YOU’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! (And Universal)

50th-anniversary.jpg

Alright! now that you have your account set up, let’s fast forward to after your park reservations have been made and you’re in Orlando! (Yayyy!!!)

Hopefully you already have a MagicBad, “Magic Mobile”, or I have met up with you to hand you your physical tickets. Since the parks have opened back up after lockdown, Disney has yet to reopen their FastPass lanes. Before you get sad, this actually helps keep the wait times down at the parks so you can enjoy more magic in a shorter amount of time! They will be re-introducing a new type of FastPass system that has like five different names right now later this fall but you don’t have to worry about any of that yet.

DSC02368-6728972-1200x800.jpg

Let’s talk about how to prepare for your day and what to bring with you. I know you all have been to the parks before but let’s talk about things you probably already know to bring but might need a reminder:

  • Sunscreen

  • Sunglasses

  • Portable Phone Chargers

  • Comfortable shoes for walking all day

  • Advil or Tylenol

  • Light snacks and water bottles

I definitely recommend being conscious of what type of bag you bring to the parks. Backpacks filled to the brim with every possible thing you need for every situation possible get heavy and might slow you down. Personally, I like to opt for a good fanny pack when I go to the parks, I’m sure you all love your Kavu’s and tiny backpacks though! These bags are GREAT for Disney days and carrying your own personal items but will need to be placed in lockers at several attractions at Universal. Fanny packs and cross body purses that hang by your hip are okay to go on most rides as well as any phones/wallets that can fit in pockets, so make sure you wear shorts or pants with pockets big enough for your phone!. On some rides, you’ll be required to leave EVERYTHING in the locker and walk through metal detectors. Don’t worry though because I will be with you at Universal to walk you through EVERYTHING.

Rides at Universal that require lockers:

  • Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit*

  • Revenge of the Mummy

  • Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

  • Men in Black Alien Attack

  • The Incredible Hulk Coaster*

  • Jurassic World VelociCoaster*

  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

  • Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

    • Those marked * require guests to go through metal detectors

Now let’s get you caught up on the parks ever-changing Covid Safety rules. While on Disney property, make sure you have a mask on fully covering your mouth and nose at all times any time you enter a building, transportation vehicle, any attraction queue, or any other indoor location including the common areas of the hotel (lobby/elevator/hallways). Masks are optional for fully vaccinated guests while outdoors so be prepared to do a lot of mask on - mask off action if you choose to remove your mask while outdoors. Certain mask styles are not permitted at Disney such as masks made of mesh/netting, neck gaiters & bandanas, or masks that have ventilation valves/filters. Once at Universal, masks are once again optional for fully vaccinated guests in all outdoor areas and “strongly encouraged” while indoors. While social distancing markers have all been removed in the past few months, still be mindful of those around you as many people are still uncomfortable being in close quarters with strangers.

Cast-Members-1.jpg

Now that you know how to prepare for your day at the parks, IT’S TIME TO ENTER THEM! After going through security of course. Disney has recently adopted new high tech metal detectors that look for specific shapes instead of just all metals like you’re used to. With these new machines you are able to walk straight through with your bags on instead of waiting in long lines for someone to rifle through everything you brought! If the machine detects something “suspicious” you’ll be ushered to the side for them to search your bag. At Universal, the security is similar to that of an airport (except you get to keep your belt and shoes on) where you place your bag in a bin to go through an x-ray machine while you walk through a metal detector.

Okay, okay, okay. NOW you can enter the parks for real this time! Some of the parks might look a little bit different from the last time you were here, like, hello? THREE whole new lands?? Pandora: World of Avatar, Andy’s Backyard, and Star Wars: Galaxies Edge are all places you DON’T want to miss. With spectacular food like Satu’li Canteen in Pandora, and delicious drinks like Blue and Green Milk in Galaxies Edge or the Night Blossom in Pandora, its easy to just eat your way through the parks! One of the BEST features of the My Disney Experience app is being able to Mobile Order your food. Simply search the quick service restaurant you are looking for, select what time you want to pick up your food and you’d like to eat, pay straight from your phone and essentially skip the line! Some locations are still requiring Mobile Ordering for all food and drink orders so keep that in mind and make sure you enter your card information ahead of time to make the ordering process that much easier.

Okay, I know, I know, I can’t just talk about food without talking about Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival or any of the tasty treats at the parks for the 50th Anniversary!

To check out the Food and Wine Festival Menus click here

To check out the special treats for the 50th Anniversary click here

Speaking of Epcot, it looks like this will be where you will be spending the most time while on your trip so here’s some park specific tips. Let’s start with joining the virtual queue for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. The two biggest misconceptions are 1. that you should multiple people/devices trying in order to maximize your chances and 2. that you should tap “Join Virtual Queue” from the home page and constantly refresh the virtual queue page from 6:59-7:00. The ACTUAL best way to make sure you get your spot in the queue is to have one singular person/device prepared to join. Preparing to join includes making sure you have an alarm set on your phone to wake up early enough to be awake and alert by 7:00 and a second alarm at 6:59 to remind you it’s time. Make sure you have a stable internet connection and a second person with a global clock that has a seconds hand to count down the seconds until 7am exactly with minimal distractions. This next part is the most important part. When you open the My Disney Experience app, stay on the home page. Do not tap on anything or enter any menus. If you want to make sure you are on the right page, simply tap on the icon shaped like a house in the bottom left corner. Scroll down until you see the image below on the left.

DO NOT SELECT “Join Virtual Queue” UNTIL IT TURNS BLUE AT EXACTLY 7AM.

Once you select Join Virtual Queue, make sure you have everyone in your party selected and follow the rest of the prompts until you reach the confirmation screen that displays your boarding group. If you see the below image on the right, you have gone too far too early or too late.