our eyes and ears in Orlando, and they are doing a sterling job.
Who knows what next week’s blog will be about – this time next week we may know a bit more, or maybe we won’t – maybe the decision will have been made for us, maybe it won’t. This is definitely one of the wildest rides we have been on in a very long time!
See you all next week for the latest episode of “The Oh! Orlando’s trip summer 2020”. Stay safe good people.
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