Author: touringplans.com

The long awaited day has arrived! After waiting for months, the Walt Disney World Resort will once again make 2020 tickets and resort hotel bookings available beginning tomorrow. Guests will soon be able to purchase new tickets and plan future visits throughout this year with the Disney Park Pass system, which is being used to help manage attendance during this reopening period.

Do keep in mind that things will likely be busy tomorrow, if the last few releases have been any indication. For those looking to make their plans right away, please note that tickets and Disney Resort hotel bookings may be released at different times throughout the day tomorrow. In addition, virtual waiting rooms will be utilized as needed to manage the high volume of Guests looking to plan their visits.

All Guests with valid admission will be required to make a reservation in advance for each park entry. Guests will need to check the park reservation availability calendar before purchasing any new tickets and then go directly to the Disney Park Pass System after purchasing tickets to make your theme park reservations. Keep in mind that reservations will be limited and subject to availability.

Also, during this phased reopening, some tickets, ticket options and Disney Resort hotels will be unavailable, but there are still a variety of options to choose from. (For example, right now, the Park Hopper option is unavailable for purchase.)

2020 ticket sales and resort room bookings were paused so that the Walt Disney World Resort could focus on making sure that Guests who had already purchased tickets and those who are Annual Passholders, during these times of physical distancing, would be able to be properly managed first, before selling tickets and hotel rooms to additional Guests.

The Walt Disney World Resort officially opens for all Guests beginning on July 11 at the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom and July 15 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.

The post 2020 Walt Disney World Tickets and Resort Hotel Bookings Available Beginning Tomorrow appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: News, Walt Disney World (FL), tickets, walt disney world

Yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis extended a mandatory quarantine order for residents of the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area. According to the order, residents of those three states must immediately quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Florida.

Here’s the nesting doll of FL Executive Orders that cover this topic.

First, Executive Order 20-51, dated March 1, declares a public health emergency in the state of Florida. On March 9, Executive Order 20-52 designates a comprehensive emergency management plan.

The initial language on quarantine rules for people entering Florida from NY/NJ/CT appears in March 23rd’s Executive Order 20-80 and March 24th’s Executive Order 20-82, the latter of which states:

I hereby direct all persons who enter the State of Florida from an area with substantial community spread, to include the New York Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey and New York), to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days from the time of entry into the State of Florida or the duration of the person’s presence in the State of Florida, whichever is shorter. This Order shall not apply to persons employed by the airlines and those performing military, emergency or health response. This Order shall take effect immediately and apply retroactively to all persons who have entered Florida after being in any area with substantial community spread within the previous 14 days. All persons isolating or quarantining under this Section shall be responsible for all costs associated with their isolation or quarantine, including transportation, lodging, food, medical care and any other expenses to sustain the person during the period of isolation or quarantine.

Order 20-80 also states:

This Executive Order shall expire upon the expiration of Executive Order 20-
52, including any extensions. [emphasis mine]

(The means of executing Order 20-82 was detailed in Executive Order 20-86 on March 27, which set up roadway checkpoints and other modes of identifying travelers from the tri-state area.)

Executive Order 20-82 was set to expire at the end of the valid term of of Order 20-52, which was 60 days after March 9. This means that the initial term that covered NY/NJ/CT quarantining upon arrival in FL was supposed to end on May 7, 2020.

So far, this makes sense. In mid-March, New York was awash in Coronavirus, while Florida was a relative safe zone.

On April 29, Executive Order 20-112 specifically extended Orders 20-80 and 20-82 (the mandatory tri-state quarantine for) until July 7. This was further strengthened by May 8th’s, Executive Order 20-114 which continued the state of emergency established in Order 20-52 for an additional 60 days.

Again, at the time this made sense. New York was still a hot spot in late April, while Florida did not have as many active COVID cases.

Fast forward to July 7, when NY/NJ/CT case prevalence was largely under control and Florida’s cases were running rampant.

Despite the vast change in circumstances, on July 7 Executive Order 20-166 extended the FL state of emergency (originally outlined in Order 20-52 and extended by Order 20-114) by an additional 60 days, until September 5, 2020.

