It’s a busy, busy day in Walt Disney World!
Line for Flight of Passage
While Christmas has come and gone, this is still prime vacation time for many people, as they get an extra week off of work before the New Year. We’re seeing massive crowds and ridiculously long lines for attractions. As we were checking out one of those super-long queues, we happened to spot something on Avatar Flight of Passage that really surprised us!
We hopped in line for Flight of Passage earlier today, and the queue ended WAY back in Africa! The wait time was posted at 90 minutes, and it took us quite a while to board the attraction.
End of Line for Flight of Passage
When we got inside the attraction, we noticed that guests are now being loaded onto every bike.Â
Flight of Passage
Previously, guests were loaded with one or two bikes in between parties to allow for social distancing, but they’re now all placed directly next to each other. The part of this that shocked us the most is that no plexiglass dividers have been installed on this ride. The same process is being done on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster as well.Â
Flight of Passage loading every bike
The pre-show area of the attraction is still set up to allow for distancing between parties, but for the four minute ride on a banshee, you’ll be within inches of other guests.
Flight of Passage pre-show
There is plexiglass stationed throughout the queue to this ride, so we were surprised that it wasn’t included next to the ride vehicles for this change to be made.
Plexiglass in the Flight of Passage queue
We’re not sure yet if this change is permanent or if it’s just happening because of the high volume of crowds, but we’ll be checking back in later.
Flight of Passage ride vehicles
Stay tuned as we continue to check out the updates to health and safety measures around Walt Disney World. We’re in the parks frequently checking for changes, and we’ll make sure to share the latest news with our readers!
Photos: Slinky Dog Dash is Also Seating Guests on Every Row!
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I cant believe Disney is doing this. When we first went back in August I felt incredibly safe with social distancing measures in place. I was so happy we went back in early October and were sad to see Disney was doing a little less to social distance. Then we went back in early December hoping it was just that day and measures would be still in place but definitely not! We felt completely unsafe in Animal and Magic. Even riding Flight of Passage with an empty seat in between parties I felt unsafe. There was not a single cast member enforcing mask wearing (walking around with signs like in the past) in parks or helping guest social distance. I guess due to lay offs. There were people crowding up on us in line and not a single person pulled over to eat or drink in Magic. Extremely sad they have let go even less. We had hoped to go back for the Festival of the Arts but I think we will wait if they are loading every row on Frozen and now every sit on rides.
How is this Disney keeping their guests safety as a priority when our small business local restaurants and bars are closed for dining in??? This makes no sense to me and although we know Disney is all about money and it is a business the health and welfare of the guests and the rest of the country they could care less about…very disappointing 😪
I won’t be riding FOP again until I have the vaccination. We went to GS and they told us because there is enough air circulation. Sorry Disney. Did not feel safe at all.
I felt completely safe when I went to WDW the week of December 13. Very high cast member enforcement of masks in all four parks. Guests were great in lines. They didn’t eat or drink and stayed apart – hilariously far apart when the line stickers had vanished in certain spots. (lots of dancing in lines because everyone had so much space). I loved that people pulled over to the side of walkways to stop and eat or drink. There were so few people in the parks that benches were actually available. I’ve never seen that in the before times! The actual ride times are so short that if you are next to a stranger (and you both have masks on, of course) you are safe for those 15 minutes or less. It is the lines where you are near the same groups for an hour or so that can be problematic and that is why having the plexiglass in the indoor queue is important for certain indoor sections where you get stopped for a while. I think Disney is doing a fantastic job with coronavirus safety – they are following the science and guest behavior and making it work. I work at a hospital so I was really looking and watching. Can’t wait to go back!
The ride blows air over your face, so I guess they consider that will both prevent any cross contamination and provide dilution. Not much time between entry and exit otherwise.
They should just bring fast passes back if this is what they’re doing. This is very disappointing to see, and at least helps me feel better about my choice to wait for vaccination until I go back to Disney.
GOOD! If you don’t “feel safe” then don’t travel.
Everything’s going to be okay. Glad to see this change and I hope it’s a sign of things to come (back).
Good on them, you have a mask on and you aren’t coughing on everyone. If you aren’t comfortable, don’t go but don’t blame Disney
After hearing so many good reports on how WDW was enforcing masks and social distancing, I was planning on hitting the parks this June. No way am I going if they’ve started putting money ahead of safety! I’d rather wait twice as long to ride Flight of Passage and be able to do it safely, than be crammed in next to strangers. If they’re compromising distancing here, where else are they putting us at risk?? No more Disney trips for me! *Maybe* once vaccinations are more widespread, but this is reminding me more and more of my mom’s tales of Polio flare-ups every summer….