Let's Visit During a Pandemic: A Basic Trip Report From Reopening Week

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If you are looking for a fancy, artfully crafted trip report with lots of photos and narrative, now is the time to move along.

This is a "down and dirty" trip report designed to share our experiences during Walt Disney World's reopening week.

Traveling Party: Me (48), Wife (50), Daughter (21), Son (19)
Arrival: July 11, 2020 via Southwest (BWI --> MCO)
Resort: Disney's Polynesian Studios & Bungalows (Studio)
Departure: July 17, 2020 via Southwest (MCO --> BWI)

I'll write a post for each experience: resort, attractions, transportation, dining, etc., as well as a daily summary for each day.

 

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Day One: BWI Departure and MCO Arrival

We stayed near BWI the night before our flight. We live in Central Pennsylvania. Although PIT is closer, Southwest's fares from BWI are much better than those from PIT. It takes about 45 minutes longer for us to get to BWI, but the trip avoids the traffic delays that typically occur on US-22 to Pittsburgh.

BWI has closed its long-term parking lots due to reduced passengers. It has lowered the price at the daily garage to match the extended lot pricing ($8 per day).

We had no issue finding a parking spot and making our way to the shuttle bus stop. A bus arrived within a few minutes.

Everyone was wearing masks, although social distancing was not enforced on the bus. All seats were available to riders.

Southwest's curbside check-in is closed, so we dragged our luggage into the terminal. There was no wait to check our bags. Again, everyone was wearing masks.

We were directed to a TSA line. The wait was less than 10 minutes. Social distancing markers were placed throughout the line. The only slowdown in our line was a family with two young kids. They had every toy, gadget, and gizmo with them. I think they used about 10 bins for all of their stuff.

The social distancing broke down waiting for the body scanner. There simply wasn't enough room to accommodate two lines filtering into this single file line. It was a pinch point.

We had about 45 minutes before boarding. After a trip to Auntie Anne's (yum), we parked ourselves in seats at the gate. There was plenty of seating. Most passengers were wearing masks. A few took them off to talk on the phone or eat.

SWA boarded in groups of 10. The gate attendant reminded us to avoid lining up. Everyone listened.

Seating is still open, but the middle seat (unless traveling with family) is left unoccupied. In other words, flight capacity is at 66.6%.

The flight to MCO was uneventful. The plane was very quiet. SWA served a snack mix bag and ice water. No other beverages were available.

Deplaning was rough. Despite the virus, people still crammed into the aisle in a mad dash to make it to a door that had yet to be opened. People.

MCO was practically deserted. It was very eerie. The only people on our train to the main terminal were those who were on our flight.

Next up: Disney's Magical Express

 

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Disney's Magical Express

Let's face it: DME is one of the most inconsistent parts of any visit to WDW. At times, it runs like a well-oiled machine. On most days, it's just OK. And we have all had times where you could time your wait using a calendar.

DME was using every-other queue line to keep social distancing. Lines were placed on the floor to help keep parties separated.

Our line was for the Polynesian, Grand Floridan, and Fort Wilderness. There was a large party in front of us. It was obvious they had been waiting for some time. One gentleman left the group to complain at the DME counter. He loudly announced, "This isn't very magical!" At least we had some entertainment.

After seeing three DME busses come and go, ours arrived about 25 minutes after we joined the line.

DME bus capacity is capped at 19 passengers. Each party was assigned seats, keeping two empty rows between each party.

After loading all 19 passengers, we were off. The Polynesian was the first stop. Yay!

The drive was unremarkable. The same happy promo videos play on the bus. I hope our fellow passengers knew that the promoted fireworks, parades, and experiences wouldn't be happening on their trip.

Next Stop: Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

Thank you for this report! Very interested to hear how things went- we are still planning to arrive for a week in August, and will be especially curious to hear how leaving from MCO goes. Our departure is through a small regional airport, so less nervous about that, but MCO can be a beast at times for security lines!