So, since the tri-state quarantine was ordered to remain in effect until Order 20-52 expired, this means that the rule remains, even though NY is now much safer than Florida. The penalty for non-compliance is, “punishable by imprisonment not to exceed 60 days, a fine not to exceed $500, or both.”

Complicating matters is a similar tri-state area quarantine mandate which applies to residents of now 19 states. Travelers from these states (AL, AR, AZ, CA, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, LA, MS, NC, NV, OK, SC, TN, TX, and UT) must quarantine for 14-days. Those violating the quarantine could face up to a $10,000 fine.

So, and we’re finally getting to the relevant part for Touring Plans readers. If you live in the NY/NJ/CT area, and are planning to visit Walt Disney World, you’ll have to quarantine for 14 days upon your arrival in Florida. Then, you’ll have to quarantine for 14 days upon your return home from Florida. So if you want to go to Disney World, you’re looking at a month of sitting around, plus your time on vacation.

I am NOT a lawyer, so forgive me if I’m misreading these orders. But, since the language above states, “I direct all persons who enter the State of Florida from an area with substantial community spread … to isolate or quarantine for 14 days,” this could mean that, while NY, NJ, and CT are singled out, it is possible the Florida quarantine rule would also apply to other areas with community spread – which is essentially the entire list of 19 states that New York is now requiring to quarantine. Meaning that, theoretically, someone coming to Walt Disney World from, say, Georgia, would also have to isolate upon arrival, though they would not currently have to isolate upon their return home.

Though enforcement is likely to be spotty, the letter of the law is indeed cumbersome. And, as always, all of this is subject to change at a moment’s notice.

With the uncertainty about quarantine requirements, has this changed your plans for a 2020 vacation to Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments.

The post Florida Quarantine Rule Remains in Effect appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), coronavirus, Covid, quarantine

With the recent opening of Magic Kingdom, it is fair to make comparisons to other theme parks to see how things are the same or different. Shortly after its reopening last month, my family and I visited the LEGOLAND resort. This park in Winter Haven, Florida, opened on June 1, several days before SeaWorld and Universal Orlando. As you read this, you will find out what cleaning, social distancing, dining, and changes to attractions LEGOLAND came up with. This post was drafted by my 9-year-old son and revised by my considerably older self. We arrived at the LEGOLAND Florida Resort on June 14, less than a two weeks after the resort opened to the public after its multi-month closure.

Stand Here

The first thing LEGOLAND has done is to put red brick stickers that say STAND HERE in every line. The red bricks are spaced out to keep people social-distanced. Each party should stand on a red brick. When the red brick in front of the party is open, the party should move up. In queues with switchbacks, the red bricks were staggered so that one group would not stand right next to another. Sadly, when we were at LEGOLAND not many people were standing on their red bricks. There was no enforcement to make them stand on a red brick. On the bright side, the red bricks helped a bit.

Mask Recommendation

The next thing LEGOLAND has done is recommend masks. Cute signs conveyed this message and that groups should distance from each other, but in this case “recommend” meant that very few guests wore masks. All the workers, however, were required to wear masks – even microphoned performers at the hotel. (On a related note, all guests had to pass a temperature screening before entering the park or hotel; hotel guests received a wristband and were thereafter not subject to subsequent checks at the hotel or park.)

Crowds

In the past we have been fortunate to visit LEGOLAND Florida on slow days; my general impression is that the park’s location in Winter Haven (a 30-minute drive after you leave Interstate 4) is a deterrent to most tourists. The crowds were similar to other times we had been to LEGOLAND – very low. Even though ride throughput was adjusted to keep parties apart, there was no wait for most rides. In the park’s many outdoor sections, it was easy to avoid other guests. The only places we felt near other people were in certain walled-in queues and at The Big Shop just after park closing.

Food and Drink

Most of the dining at LEGOLAND was closed. This has been true during other slow times we have visited the park, but this time it was even more restricted, with only a three or so venues where you could get an actual meal. (Rest assured that Granny’s Apple Fries and Firehouse Ice Cream were open, so we got our non-meal fix just fine.) There were lines at some venues, and guests made an effort to separate themselves from other groups. Counter-service venues in the park had plexiglass separating guests from employees, and only plastic payments were accepted (the plastic payment still had to be handed around the plexiglas). In addition, only The Big Shop near the park entrance and shops integrated into attraction exits were operational. The other major shopping venues in the center of the park were shuttered.

