Disney in the Time of Corona
Yes, I went to Walt Disney World even though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the US and countries around the world. Foolish? Most definitely. I welcome all the haters who would like to bash me and my sisters for our decision to hop aboard a plane, head to Florida (of all places), and enter the world of endless queues, mask-less turkey leg eaters, and all the indoor dining you could never want.
Our sisters trip was originally scheduled for May, as a celebration of Katie’s graduation from high school. Considering a trip to the grocery store was nearly illegal in May, we rescheduled. Things are not much better now, but we went, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health… and now we’re incubating, eating dinner separately from our parents, wearing masks in the house, and planning for tests early this week.
The trip was lots of fun, since the Orlando parks always deliver (we did Disney and Universal). The new Harry Potter roller coaster was so worth the wait that we rode it three times. We had some great dinners. Grandma came up for one meal, complete with groceries and long-awaited—albeit masked—hugs.
But everything felt a bit weird. We three were so aware of the global circumstances throwing shadows across our whole visit. We kept an eye on Georgia while eating at EPCOT’s China Pavilion and read about the Capitol coup while walking through Animal Kingdom. Circumstances did not at all ruin the trip for us (don’t worry, Da), but they did contribute to the understanding that this was not just another vacation.
To add to the world’s general sense of unease, none of the parks we visited was as strict about health and safety as they should have been or promised, but I will start with the plane rides.
Our flight in on JetBlue was only filled to 85% capacity, but it felt stifling. A girl across the aisle from us kept her mask off the entire time we were taxiing, and none of the flight attendants said anything if they noticed. We were happy to get off. Unfortunately, JetBlue picked the arbitrary date of January 4th to start filling planes all the way, so our returning flight was so full that people were forced to check carry-ons. The three of us wore two masks for each trip and the whole time were baffled that airlines could be resuming business-as-normal when things were clearly not business-as-normal. By far the most uncomfortable part of the trip. I filled out a survey today and told them so. Ha.
Disney was great about “mask police,” as we’ve been calling them. We caught many people being told to lift their masks back over their noes, put it on at all, etc. Of course, people always fall through the cracks. Disney made hand sanitizer very accessible, so we used it after each ride. Julia even found it to be moisturizing, so bonus points there. Also bonus points to the team that had to lay out the 6ft markers all around the parks, from the hotels, to the food stands, to the attraction lines—those guys are the true heroes. Disney did a good job of marking where we should stand on line, as well as moving lines that were usually inside to outside. The problem was in that many of the park-goers did not respect the extensive tape laying. Rules aren’t for everyone, I guess…
I do want to nick Disney for the crowds. It really did not seem like reduced capacity in Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom. Lines still reached 130 minute waits, and we often found ourselves weaving through blobs of people to get places. Take away the masks and it could have been 2019! Imagine that.
Universal’s crowds were better, but not great, especially in the Harry Potter parts of the park. Universal did have staff members waiting on every queue to pump hand sanitizer into each rider’s hands. We also used it after the rides. Lots of hand sanitizer. Like, so much. One older man was spotted shaking his off, was asked to reapply, got in a fight with the staff member about it, then threw up two middle fingers as the roller coaster pulled away. So it goes.
We weren’t expecting to feel super safe, and we didn’t, even though both parks took our temperatures each day. However, we still managed to have a really great time, understanding that if we respected the rules to the greatest possible extent, then that’s all we could do. Unfortunately, you cannot control the minds and actions of others.
We left our smiles to the imagination in pictures, and when we did take a mask-less photo—since I won’t pretend we didn’t—we kept extreme distance and used self-timers to avoid strangers touching our phones.
I am sure that looking back, it will be really interesting to tell people about Disney in the time of Corona. The most magical place on Earth was still pretty magical from behind a mask, and I am thankful for all those out there who took the parks’ precautions as seriously as we did. If you are thinking of going, I would say wait until you’re vaccinated, to give an added layer of comfort. We can’t always practice what we preach, people.
So we’ve been, we’re back, and we’re feeling fine. But you never know. Faith, trust, and pixie dust can’t solve everything.