Yesterday, we stepped inside Magic Kingdom for the first time since mid-March to attend a special Cast Member preview.
Magic Kingdom on cast member preview day, July 2020
We spent the day exploring and seeing how the park has changed now that so many new health and safety measures have been implemented. We checked out the modified entertainment offerings, rode some of our favorite attractions, and hit up some shops and restaurants ahead of the park’s official opening to the general public on July 11th.
Since yesterday’s event was a Cast Member preview, we didn’t have to scan our MagicBands or use Magic Kingdom’s fingerprint scanners for entry because we had special tickets. We’ve been curious about how Disney World would address this issue since fingerprint scanners are one of the most frequently touched surfaces at the parks. They’re stationed at the front entrance of every park and previously every guest needed to scan their fingerprint for entry.
MagicBand Scanner ©Disney
Today, the New York Times confirmed that Disney World will no longer be using fingerprint scanners. The parks will instead shift to touchless entry with guests only needing to scan their MagicBands or park tickets.
Magic Kingdom
Touchless park entry joins the ranks along with several other contactless systems Disney is strongly encouraging guests to adopt. These include Mobile Dine Check-In, Mobile Order at quick-service locations, Contactless Menus, and Online Check-In at hotels. Most of these new systems are done via your My Disney Experience app on your smartphone, so make sure you have that set up and have plenty of battery life for your day in the park!
Mobile Dine Check-In Feature
Many of these new systems may evolve or change over time and we’ll be sure to keep you posted — especially once the big grand reopening day arrives!
See what our first day back in Magic Kingdom was like here!
Disney Park Reopening Details and Info
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Click HERE To See FULL LISTS of the Rides, Attractions, Shopping, Entertainment, and Restaurants Opening in Disney World!
TUTORIAL: How To Use Disney World's NEW Park Pass Reservation System
ALL Disney World Reopening Procedures
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We’re Visiting ALL the Reopened Disney World Hotels and Have All the Need-to-Know Details
We’re LIVE in Disney World's Magic Kingdom For the FIRST Time Since the Closures
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We Got a FIRST LOOK at Disney World’s New Character Cavalcades and Entertainment!
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Will you be visiting Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Animal Kingdom this week? Let us know in the comments below!
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my wife and i are two bigtime Diz fans. we live in NYC and go there two sometimes 3 times a year. Obviously we love this place. However with the current restrictions of oppressive masks and social distancing we dont feel Diz worth going to just yet. We are planning a massive family and friends event next October. we cant wait. best wishes and stay safe
Being an ‘older’ Disney Fan, stockholder, usually an AP holder and Fort Wilderness inhabitant, all this change has put me off going to DisneyWorld anytime soon. Too much ‘technical hoops’ to jump through. It used to be simple, get a lodging reservation, get to Florida and settle in back home at Disney, and go to the Parks. Often we would go to guest services upon entering the park of the day and make a dinning reservation, then run to the fastness station and get a fastness for our first ride and eat and shop and maybe take in another ride while waiting for our fastness time to arrive. Now if your not fast on your computer or smartphone and months before arriving you are basically shut out of the food and the fun 🙁 We still managed to go with all that, but now, there is a whole lot more piled on top and no guarantee that after driving from NY to Florida we would be able to do anything worthwhile. Wish things were different, but it just sounds like Disney isn’t fun anymore.
Ummmmm… what is stopping someone from using another persons magic band to get into the parks???
Julia, no clarification on this yet.