At the LEGOLAND hotels, breakfast is included in the room rate, so breakfast was served at both Bricks Family Restaurant and Shipwreck Restaurant. Bricks changed its self-serve buffet into sort of a school cafeteria-type of restaurant. There, guests walked the food line in socially distanced groups, pointing and food and requesting that a worker put the desired items on a tray. The tray was given to the guests at the end of the line. We were sad that no LEGO waffles were available, but the food was good. Getting beverages could be a bit chaotic; basically guests had to tell workers what they wanted from machines designed for self-service. Shipwreck Restaurant took a different approach, serving its food “family-style,” with the server bringing a large plate with everything (you can request more of any item), along with drinks.

Just like grocery stores that I’ve visited, LEGOLAND shut down its water fountains. Any location with a soda fountain (including staffed Coca-Cola Freestyle refill stations) would provide a small cup of water free of charge, but this was time consuming if you wanted to collect water for your whole family or to fill an entire personal water bottle.

Cleaning

LEGOLAND has implemented new cleaning processes, and that increased our waits in line on a few occasions. While one of the workers was cleaning a ride, we asked about the process. He said that rides are shut down every 30 minutes, when touchable surfaces are cleaned with a disinfectant that must be sprayed-on, allowed to work for 5 minutes, and then wiped off. At the LEGOLAND water park, rafts were cleaned after every use. In places with big bins of play bricks, some sort of spray-based sanitization happened at regular intervals.

At the LEGOLAND Hotel (which is expensive, even with a Passholder rate), the room was clean on check-in, but there was no housekeeping, so bathrooms were not cleaned, beds were not made, etc. (This is common in other hotels right now, too.) A bag of towels and other items was dropped off just inside our hotel room door each day, and other items could be requested by calling housekeeping. In the lobby, huge bins of bricks were available for play, and they were sanitized regularly. Children’s resort activities continued, but performers wore masks and did their activities (LEGO building classes, building competitions, stories, etc.) in more spread-out areas than usual.

Other Operational Notes

LEGOLAND did not have any major changes to attractions, but there were several noticeable differences to operations:

• LEGO bricks meant to keep kids entertained while in line were removed from queues, although the Indoor Imagination Zone and the LEGOLAND Hotel had plenty of bricks to play with.
• Hand sanitizer stations were at each attraction at at hotel elevators. Detailed hand-washing instructions were on restroom windows.
• All toddler play areas and playgrounds were closed, as was the baby care center.
• The 4D movie theater had areas blocked of for social distancing, with every third row in use and all aisle seats blocked off.
• Some rides naturally provided safe spacing, while others left a row or two between groups.
• The Great LEGO Race’s virtual reality goggles were removed.

Final Thoughts

Overall, things at LEGOLAND were mostly “normal”, and that was jarring for us. This was especially true walking around the hotel, where almost no one wore masks. While in the park, most of our time was spent in open-air environments, and waits were short enough that we were seldom around other groups for long. There were some situations (like exiting rides) where we got close to other groups, but that did not last long. Entering the attractions, the red squares remind people to stay in their groups, but we saw kids run right past these on a few occasions (people get excited when rushing toward a ride), plus it’s not like a family of six can fit on a single square. Workers were not proactively enforcing the use of the red squares, but I felt like groups were generally mindful of the personal space of others.

The only time that I felt uncomfortable from a health perspective was at The Big Shop (the main LEGOLAND Florida store) at park closing, which is undoubtedly its most popular time of day. The park limits the number of patrons in the store, but it’s literally an indoor big shop where folks can roam freely, and – as you’d expect in a theme park – lots of children were excitedly milling about. In contrast, I also visited Disney Springs during this trip, and nearly everyone was wearing a mask, both indoors and out. Although some folks will always disregard rules, requirement vs. recommendation makes a big difference in guest behavior.

LEGOLAND Florida is a fun park for families with pre-teen children. That has not changed, and my family’s trip was enjoyable. Although the experience has changed a bit, slightly lower wait times and less physical crowding made touring a bit better. This may not, however, be a sustainable way to operate: LEGOLAND Florida laid off workers last week, so its recent business did not justify the staffing levels the resort had when I visited. We like the park, and I am glad to have supported it in 2020.

