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Recently, I wrote a couple of blogs about my experience going to Walt Disney World ( Walt Disney World Resort COVID 19 Reflections and Recommendations) and Universal Orlando Resort (Universal Orlando Resort COVID 19 Reflections and Recommendations) with the all of the new restrictions and things in place for COVID 19. After those experiences, my family felt comfortable in taking our children to Walt Disney World. So I wanted to write up some tips for visiting theme parks with children during the midst of a pandemic. With crowd levels being low and the parks increasing their cleaning procedures, it’s actually a really great time to visit a theme park – with some modifications of course.

1. Most importantly, prep the kids for the trip. Tell them what they can expect. This will help them be ready for the changes when going into the parks. Explain to them about having to have their temperature checked while entering public places. Also, prep them for using hand sanitizer frequently. We told our kids to just plan to use hand sanitizer any time they saw a dispenser, especially before and after a ride. This ensured they were cleaning their hands consistently and frequently. This worked great! Our kids were actually reminding us to use sanitizer when we passed a dispenser.
2. Prep kids for wearing a mask. For example, we went on several walks prior to our trip and had our kids wear masks. This really helped them to get used to wearing a mask outside for a long period of time. We had our two smallest children practice wearing a mask both walking and while riding in a stroller. My 3 year-old was the one I was the most worried about with complying, but by the time we actually got to a park, he was pretty used to the mask since we made sure we practiced while at home. Masks ARE required to be worn by all guests 2 and up when in public areas when someone is not stationary and eating or drinking. It’s good to be prepared for that before getting to the theme park.
3. Take multiple masks and stay somewhere you can wash the masks at night.  Kids are notorious for being messy. They will get food or whatever else on themselves and their clothing. We took at least one extra mask to the parks with us per kid, so if one mask became dirty, we could switch them out as needed. We also stayed in a room with a washer and dryer. That way we were able to wash our masks nightly for wearing the next day.
4. Schedule down time while in the parks. A good time to do this is during snack or meal times. You can sit down, rest, take your mask off, and relax. This really helps as far as not getting tired of the masks is concerned, for both you and the kids. Also, they have “Relaxation Areas” in the parks where you can go and relax and remove your mask even if you’re not eating.
5. Here are some suggested items to take with you – hand sanitizer (although there are lots of hand sanitizer stations throughout public spaces), Clorox wipes – if you feel the need to wipe a surface down such as a table. Large water bottle with water, snacks and disposable cups – some food locations are not open, so this ensures you have food and drink when kids become hungry. Disposable cups allow you to give water or shareable snacks, such as popcorn, to individual kids while lessening the opportunity to spread germs. I also recommend taking Lysol spray to spray down things such as backpacks or strollers at the end of the day.
6. Schedule down time while at the resort. Even though there are instances where you remove your masks in the parks, it’s not quite the same as being in your own room and being able to move freely without a mask. Make sure you allow for time to relax in your room or even at the pool. This way you have extended periods of time where you don’t have to worry about wearing a mask.
7. Be flexible and don’t feel that you have to do everything. There may be points at which kids (or even you) are just done with dealing with wearing a mask or dealing with sanitizing hands every 5 seconds. So, you may have to leave the park sooner than you plan. Being flexible and just enjoy what you can do instead of trying to do everything. This can help make for a more enjoyable trip in these types of situations.
8. Stay on property. On property, you are a lot closer to the parks and there are more transportation options. You can go and come from the resort to the parks more easily, if you want. Or you can even go in different directions if you want. For example, one evening, I took my oldest son back to Hollywood Studios because we got a last-minute group for the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride while my husband stayed back with the other kids at the resort. We were able to ride the bus to Hollywood Studios while he was able to walk to Disney Springs to get dinner for himself and the other kids.
9. Work with a travel planner. Travel planners are there to provide personalized service. They can answer questions specific to your trip. They can also keep you up to date on changes in policies or procedures for the parks or resorts. They are your best resource when it comes to planning for your trip and for helping deal with changes or unexpected things that come up. Especially in a time when changes seem to be happening daily, it’s good to have a trusted professional in your corner to make sure your trip goes as seamlessly as possible.
10. Have fun but do what you’re comfortable with. Enjoy yourself but also use your best judgement and instincts. If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable with a situation then leave or change your plans. While staying at Walt Disney World and Universal, we deliberately stayed in “the bubble” and didn’t go off property. For both locations, it’s a very controlled environment. We felt more comfortable knowing that cleaning procedures, policies and expectations were standardized across property, which represented less risk for our family. Ultimately, you have to do what makes you feel safe – which equals a more enjoyable trip for you and your family.

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.

With Spring break and Summer break just around the corner, multiple travel destinations currently have some great promos going on. This includes some really great Military discounted pricing on Disney Cruises, as well as the current Buy to Days get 3 days free offer at Universal Orlando Resort.

With so many great offers, its hard to pass up a chance to spend some quality time with your family. With so many different promos, you can basically choose from any destination you want.

Click the Promos link below to view the latest in all the great offers.

As always, there are also plenty of ways to get in touch with me to start planning your trip.

