Universal Orlando Resort Covid 19 Reflections and Recommendations

Reflections:

1. The masks weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. The majority of guests seemed to be good about wearing them most of the time. The only time I found the mask to be a problem is when wearing 3D glasses. They got fogged up from the mask. Having the metal nose piece and making sure it was fitted on my nose helped. It was good that the parks closed early though. By the end of the day I was ready to have an extended break from the mask.

   

   

2. Guests mostly followed social distancing guidelines. It was difficult to maintain 6 foot distance when walking through the parks in some areas. In line queues the 6 foot distance was clearly marked. When it was clearly marked in the line queues, guests were good about adhering to the spacing requirements, as designated by highly visible stickers on the floor. Sometimes guests were not good about maintaining the 6 foot spacing when floor markings were not present.

   

   

3. Universal hotel and restaurant staff were friendly and helpful. They gave reminders about wearing masks and social distancing, but in a friendly way. They seemed to go out of their way to welcome people even with presence of masks, for example waving. They also gave a lot explanation about safety procedures. At hotel check in, there was a plexi-glass shield between the guest and staff. There were lots of signs through the resort to remind people about safety and social distancing.

   

   

   

   

   

   

4. There were lots of staff available to ask questions. Staff were seen frequently cleaning. For example, there seemed to be someone constantly cleaning the railing for the line queue for Hogwarts Express, Hard Rock Café had a “cleaning team” and were wearing shirts that identified them as cleaning team. There was a staff member as you were getting on each ride giving each guest hand sanitizer.
5. The virtual line queue seemed confusing at first. It wasn’t completely clear which lines had the virtual line and which ones didn’t. It wasn’t clear at first, if it was required to use the virtual line queue. Some rides had information about the virtual line but there wasn’t a place to reserve the virtual line in the app (See pictures below). The only one that it really seemed required for was Hagrid’s. On the day we went, we weren’t able to ride without a virtual line reservation time. However, I have seen people go on other days and they have been able to ride Hagrid’s multiple times without a virtual line reservation time. We had a virtual line reservation for Race through New York but didn’t really need it because the virtual line return location was the same place as the Universal Express Pass line and we had Universal Express pass.
6. When they say that things are subject to change without notice, they really mean it. Two times operating hours changed which affected our dining reservations. Hard Rock Café notified us of this affecting our dining reservation time at City Walk. Mythos at Islands of Adventure didn’t. We only figured out there was an issue with having a dining reservation after park closing because we happened to walk by Mythos and see that they had changed hours of operations.
7. Safety/Health procedures varied a lot between restaurants. One restaurant did not clear any plates until after you left the table at the end of the meal. Another restaurant had you remove food and drink items from the tray instead of them places the items on the table for you. See some of the safety related measures from Hard Rock Cafe below. In my  opinion,  Hard  Rock  Cafe  had  the  best  safety/social  distancing  procedures.

   

   

   

8. The mobile ordering on the app is a little confusing. You could view the restaurants near you on the map, but could not click on them and order from there. To order, you had to go out of the map, go to the list of restaurants, and find the one you wanted. Then, if you changed your mind, you had to go back to the map to see what was close by. We figured it out, but it could be better designed.
9. There was mixed reviews on whether Universal honors virtual line return times that are delayed due to weather.
10. Masks are not required in the pool area.
11. They do have at least one “Mask Rest Area” where you can sit without your mask on. The one that I saw was at City Walk.

Recommendations:

1. I always recommend that people stay on property at a hotel that offers Universal Express Pass. I still recommend that even with different park circumstances, as they are. If you have Universal Express Pass, you really don’t need to use the virtual lines, except maybe for Hagrid’s.
2. If you don’t have Universal Express Pass, get to the parks when they open. We arrived at Islands of Adventure about 30 minutes after park opening and all of the virtual line reservations were gone. Staff said that they add more throughout the day, which a few were added midday and we were able to get a virtual line time but that means you have to constantly check your phone throughout the day until they release more times. Who wants to constantly be checking their phone when they are at an amusement park? It appeared that you could reserve 2 virtual line reservations at one time. We were actually able to reserve them while we were still at our hotel. The app doesn’t give you a reminder when your reservation time is coming up, so be sure to keep up with when you time is
3. Be sure to double and triple check any reservations you have, since there was inconsistency in communication and Universal says that things are subject to change without notice.
4. Where mobile food ordering is available, use it. It saves time and also allows you to not have to stand in line for as long. Except for places like Three Broomsticks. You still had to wait in line to get a seat, even with mobile ordering. Then when you are seated you indicate the table number through the mobile app and they bring the food to your table. They did not have in person ordering for Three Broomsticks when we were there.
5. Wear a good fitting, cloth mask that has a metal nose piece. I found that the cloth mask felt less suffocating than the disposable ones. Also, having a metal nose piece helped it to stay in place. This was helpful when riding rides with 3D glasses. When I cinched the nose piece, the 3D glasses were less likely to fog up.
6. For the temperature checks, be sure you get your colored wrist band. If you get the wrist band, you only have to have your temp checked the first time you enter a hotel or other resort public area on each day. If you have the wrist band, you only have to have your temp check once each day. There is a new color for each day.

   

7. Take advantage of eating at hotel restaurants. They were significantly less crowded than park or City Walk locations.

   

   

8. Build in rest times during the day. For example, schedule times to go back to the hotel room or schedule sit down dining reservations. This allows you to take your mask off for extended periods and wearing the mask doesn’t get as annoying.
9. Plan to spend more days at the parks than you usually do. With the abbreviated park hours, you’re not able to do as much as usual in the parks. Also, it allows for more breaks and you don’t get as tired of wearing a mask. So, do 2 shorter days instead of 1 marathon, park opening to park closing day, for example.