If you’re heading to Disney World this year, we’ve got some important tips to share!
Disney World
Whether you’re a first-time Disney-goer or a seasoned visitor, some recent changes around Disney World might change the way you choose to do things on your next vacation! Here are three tips that will make your Disney World trip easier right now!
1. Consider Using a Ride-Share Service
While Disney World transportation is still available to guests, there are some limitations you might not have considered before. First, not all of the modes of transportation are back up and running. For example, the Monorail is NOT currently running to EPCOT and the Friendship Boats have not resumed operations yet.
Friendship Boats Aren’t Operating
And the transportation that HAS restarted might take a bit longer than prior to the closure. Cast Members are monitoring the loading process of the Monorail, buses, ferry, and Skyliner to ensure that capacity remains limited to allow for social distancing.
Disney buses with zone seating and partitions
Between the limited offerings and potentially long waits, you might want to consider using a ride share service like Uber or Lyft on your vacation.
West Tram and Drop-off sign
Using a ride-share service could also be a good option if you’re worried about sharing transportation with other groups of guests!
Here was our experience using Disney transportation when the parks reopened!
2. Order Your Table Service Food To Go
Disney recently rolled out a new feature on the My Disney Experience app which allows guests to Mobile Order food from select table service locations TO GO!
Table Service To Go Screenshot
This service was JUST rolled out, so Sanaa in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is currently the only table service restaurant offering the Table Service To Go option. But, Disney did share that this service will soon be expanded to more resort restaurants!
Sanaa
While Disney hasn’t revealed a full list of restaurants they intend to add, they did share that the restaurants will include other select Disney Resort hotel table service locations! We recently tried the new Mobile Order Table Service To Go option at Sanaa, and being able to snag their awesome Bread Service to-go made our day!
Our Table Service To Go feast!
And while this service is only offered at one location right now, there’s ANOTHER new feature in My Disney Experience that can make snagging a table service meal more accessible. Disney also recently debuted the Mobile Dine Walk-up Waitlist, which allows guests to see which table service restaurants have walk-up availability for guests!
Mobile Dine Walk-up Waitlist screenshot
There are over 25 restaurants currently available on Mobile Dine Walk-Up Waitlist, including several in-park options! So if you’d like to see if you can snag a last-minute table, this service will make it WAY easier!
Click here to check out our experience using Mobile Order Table Service To Go!
3. Choose Your EPCOT Day Accordingly
Currently, all guests are required to get a Disney Park Pass reservation to enter a park. And since park hopping is temporarily suspended, you’ll only be able to visit one park per day.
EPCOT
With that in mind, you may want to think extra-hard about which day you want to visit EPCOT. Why EPCOT? Well, in our experience, EPCOT has been noticeably more crowded on the weekends, and the difference in crowds compared to the weekdays seems more pronounced than the other parks. But, there is one reason you might not want to automatically decide to opt for a weekday Disney Park Pass for EPCOT.
Line for the China Food & Wine Booth
We’ve noticed that several of the Food & Wine Festival booths including Islands of the Caribbean, The Alps, and Spain are regularly closed on the weekdays due to lower crowds. So, if one of these booths is home to a must-try Food & Wine item for you, you might actually want to brave the heavier weekend crowds at EPCOT.
Spain closed
With the ability to park hop in years past, you might not have needed to be quite as strategic when planning out your park days. But with these new factors in mind, make sure you consider what day(s) make the most sense for you to head to EPCOT on your next trip!
Ah 2020, the year of Disney World tips we never thought we’d have to share! Be sure to keep these things in mind on your next vacation to ensure you have the most magical vacation possible!
Here are five more brand new tips for traveling to Disney World!
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Do you think park hopping will open back up this year?
Jessica, we really don’t know what Disney’s timeline will look like for that. We’re watching for it every day and will update.
Great info! If you recommend Epcot for a weekday, which park DO you recommend for a weekend day?
Park hopping adds a considerable amount of expense and logistics support on the transportation system to work effectively for all concerned. Until park attendance increases significantly, I would not expect to see park or pool hopping returning for the foreseeable future possibly into 2022… it is anyone’s guess
Do you know if the food booths that are only open on the weekend, are in fact open on Fridays? I guess my question is, are Fridays considered part of the weekend?
Waiting for everything, fast passes,free dining , fireworks &entertainment brought back to world showcases.. miss it all ! Just old school.
We had park Hopper tickets. We went to Guest Services at Animal KIngdom to ask about a refund, since we could not park hop. The lady there knew just what to do. Since we had purchased our tickets via a 3rd party site, she put the refund on a Disney Gift Card.
Ride share is your #1 recommendation, which makes sense because we have been taking advantage of the Minnie Lyft service for our last few trips. We’ve checked in weekly on the status of the Minnie Vans, Disney still says they are temporarily unavailable and some blogs are reporting they may not be returning? With that, I am concerned to use ride share services with the family, being that they don’t have car seats, what is the process for using non-Disney ride share with kids in car seats?
Hi DFB crew. We have 6 park tickets to use Nov1 – 7. Speaking strictly from a crowd level viewpoint, in what order would you recommend?
CJ, it’s my understanding that you pay more for, say, Uber and Lyft that have available car seats. Perhaps readers who use ride shares can share specifics from their experiences, too.
Hi, David. Our reporters suggest heading to Animal Kingdom on Sunday the first, if you’ve got a full day that day, because the other parks have been busier on weekends. Weekdays are better for the rest of the parks, so you could visit those as it works for you. If you don’t have a full day to visit a park on Sunday, save Animal Kingdom for Friday instead. Hope that helps! Have a wonderful trip.
Paul, our reporters say those booths ARE open Fridays, too!
Heather, usually Animal Kingdom is the least busy park on a weekend.
Any idea when 2021 Annual passes go on sales. Going to SSR for 3 weeks next July and want to start booking park reservations and don’t want to get a 10 day pass with the 14 day usage visit restriction.
Jim+Anthony, no word on this yet!
We will be traveling on 11/17, going to Magic Kingdom on 11/18, and Hollywood Studios on 11/19. My question is, should we go to Epcot on Friday, 11/20 and Disney Springs on Saturday the 21st or Springs on the 20th and Epcot on the 21st? Which is the wiser choice for crowds?
Amy, crowds have been pretty regularly busier on weekends, so Friday might be a better option.
Since you can not sit in front seat of vehicles using ride share services, do I need to request a bigger vehicle for a party of 4?
Aurelio, I think you’d need to reach out to the rideshare companies to confirm.