Disney’s Reopening is a Work in Progress
In our opinion, Disney is doing everything they can to make the reopening as magical as possible. Everything at Disney’s reopening is a work in progress. A lot of policies and procedures have been put in place and now is the time to see if they are working. On our recent trip to the Magic Kingdom, we observed several policies and procedures that may need some tweaking in the weeks and months to come.
Ride Cleaning
At the Magic Kingdom cast members clean ride vehicles in between uses. We think this is great but the crowds were low at the passholder preview. We are not sure how this will translate when later phases of the reopening plan happen and crowd sizes increase. It was not that bad yesterday when we experienced it on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Splash Mountain. But we can see how that might not scale if the park was busier.
We do like that Disney is taking this precaution to keep everyone safe. But we feel like adopting a policy like Universal Studios has of having people use hand sanitizer right before they get on the ride could prevent cast members from having to clean the ride vehicles as often.
Snack Options are Limited
When we were walking around yesterday we noticed that a lot of snack carts and eateries were closed. We are not sure if it was just like that because it was the annual passholder event or if it will be different when the parks are open to the public. There were not a lot of places to get snacks, drinks, or a quick bite.
We noticed that the locations that are closed are small enclosed spaces and have low ceilings. Even if guests don’t actually go inside to get food and eat cast members have to be in there to serve them.
The snack carts and other food locations that are open can form longer lines due to guests just not having any other options. When we were at the Magic Kingdom it was difficult to find something as simple as a drink. We hope Disney can figure out how to provide more options to guests.
Open Air Kiosks Shops
At the Magic Kingdom, we also noticed that many of the open-air kiosk shop locations were closed as well. Our thought was that they might be doing that to prevent touching of merchandise.
Most of the shops were open when we were there. One of our favorite stops in Frontierland is the pin store, Frontier Trading Post. On this visit, it was closed. It is a small shop with a low ceiling so it makes sense why it was closed. We are curious to know how Disney is handling the popular activity pin trading. Our guess is that it’s off the table for now because of the close contact and the touching of pins.
Disney’s Reopening is a Work in Progress
Everything right now at Disney is a work in progress. They want everyone to have fun and be safe. I’m sure as time goes on and other phases of the reopening plan roll out policies and procedures will change.