 

[iteachlit]

Thank you for this report! Very interested to hear how things went- we are still planning to arrive for a week in August, and will be especially curious to hear how leaving from MCO goes. Our departure is through a small regional airport, so less nervous about that, but MCO can be a beast at times for security lines!

Here's a quick preview:

MCO security line was very fast. In ride terms, it was a walk-on.

The airport itself has little or no social distancing markers. You are on your own to keep away from others. Many in the gate area took masks off even though they were not eating / drinking. We used four seats in a five seat bank. A group of four sat down behind us, each with masks off and turning and talking. We moved to avoid water droplets.

Monorails at MCO have to social distancing protocols. One that arrived at the main terminal was wall-to-wall people.

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

Here's a quick preview:

MCO security line was very fast. In ride terms, it was a walk-on.

The airport itself has little or no social distancing markers. You are on your own to keep away from others. Many in the gate area took masks off even though they were not eating / drinking. We used four seats in a five seat bank. A group of four sat down behind us, each with masks off and turning and talking. We moved to avoid water droplets.

Monorails at MCO have to social distancing protocols. One that arrived at the main terminal was wall-to-wall people.

Sounds like we will try to minimize our actual wait-time in the airport then, especially if security isn’t bottle-necking the process. Thanks for the info. Flying Delta, so hoping the waiting area might be enforced differently, but also not holding my breath. Not excited to hear about the monorail part.

 

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Day One: Polynesian Arrival

We received our room number while were were on DME. We had a standard view room in Pago Pago. It was on the first floor, facing a parking lot. The room number was 1110.

It was immediately obvious just how deserted the Poly was. There were no cars outside the entrance. We saw perhaps six people in the lobby. Bou-TIKI had just two customers. All of the kiosks were unmanned. Dining is limited to Cpt. Cook's, Kona Cafe, and the main pool bar.

The first thing we did was head to Cpt. Cook's to get lunch. The menu was pretty limited, with Asian noodle dishes, a burger, and a pulled pork sandwich the lone adult entrees. A few more items were offered on the children's menu. The men had burgers, the women noodles. The burgers were good, but not any better than a McDonald's quarter pounder. The women enjoyed the noodles, but found them a bit spicy.

Disney expects mobile ordering to be the norm, although there was a cashier available. In our experience, Cpt. Cook's never had a greeter. Guests were able to walk directly to the cashier. That was not the case in the parks.

All of the indoor tables were full -- although there were probably fewer than eight tables -- so we headed outside. The umbrella table kept us somewhat protected from the heat. It did not protect us from the ducks. They were hungry.

After lunch we headed to the room to drop off our bags.



This was the view looking to the right. Looking to the left we could see the parking lot and the monorail line. We didn't hear the ferry boat whistle, but we could hear TTC CMs making announcements to arriving guests.

After dropping our bags and enjoying a few minutes in the air conditioning, we headed to the Magic Kingdom to see what was going on.

 

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Day One: A Few Hours at the Magic Kingdom

It was a five-minute walk from our room to the monorail station. A queue was set up outside Moana Mercantile, likely to avoid traffic congestion as people enter and exit the monorail platform.

An Advent Health worker checked our temperatures before we went through the security checkpoint. We were the only ones in line at the time.

A monorail was already at the station. Disney is seating up to eight people in each car, with a maximum of two unrelated parties in each. Guests must sit.

Within a few minutes, we were on our way.

IIRC, three more guests boarded at the GF. We were able to see inside the NBA bubble after departing the station. There wasn't much to see.

After disembarking at the MK station, we headed down the ramp to find... a nearly empty main gate. I mean, there were more CMs there than guests. Easily.

We were able to head directly to the MB scanner and in we went. And here's what Main Street, USA looked like at approximately 4:30 PM on Saturday, July 11, 2020.



We were shocked by the lack of traffic. It turns out that this is the most people we would see at the MK that day.



Tomorrowland was even more of a ghost town.

We headed to Space Mountain, which had a 5 minute posted wait time. We walked through the (very long) queue and right onto a rocket to space.

