How to Plan a Trip to Disney World During COVID-19

After being closed for 4 months due to COVID-19, the Walt Disney World theme parks finally reopened to guests in July. In order to keep guests and cast members safe, the phased reopening involves many changes to the Disney experience. Despite the changes, Disney is committed to providing a magical experience for every guest who walks through the gates! With the changes to the park experience comes changes to the planning process. In this blog post, we’re sharing everything you need to know about how to plan a trip to Disney World during COVID-19!

Before we get started, we always recommend that you work with a Travel Agent when planning a Disney vacation. There are so many moving parts with a Disney World vacation, that it’s best to have an expert on hand to walk you through everything. If you are looking for a travel agent that specializes in Disney, we suggest you reach out to Josh at Wish Upon a Star with Us travel!

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Step 1: Choosing a Resort

The Monorail at Disneys Contemporary Resort

Disney has over 25 different resort hotels to choose from, and each one has something special to offer. This can often make it hard to narrow down which resort is best for your vacation. That’s why we created this guide to choosing the best resort for your family’s vacation. During the phased reopening, however, not all resorts are open.

Due to lower crowds and limiting capacity, Disney has a lot less guests right now. It just wouldn’t make sense for them to have every resort open. Many of the resorts are already back open, and some have opening dates in the next few months. Some resorts do not have an opening date, so we don’t yet know when they will reopen. Here is our blog post where you can read which resorts are currently open and/or have opening dates!

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Step 2: Choosing your Tickets

Normally, when purchasing your Disney World tickets you have several options to choose from. Disney has regular ‘base’ tickets that allow you to visit one theme park each day. The Park Hopper ticket option allows you to visit multiple theme parks in the same day. The Water Park & Sports ticket option includes additional entries to the Disney water parks and select sport experiences like NBA experience and mini golf. Finally, the Park Hopper Plus option includes the features of both the Park Hopper Ticket and the Water Park & Sports Ticket. (Click here to read more about these ticket options).

However, during the phased reopening, none of these upgraded ticket options are available. Guests need to make a Park Pass reservation to visit the theme parks (see Step #4), and you can only make a Park Pass reservation for one theme park per day. Therefore, you cannot use the Park Hopper option. Additionally, the Disney water parks remain closed and we don’t yet know when they will open. For these reasons, right now all you need is the standard base ticket.

The only thing you need to decide is how many days of tickets you need. We recommend four days so you can spend one day in each of Disney’s four theme parks. If you have more time, you should definitely enjoy a longer stay and spend more days in the parks. In our opinion though, since the phased reopening has lower crowds right now (and not every experience is available), one day is sufficient to experience each park!

Step 3: Book your Vacation (and put down your deposit)

Once you’ve decided you dates, where to stay and number of tickets, you’re ready to book your vacation! Walt Disney World packages require a $200 deposit to hold your reservation, which secures it all the way until your final payment is due. Right now, Disney is delaying final payment due dates until seven days before your vacation, but usually it is due 30 days in advance.

If you haven’t been working with a travel agent up until this point, we still recommend you get in touch with one before making your reservation. Even if you want to do all the planning on your own, it’s still worth it to have a second set of eyes on your reservation. Especially with all the changes, it will be really helpful to have a travel agent in your corner when you plan a trip to Disney World during COVID-19.

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Step 4: Make your Park Pass reservations

Disney’s new Park Pass reservation system was put in place for the phased reopening to allow Disney to limit capacity and manage crowds. Your Park Pass reservations will be made inside your My Disney Experience account and you should reserve them as soon as possible after booking your vacation. You can view current availability for Park Pass reservations here. Our posts below explain everything you need to know about making your Park Pass reservations!

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Step 5: Reserve Dining Reservations

Rose and Crown Restaurant at Disney World

Like other steps on this list, the process of reserving your dining reservations has changed since the reopening of the theme parks. Previously, dining reservations could be made 180 days in advance of your check in date. Now though, that has been changed to 60 days out. If your trip is within 60 days when you book it, you should make your dining reservations right after you make your Park Pass reservations.

Character dining, a popular part of the Disney experience for many guests, is unavailable right now for obvious reasons. For restaurants that used to be character dining, some are open without characters, some remain closed and a select few are offering a modified character experience. The modified character experience is available at Garden Grill and Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera. At these restaurants, you can take pictures from a distance, wave and say hi but the characters will not approach your table.

Previously, many people would be planning their dining reservations according to the number of meal credits included in their dining plan. However, since dining plans are no longer being offered (at least for the time being), this is no longer a factor.

Lastly, due to the limited capacity and other factors, not every restaurant is open. Here is a list where you can see the restaurants that are open (scroll down to ‘Available Dining Experiences’). Even with many closed, there are still plenty of delicious options to choose from!

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Step 6: Review Disney’s Know Before You Go Information

How to Plan a Trip to Disney World During COVID-19 - Visit Disney's Know Before You Go Page

You can really do this at any point in planning, and preferably at multiple points throughout the process! Disney has created a super helpful webpage where you can always find the latest information. Here, you’ll find details about all the updated experiences as well as health and safety policies and other important information! Click here to visit the ‘Returning to a World of Magic’ webpage with all the Know Before You Go information! Be sure to review this page immediately prior to your trip to make sure you have all the most up-to-date information!

Step 7: Final Touches

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge - Ronto Roasters

Now that you know everything there is to know about how to plan a trip to Disney World during COVID-19, here are a few final touches to make sure everything is all set for your vacation…

If you’re flying, be sure to add Disney’s Magical Express to your reservation and provide your flight information. Note that the luggage delivery service is temporarily unavailable.
Consider adding Memory Maker to your Disney reservation to capture those special vacation memories! Click here for tips on getting the best value from Disney’s Memory Maker.
Order your MagicBands in your My Disney Experience account. Regular MagicBands continue to be complimentary for the rest of 2020, so be sure to take advantage if you are traveling this year. Specialty MagicBands are also available ($). As long as you are in the U.S. and order at least 11 days in advance of your trip, your MagicBands will be mailed to you prior to your trip. Otherwise, you can pick them up at the front desk on arrival.
Complete Online Check-in for your resort in your My Disney Experience account. This allows you to skip the front desk when you arrive at the resort. You’ll receive a text/app notification when your room is ready!

Enjoy the Magic!

We hope these steps and tips helped you plan a magical trip to Disney World during COVID-19! Let us know in the comments if this post was helpful for you. Despite the changes, we’re sure you’ll have a magical time! We are super excited to be heading to Disney World in a few weeks, so stay tuned to follow along on our trip with us.

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