It’s pretty well known by now that Disney World has made a lot of changes in order to reopen in our current times.
And while some of these changes are a little disappointing (like, no fireworks and parades), others are actually pretty great.
This post is going to cover the four Disney World changes I hope stick around when we get back to “normal” and the four changes I want back the most.
What can stay
Elevated use of My Disney Experience
The My Disney Experience app has really taken Disney World vacations to another level since it was first introduced.
Before the shutdown, you were able to easily manage your FastPasses, dining reservations, and even check in to your room. You can read all about How to Use the My Disney Experience App here!
But these days, My Disney Experience has expanded.
Mobile Order is more readily available than it used to be. And Disney continues to roll out additional features to reduce necessary contact with Cast Members.
Of course, Cast Members are always available to help, but in the future, it would be nice if we had the option to use the app to streamline various parts of your trip and skip the need to wait for a person as much as possible.
A shorter dining reservation window
In the past, you could start to book your dining reservations 180 days prior to the start of your trip.
Under the new guidelines, that window has been cut down to 60 days.
It may have been nice to have your meals all locked up so far in advance. However, it can also be hard to know exactly where you’re going to want to eat in six months–especially if it’s your first trip to Disney World.
Not only that, speaking personally, I almost never end up booking a trip so far in advance to take advantage of that window, which means a lot of the more popular reservations are already taken.
Granted, 60 days maybe a little short when things get back to a more normalized schedule. This is especially true assuming FastPass returns.
60 days is the FastPass window for guests staying on Disney World property, so it might be a lot to have to make dining and FastPass reservations all at once.
However, a 90-120 day window seems to me like it would get us in a good zone.
The extra sanitation
There were germs and illness in Disney World long before Covid (though naturally, they weren’t nearly as life-threatening).
The current sanitation protocols are pretty critical at this point, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be appreciated going forward.
Right now, there are hand sanitizing stations throughout the parks and the rides are sanitized at regular intervals, just to name a few of Disney’s protection protocols.
Down the line, we shouldn’t need things to be cleaned quite as frequently. But it would be nice to still have those hand sanitizing stations available and for rides to be cleaned more regularly than they were in the past.
Character Cavalcades
With parades and character meet and greets suspended, Disney has started doing Character Cavalcades to maintain the characters’ presence in the parks.
The timing of these cavalcades is unannounced to prevent large crowds from gathering, but they happen regularly enough that it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge to catch one if you’re in the parks.
They prevent large crowds from gathering and keep Cast Members at a safe distance from guests.
But I also think they’d be a great new mainstay in the future. They allow guests who like characters but don’t want to give their time to a meet and greet, a chance to see them without losing hours of their day.
I also think it’s especially nice for Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, which don’t have regular parades like Magic Kingdom.
What can come back
Shows and Parades
These are such Disney World staples that I have no doubt they’ll be back! And I can’t wait until they are.
Personally, I love the shows and parades, and I’m using them as a part of my litmus test for when I’ll be returning to the parks.
FastPass and Dining Plan
Again, I can’t imagine either of these popular Disney World options won’t make their return, but I also can’t wait until they do.
Getting by without FastPass seems pretty manageable these days. The parks are at a reduced capacity. So there are literally fewer people to fight against for a spot in line.
Still, when all of those park passes are gone for a given day, wait times can be over an hour for more popular rides.
I can also appreciate that simply budgeting for food has it’s advantages. But I really love being able to prepay for the dining plan and have that bill out of the way ahead of time.
Complete park hopping
I’m not a big fan of park hopping, but it’s popular with a lot of people. And I do think it’s nice to have the option.
In the old days, you used to be able to hit up all four parks in one day if you wanted to.
But we’re getting closer to that!
When Disney first reopened, you needed to pick a single park, make a park reservation, and be committed to that park for the day.
This makes it easy for Disney to control crowd numbers for social distancing purposes.
As of January 1, 2021, a modified form of park hopping will be back!
However, there are some restrictions. At the time of writing this, those restrictions include only being able to hop to one park and no park hopping until after 2.
You’ll also still need to make a park reservation for the park you plan to start your day in.
For more details and the most up-to-date park hopping information, check out Disney’s website.
Be Our Guest Counter Service Lunch
Prior to the shutdown, Be Our Guest Restaurant in the Beast’s Castle at Magic Kingdom used to be a pricey table service dinner and an affordable counter service lunch.
You can’t get into the Beast’s Castle if you’re not eating there. So, lunch was always a great option for anyone who wanted to experience the castle without having to pay for the sit down meal.
It was also a pretty tasty lunch!
Disney simplified a lot of their menu options when they reopened, and this counter service lunch was replaced with a similar sit-down option to dinner.
This is one of the Disney World changes I’m the least sure we’ll see revert, but I really hope we do!
It was a pretty popular option. It was one of the few (and maybe even only) counter service meals that required a reservation.
As a result, I’m hopeful it’ll return, but we can’t say for sure.
For more Disney World tips and tricks, check out the other Disney World Posts!
Sound off: What Disney World changes are you a fan of? Which do you hate? Tell us about it in the comments!