Next, we headed to 7DMT, which had a 15 minute posted wait time. We were on a train within five minutes. Alright, how about the Haunted Mansion. MDE showed a 10 minute wait for this classic. We walked right through the entrance, the stretch room, and right onto a doom buggy with no wait.

Since we didn't need to eat after our late lunch, we though we would give BTMRR a try. It's my son't favorite ride at the MK. It had a posted wait time of 15 minutes. We were on a train in under 10 minutes, stopping only a few times through the snaking queue.

It had been a long day, so we decided to head back to the Poly before the MK closed. My wife and daughter popped into The Emporium and my son and I went to get a treat at the Confectionary. I also grabbed a popcorn from the cart by the train station.

We exited just under two hours after we arrived, having ridden four rides, three of which normally have longer wait times.

Will low crowds be the norm on this trip?

 

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Day Two: Animal Kingdom

We aren't the types to arrive at rope drop, so we didn't get up too early to head to AK.

There was a bus at the Polynesian stop when we reached it about 9:10 a.m.. We were seated in zone 6, which is the back row, just in front of the engine. The bus filled in a few minutes and we were on our way!

The temperature checks were just past the end of the bus station walkway. After a quick scan, we passed through the new security scanners. Security asked those with umbrellas to hold them in front of their torso as they entered. The new scanners are very fast; you don't have to slow down.

We headed directly to FoP. The wait time was 25 minutes, but we basically walked straight through until we reached the ramps that head to the different levels. We were through the queue and off the ride in around 30 minutes.

From there, we stopped by the river ride. It was a 25 minute wait, but the line had spilled into the sun. It was simply too hot to wait for that short ride in extreme heat.

We took the main path (Discovery Island) to the safari. I was shocked to see how few people were in Harambe.



The KS wait was posted at 15 minutes. We moved non-stop up until the bridge, just past the stroller parking area. From there, it was stop and go traffic for a few minutes. Total wait time until boarding was about five minutes.

It was very hot on the savanna, so we decided to take a break after exiting. We grabbed some water, fruit, and a pretzel from the Harambe Market. We were able to snag a table in the shade, which helped.

After a nice 20 minute snack and cool down, we took the path to Asia. My wife and son didn't want to ride Everest, so they waited for my daughter and me to ride. They waited about 15 minutes, tops.

We split into teams at this point. My wife and daughter went to Kali; my son and I headed to Dinosaur.

Dinosaur had a 5 minute posted wait. In reality, we didn't stop moving until we reached the Time Rover. It was a literal walk-on. When we returned to the platform, the CM told us we could ride again. All we had to do was unhook and reconnect our seatbelts. We passed on the offer. Not that we don't like Dinosaur; we just didn't feel like going around again.

We met the ladies at Restarauntosaurus about 15 minutes later. The CMs posted at the entrance were very adamant that guests had to use mobile order. I explained that I had Tables In Wonderland, so she let us enter to order from the one cashier. While we waited for the cashier. A manager stopped by to chat with us. She explained that she has been pleading with IT to add the TIW discounts to the mobile order app. I suggested that charging to the room would also be helpful. She agreed.

After getting our food, we had little trouble finding a seat. Unfortunately, a few minutes after we sat down, a guest who was part of a large party seated near us decided to get into a loud argument about COVID-19. He was yelling at his family members. The CM who was cleaning tables looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't muster the courage. We waited a few minutes, but the guy did not stop. We had to get up and move into the next dining room, the one with the camper.

Having seen our favorite attractions, we decided to head back to the Poly. Total time at AK was just over three hours, which included one hour of resting and eating.

 

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Day Two: A Meal at Whispering Canyon Cafe

We ended our second day with a 6:15 p.m. reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We took the monorail to MK, then a boat to WL. Much to our surprise, a boat pulled in just a few minutes after we arrived at the dock. It didn't take long to load, as capacity is limited.

We sat in the aft outdoor section. We were the only four back there. The trip to WL was pleasant. We saw two very empty ferries running between the MK and TTC.

The WL was very quiet. We saw a few people walking out of Roaring Fork and a few more sitting in the lobby. We stopped in the mercantile and checked out the neat WL merchandise.

