Author: touringplans.com

Now that the Marketplace Co-op is open, and The Dress Shop along with it, we’re able to see some Disney dresses in person, that for a time were only available online. This bright and fun Disney flamingo halter dress is the perfect way to stand out from the rest of the flock.

The halter-style top is trimmed in dark pink. The pattern is a yellow base with pink flamingos in various poses, and summer touches like sunglasses. The flamingos resemble the ones from Fantasia 2000 which is reason enough for me to want this dress. There is a mouse hat detail on the back that adds another layer of fun.

It is priced at $128 and is available at shopDisney online.

Will you flock to Disney Springs or online for this dress?

The post You Want to Flock to Disney Springs for This Flamingo Dress appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Disney Springs, Merchandise, disney dress, disney flamingo, The Dress Shop

With the reopening of Universal Orlando, the two big questions we’ve been getting are “Is it safe?” and “Is it still a value?” Following a recent visit, both of those are a yes for me.

Full disclaimer: It is not the right time for everyone to visit theme parks, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer about when the right time is for people to take their next theme park vacation. Common sense should always come first. Erin Foster recently wrote a post about questions you should ask yourself before planning a 2020 Walt Disney World vacation. The same types of questions apply for Universal Orlando Resort.

For those who are going to visit:

• There are new rules and restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.
• Those rules and restrictions are enforced in the parks.
• If you don’t like, agree with, or want to follow those rules and restrictions, your best bet is to stay home.

Now, on with the show.

Safety

I felt very safe visiting Universal Orlando.  The new screening procedures were simple and fast.  In terms of wearing masks, I saw virtually 100% compliance throughout the day. And Universal seems to be going beyond the 6-foot distancing guidelines in many indoor queues.  Below is some of what you can expect to address safety concerns.

Health and safety requirements: These include requirements for masks, temperature screening when you enter the parks, frequent reminders of social distancing, and reminders for hand washing.  My temperature screening took less than 10 seconds.

Social distancing: Speaking of social distancing, there are graphics on the ground both to remind you to keep a 6-foot distance between parties and to show you where to stand to give appropriate distancing. What we found in reality is that the “stand here” markers were often located more than 6 feet apart in both indoor and outdoor queues.

For example, the “stand here” markers in Gringott’s seemed to be around 10 feet apart.  Here are other sample measurements we took:

An advantage of having fewer people in the queue is that the air conditioning was fantastic inside all the rides.

In addition, places where you’d be likely to stand next to another person, such as the Coke Freestyle machines, arcade games, and restroom sinks, had alternating units switched off.

 

Stores also used markers for social distancing as you waited to check out.

Social distancing recommendations even apply to the parking garage elevators.

Sanitizing: At places where there might be contact with items, like the Coke Freestyle machines, sanitizing wipes were available. You’re also required to sanitize your hands before getting on interactive rides like Men in Black.

One item to note–props that people can interact with for photo ops were not sanitized after each guest, and sanitizing wipes were not available.

At quick-service restaurants, you are requested to leave your trash on the table, so that it can be cleared and the area sanitized before someone else sits down.  We verified that Universal actually sanitized the tables and chairs, too.

Value

There’s never a solid answer to “Is this a good value?”, because every person has a different notion of what provides value. At Universal Orlando, parades and nighttime shows have been cancelled at this point. Play areas are also closed.

 

Truth told, are those deal-breaker activities for most Universal guests? A sizable amount of the people at the parks likely won’t notice their absence.

There are also some things that have been adjusted, such as character meet and greets now being done at a distance and reduced capacity on attractions.

 

That still leaves many of the headliner attractions operating, and between virtual queue and reduced in-park capacity, wait times may never have been lower for a weekend in summer.

With the exception of the Harry Potter area of the park, where its very design is created to emphasize feeling crowded, the remainder of Universal Orlando had plenty of room to spread out as you walked between attractions.

 

There’s still plenty to do. In fact, just counting open attractions, there’s more to do at Universal Orlando than total number of attractions operating at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT last fall. The larger question of value may come in based on personal comfort level. Although Universal has U-Rest locations where you can remove your mask for a breather, these areas aren’t all that shaded, and there’s nothing to actually do there, meaning you won’t stay there for long.