Amber@magicofmickey.com

912-421-9126

Message me from my Facebook business page- https://www.facebook.com/ambermomt

Once a month I plan to create a blog to highlight some of the current specials going on to different travel destinations. This will be a one stop shop for the current offerings. That way you can take a look at what’s available in one place, instead of having to look at all different places to access the information.

With so many different promos available, there’s something that everyone can take advantage of! I have included both the date by which the offer needs to be booked, as well as the travel dates for when the promo can be used.

With Spring break and summer vacation in mind it’s a great time to plan a vacation.

Click the “Promos” link below to see what the current offerings are by destination. I will update the link often to include the most recent offerings. So, save the link and come back often for updates.

When I was a kid and went to Disney World…

I’ve heard a number of people (who have been to Walt Disney World in years past) say something like, “When I went to Disney World years ago, there weren’t so many things to plan, you just showed up at the park.” It’s true, in the last decade or so Disney has added more moving pieces when it comes to what Walt Disney World entails, from Fast Passes to park hopper/non park hopper tickets, to parties and specialty events  — there are a number of options when it comes to your Disney World vacation. It can all be a bit confusing and overwhelming when it comes to deciding which options are right for you and your family. So, I wanted to take some time to try to demystify some of the key elements of a Walt Disney World vacation. Of course, no element is more key than your park tickets.

First and foremost, as far as all of the moving pieces of a Disney vacation are concerned, it’s always good to work with a travel agent who works for an Authorized Disney Travel Planning company. They will have special training and expertise to guide you through the planning and vacation process. You do enough planning and calendar management in your daily life, so why not take a vacation from the planning and managing and let someone else do all of that for you? Let the vacation start from the very beginning of the planning process instead of when you actually arrive at your vacation destination.

You still want to be educated about the different elements of your vacation so you can make informed decisions as your travel agent guides you through the planning process. So, what are the different types of tickets and how do each of them work?

Types of park tickets

Let’s start with the basics. Here are your main options for  regular park tickets:

1. Base ticket– This allows you to visit one park per day of ticket for the 4 main Disney World parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios). This type of ticket does not allow you to visit more than one park in a day, but you can go and come from the same park in the same day
2. Park Hopper ticket– This allows you to visit multiple parks of the 4 main parks in the same day. For example, you can visit Magic Kingdom in the morning and then visit Epcot in the evening for a dinner in the World Showcase. Also, this type of ticket allows you to go and come from the parks during that day
3. Park Hopper Plus ticket– Not only does this ticket allow you to “hop” from park to park and go and come as you please, but it also allows you to visit the two water parks – Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. When you go with this option, the number of water park days is the same number of days you get is the same as the number of regular park days you get. For example, if you get a 4 day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you get 4 park days at the regular parks and then you get 4 water park days, as well. So, that’s a grand total of 8 park days!

Here are some other key notes about park tickets

1. You can’t just buy a Base Ticket and use two “days” on one day in order to park hop. If you want to visit more than one park in the same day you have to purchase a Park Hopper Ticket.
2. The per-day cost of the tickets go down as you purchase more days. For example, current pricing for a 2 day Base Ticket is $109 per day before tax, whereas a 10 day base ticket is $44 per-day before tax. That’s a big difference!
3. You can not add Park Hopper to a single day ticket. If you are doing 4 days of tickets and want to add Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus it can only be added to all 4 days. The only caveat to that would be if you bought 4 separate one day tickets (but why would you do that since the per day cost is less when you buy multiple days?).

Other types of tickets

Above are your basic ticket options. Here are a few others that don’t fit into those categories, or are available to only special populations:

1. Florida Residents Tickets- Obviously, this is specifically for those living in Florida. You must be able to show proof of a Florida address in order to purchase these types of tickets. There are multiple discounts and passes for those living in Florida – great perk of living in the Sunshine State 😊
2. Annual Passholder Tickets– For non-Florida residents there are 3 basic types of annual passes.
   1. Water Park Annual Pass– Allows you to pay for one year’s worth of visits to the Walt Disney World Waterparks. You can visit an unlimited number of times
   2. Disney Platinum Pass– Allows you to pay for one year’s worth of visits to the 4 main parks. Does include park hopper as well as some other discounts and perks. There are no black out dates and you can visit as many times as you want during that year time frame.
   3. Disney Platinum Pass Plus– Basically combines options a and b to allow you to visit both the water parks and 4 main parks during the year time frame.
3. Military tickets
   1. Military Salute Tickets– Each year Disney offers a special discount to active military services members, retired service members, and their families. These are specially priced tickets that can be purchased in limited quantities. These tickets must be activated by the service member or one of their dependents. These can be purchased through leisure services on post or at Shades of Green Resort on Disney World property. Only 6 tickets can be activated per service member per calendar year, and currently the tickets come in 4 and 5 day options.
   2. Military discounted tickets– there are other options for discounted tickets for active and retired military personnel, but they are less discounted than the Salute tickets. The Salute tickets are usually going to be the best option unless you are planning to visit Disney World for less than 4 days.
4. Party Tickets– These include Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. These are special events and are held on select nights in the fall and winter at Magic Kingdom Park. These parties do require a separate special event purchase even if you visited Magic Kingdom park during the day using a regular ticket.
5. Other special event tickets– These include other special event options such as Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom or H20 Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon and food or drink demonstrations at Food and Wine festival at Epcot. (I’m sure I could do an entire separate blog on special event tickets).
6. Special promotional discount tickets– Disney rarely offers ticket only discounts but the terms and specifics vary depending on the promo but Disney does currently have 4 park magic ticket promo. See below associated website (https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/12/attention-planners-and-resolution-makers-experience-walt-disney-world-resort-in-2019-with-special-4-park-magic-tickets/)