We weren't called to WCC until around 6:25. It was very empty. The menu featured the normal skillets and a few other entrees. My son usually gets a milkshake, but those were not on the virtual menu. After he ordered a Sprite, we saw a different server walk by with a tray of milkshakes. When our server returned, my son ordered a strawberry shake. Refills are still free.

The food was good, but not worth the price, especially when your party can't even finish one skillet.

After dinner, we headed to Disney Springs. Yikes! More on that in an upcoming post.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading

 

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Day Three: Return to the Magic Kingdom

My son decided to stay back at the resort on the third day, at least in the morning. The rest of us ventured to the Magic Kingdom to ride a few things we missed or wanted to ride again.

After an uneventful monorail ride, we arrived at the MK just before 9:30 a.m..

First stop: Pirates of the Caribbean. The covered queue was in use and full. At one point, we were stopped for about five minutes. After that, the line moved quickly.

We were ready for Splash Mountain. I didn't check MDE since we were relatively close. When we got to Splash, the ride was down. It was down quite a bit while we were there. We did catch a Tinkerbell character cavalcade while checking out what was going on at Splash Mountain. Having ridden BTMRR on arrival day, we decided to skip it and went to ride Under the Sea because, well, it's cute and has air conditioning. Ahhhh.

After that, we decided to go the Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain.

When we arrived in Tomorrowland, we could see that the Space Mountain queue was not moving. Checked the MDE app and, yep, it was temporarily closed.

So, we headed to Buzz instead. We would have walked on, but the group in front of us decided to do a full photoshoot in from of the AA Buzz in the queue. Ugh.

The next stop was CoP. The wait was a bit longer than normal due to the cleaning procedures. That was perfectly fine with us. CoP worked fine, no spasms from any AAs.

By the time we exited CoP, the line for Space Mountain was gone. We walked to the loading platform switchbacks, only waiting about three minutes until we boarded our rocket.

After a quick restroom break, I checked MDE. Splash Mountain was operating once again. We did a mobile order for Pecos Bill.

I guessed when we would arrive at Pecos Bill, hitting the "I'm here, prepare my food" button before we actually arrived. I got the "food is ready" notification when we were 10 feet from the Pecos Bill entrance. Not bad!

When I picked up our order, we received two free strawberry lemonade slushies. The CM told me that Mickey told her to give them to us, but they were more than likely accidentally poured. There were three of us, so I think Mickey would have given us three. In any event, it was nice and those slushies were refreshing.

I ordered a rice bowl, similar to a Chipotle burrito bowl, but not as good. My wife and daughter ordered chicken and beef nachos respectively. Those looked really good. The ladies raved about the nachos. I will have to try them in September.

We took our time eating. The air conditioning felt so good. There were plenty of tables available, so we weren't keeping others from sitting.

After lunch, we rode Splash Mountain. Although the queue was outside, at least there is some shade in that area. It was about a 20 minute wait, not too bad.

We were back at the Poly by 1:30 p.m. to recharge, relax, and refresh.

In the next post, I'll detail our meal at Be Our Guest and discuss a visit to City Hall to take care of a ticket issue.

 

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Day Three: A Visit to City Hall and Dinner at Be Our Guest

The entire crew returned to the MK for our 6:15 dinner at Be Our Guest. We arrived around 5:30 because I needed to visit guest relations at City Hall.

The place was practically a ghost down. The only customers at the popcorn cart were two ducks.



City hall was nearly empty, with four of the five CMs twiddling their thumbs. Needless to say, we were welcomed immediately.

Our trip was originally planned for May. I had purchased two seven-day park hoppers from UT for our kids. My wife and I have APs. My question was simple: "Can I get a refund amounting to the difference between hoppers and non-hoppers?"

It turns out that the answer is "yes." I knew it was possible, but I didn't want to wait on hold to do it over the phone. I guessed that it would be easier to do inside a park, after the tickets had been activated.

The CM was great. He made one of the funniest comments I have ever heard. He went through about 10 steps, printing three different slips and then running them through an impact printer. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry that this is taking a while. Our systems aren't really made to give money BACK." That made me laugh.