Aside from that, you’re wearing a mask out in the heat. Each person will be different, but some may find that a “day in the parks” may be shorter than in the past. Taking that midday break might be more of an essential than on other trips. Although this impacts total value, if you’re able to do more because of reduced crowds, it all balances out–and reduced crowds makes for a more pleasant experience overall.

Are you considering a trip to Universal Orlando in 2020? Let us know why or why not in the comments.

 

The post Universal Orlando: Feels Safe, Great Value appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Universal Orlando Resort, coronavirus

Universal Orlando Resort is open and we have enough wait time observations to update the Crowd Calendar.

Attendance is limited at each of the Universal parks, but the adjustments to operational capacity are keeping wait times up. The overall affect is a net reduction in crowd level of about 50%. What would normally be ‘7’s and ‘8’s in early June are now ‘3’s and ‘4’s.

So, we have crunched the numbers and made some adjustments. Here is a summary:

1. Crowd levels are down significantly
2. Updates cover dates between now and November 20, 2020
3. These updates assume that physical distancing practices will remain in effect
4. These updates assume park operations and attendance patterns will remain stable for the next few months

There are several things that might happen in the near future that require us to make further changes to the Universal Crowd Levels. We will be watching daily to see how the waits times look in each park. Whether or not you choose to visit the parks is a personal decision. You will have to wear a mask and keep your distance from other guests. However, if you do decide to go, it seems clear that wait times will be low. Very low.

The post Universal Orlando Crowd Calendar Update – June 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Crowd Calendar, Universal Orlando Resort

At TouringPlans, we’re obviously pro-theme park vacation and we’ve run many stories over the years about how to decide when to book your Disney vacation. Usually we ask you to consider things like your children’s school vacation weeks and the Crowd Calendar projections when deciding travel dates.

Now with COVID-19 as a factor in your trip planning, there are many more aspects to consider as you decide when, or if, you should visit Walt Disney World over the next year. Here are some things to think about:

• Am I willing to wear a mask? Disney has made it abundantly clear that guests entering the Disney theme parks will be required to wear a mask and keep it on. There will be some temporary relief zones and exceptions while dining, but otherwise you’ll need to wear a mask. We have been assured that this is non-negotiable. If you’re not okay with wearing a mask in the parks, you should likely postpone your trip.
• Do members of my party have medical issues? Just because the parks are reopening doesn’t mean the risks associated with Coronavirus have gone away. If your travel party includes family/friends with compromised immune systems, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or a number of other risk factors, you should probably stay home.
• Are there members of my family/friend circle at home who have medical issues? Even if they’re not traveling with you, if you have folks in your home life with medical issues, you may want to skip the trip to a high-density location like Disney World to avoid potentially bringing home germs.
• How old am I and the members of my traveling party? Even if everyone in your traveling party and home life is perfectly healthy, you still may want to skip the visit if these folks are age 65 or over. Age itself is a risk factor.
• Are any members of my party of the Grumpy persuasion? Many people have folks in their life who are just plain ornery. Take an honest look at your travel party. If you know in your heart that cranky Uncle Larry will balk at the temperature checks, sass the nice cast member who asks him to adjust his mask, and disregard distancing reminders, then you should probably postpone your trip or leave Larry at home. (Sorry, Larry.)
• How large is my traveling party? With social distancing measures in place, traveling parties can/should stick together and keep an appropriate distance from other parties. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with visiting WDW with a dozen family members, having a large group will make it difficult to keep away from others. Additionally, there may be limits on the number of people that can be seated together at a restaurant table, as well as limits on how many people can get reservations together for meals or attractions. A large group is almost always more difficult to manage, but even more so now.
• Where are you traveling from? If you’re visiting Florida from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, you may be subject to a quarantine period before you would be allowed out and about. We believe that the executive order which required folks arriving in Florida from the New York tri-state area expires on July 7, 2020, just ahead of the park reopening on July 11, but not ahead of the DVC resort reopening on June 22. (Though the wording on all this is murky at best.) So if you’re coming to Florida from the New York area, do your homework just prior to arrival. Quarantine measures are always subject to change. It might even happen that Florida institutes a mandatory quarantine for visitors from other states with virulent COVID outbreaks. These issues are compounded if you’re an international visitor. Other countries might institute prohibitions on travel to and from the United States. The moral of the story is that you should be as up to date as possible with legal issues related to travel during the pandemic.
• What’s the COVID situation in my home state? If you’re healthy, but traveling from a state that is the middle of a severe COVID outbreak, consider whether it might be challenging to get appropriate care at home if you were to acquire COVID while traveling. Would your home town hospital have an ICU bed available for you if you were to acquire COVID during vacation?
• Do I have strong feelings about which hotel I stay at? Given that the NBA and MLS seasons will now take place at Walt Disney World, those organizations will be quartered in several WDW hotels, making them unavailable to the public. The exact list of hotels is not yet public. Guests who had reservations at the commandeered hotels will certainly be accommodated elsewhere, so (assuming you have a reservation) you will have a place to stay–it just might not be your preferred venue. For most folks this will either be a non-event or a welcome upgrade, but some guests might have a particular attachment to a specific resort.
• Will my favorite attractions be unavailable? At least at first, many iconic Disney experiences will not happen. There will be no fireworks, parades, or character greetings, for example. If these are must-dos for you, you may want to wait to travel.
• Will my favorite restaurants be unavailable? As with attractions, some WDW visitors have intense feelings about their favorite restaurants. Not all dining establishments are going to be open. If this matters to you, perhaps rethink your trip.
• Am a strongly attached to the dining plan? The Disney Dining Plan will not exist when WDW reopens. (I assume this change is temporary, but you never know.) Some WDW guests rely on the DDP to keep their dining planning and budget in check. If not having the Dining Plan in place makes you uncomfortable, skip this trip.
• Am I strongly attached to the Park Hopper? During the initial phase of reopening, it is likely guests will only be allowed to visit one theme park per day. If you are strongly wedded to the idea of park hopping (visiting more than one of Disney’s theme parks in a single day), this could be a signal to wait to visit.
• Am I able to entertain myself during the evenings? This is a corollary of the Park Hopper question. Many guests choose to park hop because it gives them more options for things to do in the evenings. For example, they might tour the Magic Kingdom during the day, but have dinner and then drink around the world at Epcot in the evening. With no park hopping, this strategy will not be possible. The park hours will also be limited. Are you okay with having a trip with more downtime? Will you go stir crazy if you’re not constantly on the go? Will you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth if you can’t follow your usual schedule?
• How long is your trip? This is also related to Park Hopping. If your trip is only, say, three days, previously you could visit all four parks during that time period. This won’t be possible at the outset of reopening. Are you okay with skipping one or more parks? If you’re planning a long trip, are you okay with the possibility of Disney choosing which park you visit multiple times, if at all?
• Am I okay with uncertainty in the planning process? Disney planning right now is obviously a moving target. Procedures are changing. Rules are changing. There will be lots of glitches and making it up on the fly. If that makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you should consider postponing.
• What are the financial implications of this trip? It’s no secret that millions of Americans have been furloughed or fired, businesses have been shuttered, and the financial markets are volatile. It’s a rare family that hasn’t been impacted by the current economy. Yes, a vacation might be great for your mental health, but before embarking on your trip you should take a realistic look at your financial situation, the fiscal health of your employer, and the economy in general. Make sure that spending on a big-ticket vacation makes sense for you right now, or whether you should wait a bit to get more clarity on the real financial impact of the trip.
• Is this a once in a lifetime trip? If you are a frequent WDW guest, then these changes might be an interesting blip for you, but if your budget or constitution allow for only rare Disney touring, then this may not be the trip you want. Will you be happier if you can take in all that Disney has to offer, rather than being served a limited menu?

What are your thoughts about visiting WDW now? Are you having second thoughts or plowing ahead? Why? Are there other issues weighing on your decision? Let us know.

The post Should I Visit Walt Disney World in 2020? appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

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