So, there you have it. That’s a quick overview of some ticket basics. Hopefully, you feel a bit more informed about the ticket options available. Which Walt Disney World tickets options would you like to see me post further information about? What options would you like to see Disney offer in regard to tickets? I’d love to hear your thoughts and input.

As a travel enthusiast and travel planner I’ve done travel in a number of different ways. I would say my favorite mode of travel is definitely cruising. The price you pay for the cruise is almost completely inclusive, and you get to sit back, relax, and cruise around the ocean to fabulous locations.

Note from Amber: This is the first of three posts I’ll do on Disney Cruise Line. Next week, part 2 will cover Cast Away Cay and part 3 will cover Remy and Palo.

The majority of my cruising experiences (although not all) have been with Disney Cruise Line. I have had the opportunity to go on a total of 7 cruises and 5 of those were with Disney Cruise Line. Of those 5 cruises, 4 of them were without kids.

When I tell people that the majority of the cruises I’ve been on have been Disney Cruises, I often get comments about “too many” children or Disney characters being around or not enough adult activities. While I understand this sentiment, I have to say that I feel that it is a misconception that the amount of children and characters present somehow encroaches on the ability of adult passengers to enjoy a Disney Cruise.

Therefore, I wanted to try to dispel this misconception and highlight some of the ways that adult travelers can enjoy a Disney Cruise. In my opinion, Disney does a really fantastic job of not only making their cruises tolerable for those who want to have an adult get away, but they actually do a really great job of catering to adult travelers and creating spaces tailor-made for adults. Plus, as with other Disney destinations ,you can rest assured that the vacation you get will be a high quality one.

Too many Disney Characters?

Obviously, with a Disney Cruise you will expect to see a good number of kids and Disney characters. There are definitely opportunities to do meet and greets with a variety of characters from princesses to Mickey and Minnie to Jack Sparrow. However, these are done at very specific times in very specific areas of the ship. You won’t be relaxing by the pool or hanging out at the beach and have Goofy come up followed by a crowd kids wanting to take a picture with him. (My sister and I did, however, have an experience at the adult beach at Cast Away Cay where Jack Sparrow passed our cabana. He waved at us as he stumbled past, seemingly having had a bit too much rum. But that’s a story for another post) Most of the character meet and greets are scheduled around the two dinner times. So, you will see an increased number of characters then.

The majority of the main shows do have Disney Characters in them as do the ship deck shows, for example, the deck show on pirate night includes pirates and Mickey Mouse.

However, it also includes a pretty great fireworks show. Disney was the first in the industry to do a fireworks show at sea. If you don’t want to participate in the shows with Disney Characters, you can choose to have a massage at the Senses Spa or have pre-dinner cocktails at one of the bars or hang out by Quiet Cove pool.

So, what exactly is there for adults to do?

I’m glad you asked that! This is where I really want to spend most of my time for this blog post. Disney Cruise Line has done a really great job of providing experiences that are tailor-made for adult travelers.

On board there are numerous bars and lounges. This can be the Champagne bar Pink, or the Pub 687 on the Disney Dream.

The Disney Magic has Keys, a piano bar. The D Lounge is available on all 4 Disney ships. They have all sorts of activities at these bars and lounges. My husband I went to a whiskey tasting at the Meridian Lounge on the Disney Dream.

They also have cocktail making classes at Skyline Lounge on the Disney Dream and Fantasy. In addition, there are night time shows that go on just for adults at places like Evolution on the Disney Dream and the Cadillac Lounge on the Disney Wonder. These shows range from magic shows, to a version of the newlywed game, to dancing.

There’s also Quiet Cove pool. This is an adult only pool where you can go to relax. There are food and drink options there, as well as a swim up bar on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.

Then there’s Senses Spa. If there is a place on a cruise where I want to spend most of my time, it’s at the spa. They have anything from traditional massages and facials, to a rain forest room, to manicures and pedicures.

There’s also a juice bar at the spa and a fitness center (if you’re one to work out on vacation). And they have a variety of other services like morning yoga classes and foot print analysis. On the day that you have spa services, you can use the rain forest room, lounge and whirlpool for the duration of that day.

You can even have a massage at the adult end of the beach on Cast Away Cay but we’ll save that for next week.

Next week, I’ll get into more details about Cast Away Cay, which deserves its own post. And then the following week we’ll devote entirely to the two adult only dining options-Remy and Palo.

Stay tuned!