In reality, it wasn't too bad of a process. It took him about ten minutes to complete the refund. We received a gift card for just over $180. That would pay for a big chunk of our meal.

The City Hall CM asked if we were enjoying our trip. We were. I commented about how empty it is. The CM said, "Believe it or not, we are near our max capacity today." He also said that what little crowds there are disappear in the afternoon and don't return, most likely due to the extreme heat.

On the way to Be Our Guest, I snapped this shot of my wife and daughter in front of the Partners statue. We did not have to wait to take this photo.



I also got a shot of the Castle paint-by-number scheme.



The evil stepsisters were on the balcony at the back side of the castle. They harassed my wife, asking her how she ended up with so many polka dots. Hahahaha!

We had to wait a bit to check in to Be Our Guest, but we were messaged that our table was ready exactly at 6:15.

This was our third or fourth time at Be Our Guest for dinner. It was bizarre to see it so empty. Other than the relative silence, everything else was "the norm." Excellent service, appearances by The Beast, and the best food on this trip. I had the filet; everyone else had scallops. My daughter, who just turned 21 in late April, tried a wind flight. I had a Stella. My son couldn't resist the chalice.








The dessert trio is still the standard end to the meal.



Here's Main Street 35 minutes before park close:



Wow! Not much going on there!

 

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Day Four: Something (Not So) Funny Happened on the Way to the Animal Kingdom.

My daughter had a research paper to work on, so she stayed behind for our return to Animal Kingdom.

My wife, son, and I boarded a bus at the Polynesian stop. We should have been the last group on the bus as all six zones were filled.

Perhaps I should take a moment to explain the bus zones. Each bus has six seating zones. Each zone is labeled by numbers. One party is to be seated in each zone. Zones 1 through 3 should enter through the front door, zones 4 through 6 through the rear. Zones are separated by dividers and different parties aren't to face each other. There is absolutely no standing.

We were assigned zone one, which means we were the last to board. Zone one has five seats: two behind the driver, three on the same side of the door. The three of us took the seats next to each other, leaving two vacant zone one seats across the aisle.

Because we were near the door, we could hear the driver talking to other guests.

Driver: "You can't bring that coffee on the bus. It doesn't have a lid."
Guest: "The didn't give me a lid."
Driver: "Oh, OK. Well, I will let you on. Take a seat in zone one."

We were absolutely flabbergasted. The driver put a different party directly across from us.

Worse, the female guest took her mask off to drink her coffee! At one point, she stretched her legs across the aisle, nearly kicking my wife's shins.

The driver wasn't done making mistakes. Unlike any other driver or monorail pilot on the trip, he talked the entire time, encouraging guests to whoop, holler, and sing the entire way to AK. Mask-less coffee lady? Yep. Singing and yelling the whole time.

After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at the AK bus depot.

Driver: "OK, folks, we are arriving at the Animal Kingdom. Before you enter the park, you'll have your temperature taken. That's when you will find out whether you are sick. Hahahaha. ... I'm sorry. That's a terrible joke. Hahahaha. Enjoy your day."

What. The. Heck?!? I recorded the bus number before exiting.

I spoke with my family. Both my wife and son were in shock. This driver didn't follow protocol, encouraged people to create droplets by yelling, and made a joke about the pandemic. I decided to report the driver.

I emailed guest relations later that day. I quickly got a canned response verifying that Disney had received my message and would get back to me as soon as possible.

The next morning (Wednesday, July 15) I received a personal reply. After a few paragraphs of COVID-related language at the start, Disney decided to offer me four one-day tickets which will expire five years.

I didn't expect anything in return. I only wanted to voice my concern. This was a generous offer which I gladly accepted.

The next morning, three transportation managers were at the Polynesian bus stop. The driver was sending everyone through the front door. One manager quickly stopped him and reviewed procedures with him. The driver opened the back door and properly loaded the rest of the bus.

I'm pretty sure that my concerns caused the increased supervision the following day.

I'll write about our brief time at AK in the next post.