 

The post LEGOLAND Florida in Pandemic Mode appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Beyond the Parks, coronavirus, COVID-19, Legoland Florida

To all who come to this happy place, welcome back! It is with an equal balance of elation and trepidation that the reopening of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has arrived. The world’s most attended theme park reopened yesterday for Cast Member and affinity previews. Capacity was limited and TouringPlan’s own Len Testa was on hand to experience the first day of Magic Kingdom in the new, temporary, reality. Let’s take a look at some of the measures in place and what it is actually like to be inside a Disney theme park as this new chapter begins.

The security checkpoint now offers individual clear plastic bags for guests to place loose objects into when going through the bag check and temperature check area. Temperatures checks are performed by employees of AdventHealth, one of Florida’s largest healthcare and hospital organizations.

Plenty of Disney characters are on hand to welcome you back, except they arrive in short cavalcade style experiences that are not announced ahead of time. This is in hopes of preventing crowding ahead of time. It is important for guests to be mindful of social distancing especially during these impromptu appearances as excitement can easily outweigh caution.

The queues for attractions have ground markings to help with physical distancing and hand sanitizing stations at the entrances and exits. In fact, all attractions, restaurants, and stores have sanitizing stations at the entrances and exits. The ride vehicles of many attractions, such as The Jungle Cruise, have plexiglass on them where practical. For many attractions, like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, guests are seated at every other row. Select seats are also marked off as unavailable at show-based attractions.

There are lots of precautions with dining, as well. Tables are marked as unavailable to allow for physical distancing. QR codes are used instead of traditional menus. At Liberty Tree Tavern the waiting area has benches that are spaced apart. Be Our Guest Restaurant had less space in the ordering area at certain moments, but overall spacing was kept.

Our field research team has visited Disney Springs and now Magic Kingdom, and they have some important tips.

• Bring a couple of masks, as you will sweat. (And it is Florida in the summer, so you will be caught in the rain.)
• Make sure you wash your hands any time you touch your mask, including putting it on and removing it. Keep this in mind if you chose to use the Relaxation Stations.
• Drink water and hydrate.
• Pay attention in queue lines and follow the ground markings.
• Use the hand sanitizer provided and wash your hands when you can.
• Have fun, take breaks, stay hydrated, and be diligent about your health and the safety of others.
• Most of all, have a magical time.

It is fascinating to compare Magic Kingdom’s first day of operation and its final day of operation back in March. You can view the photos of that day here. We’ll continue to have news and updates about Walt Disney World and other happenings in Orlando as we all continue to work through these ever-changing times.

The post PHOTOS: Welcome Back to the Magic Kingdom – We Separate Reality From Fantasy appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dos and Don’ts, Magic Kingdom, Trip Planning, disney covid, disney reopening, magic kingdom reopening

Today is the day that many have been waiting for! Guests who were looking to book dining and experience reservations for their Walt Disney World Resort vacation may now do so!

As a reminder, Guests will not be able to book 180 days in advance, like they previously could. Instead, Disney has now instituted a rule where Guests can only make these reservations up to 60 days in advance.

Here are some things to keep in mind, however, when making your reservations:

• In-Park Dining: Theme park guests will need valid park admission and a reservation for park entry through the new Disney Park Pass system, as well as a dining reservation for in-park, table-service restaurants for the same park on the same date. Keep in mind that dining reservations do not guarantee admission to the park.
• Disney Resort Hotel Dining: A confirmed reservation is required for day guests and reservations are highly recommended for guests staying overnight at a Disney Resort hotel.
• Disney Springs: Select locations at Disney Springs are currently accepting reservations.

Looking to make a dining or experience reservation? Here is what will be open in the parks and here is what is open at the resorts.

As another reminder, Walt Disney World is introducing a brand new way that Guests can check in for their dining reservations when it’s their time to dine. With the new Mobile Dine Check-In, Guests will be able to bypass the host podium and check in for reservations at select table-service restaurants on their own mobile devices through the My Disney Experience app. More details can be found here.

With the parks reopening officially here soon, stay tuned to the blog for the latest information!

The post Dining And Experience Reservations Open For Walt Disney World appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, News, Walt Disney World (FL), Advance Dining Reservation