Safety First - Our Initial Thoughts to Walt Disney World Reopening (Part 1)

We were fortunate enough to participate in the reopening of Walt Disney World this past week.  While we have lots to catch you up on with resorts, attractions, dining, shows, transportation, and more, we feel it's best to begin with safety around these items and give you first hand knowledge of the measures that have been implemented by Walt Disney World.

We flew from Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) to Orlando International Airport (MCO) on Southwest Airlines.  The RDU airport was not busy and they have made a few changes in regards to parking and security.  The only parking available at the airport is garage parking and it is $10 per day.  When going through security in Terminal 2 they were combining TSA Precheck and regular security lines while we were there.  If you are TSA Precheck you still go through the designated line, you will be given a card by the security officer and you will proceed to regular security.  You will go through just like the normal TSA Precheck lane once you give the card to the security officer in line.  The seating areas have been marked to allow for proper social distancing and when boarding the SWA flight, they limited each group to 10.  You must have a proper face covering that covers your mouth and nose to be allowed to board.  Once on the plane, they will not allow you to sit in the middle seat unless you are part of a group that is together.  They had one water and snack service.  Overall, SWA was professional as always and very consistent with enforcing their rules that are in place.  The passengers were all cordial and everyone seemed to be respectful of each others' space.  When we arrived at MCO, we experienced the same with full face coverings being worn and everyone practicing social distancing.​

Raleigh Durham Airport

Orlando Airport

Now we are off to Wilderness Lodge, more specifically Copper Creek to kick off our resort stay and park time!  Check in for your resort is done completely online through the My Disney Experience App and you will receive a text message when your room is ready.  If your room is not ready when you arrive, you can drop your luggage off at Bell Services and take off on your Disney adventure.  There are Hand Sanitizer stations at the entrance and in multiple places throughout the resort and parks.  While you are on property, you must wear an approved face covering. 

When it comes to transportation, Disney did a masterful job of providing social distancing while maintaining as much efficiency as possible to get you transported throughout the resort.  When riding buses, you line up on a marked spot that is distanced from others and when the bus arrives the driver will ask you how many people in your group and then he will give you a number.  This number corresponds to where you will sit on the bus.  They have installed partitions between numbers along with eliminating seats to keep you separated from other parties.  

Walt Disney World Transportation Bus Seating

Walt Disney World Transportation Bus Seating

Check out this new feature on some of the buses!

We were also excited to see USB ports on some of the buses.   Have you seen these on Walt Disney World buses previously?  This was a first for us.

​​This takes us to the end of Part 1.  In Part 2 we will talk about a few other modes of transportation that we took during the week along with.....wait for it.....THE PARKS!

If you are interested in booking a 2020 or 2021 trip to Walt Disney World, reach out to your Travel Professional today, call us at 833.RTR.TRAV or email us at Vacations@rtrtravel.com !!