Disney World Has Changed… Quite a Bit

Published: July 19, 2021

The Title is Right: Disney World Has Changed

Disney World is much different than it was the last time my family visited the parks. Yes, I understand that there has been a pandemic going on (trust me, I know—our latest trip was postponed 15 months due to COVID-19). But the changes that have been made are not necessarily due to COVID-19, and they are not for the better.

Our family has always enjoyed staying “on property” when we visited Disney World due to the extra conveniences and perks. We used to enjoy the Extra Magic Hours, where years ago, they were actually keeping the park open until 3 AM for Disney World Resort guests. The ability to set up FastPasses 60 days in advance of our visit had become an event similar to a fantasy football league draft party, where my family would barter and trade with each other to get that FastPass for Thunder Mountain or to make sure they had an Expedition Everest pass at night so they could see the parks all lit up from the top of the highest hill. Our favorite resort to stay at on property, you may laugh, is Pop Century. My family does not spend too much time at the resort, so we tend to choose one of the “Value” Resorts. We enjoyed Pop Century for the ability to choose from two dining halls: “Everything Pop” at Pop Century or a short walk across the Generation Gap Bridge to eat at Art of Animation’s “Landscape of Flavors.” Each hall had four or five stations from which you could choose food, from pasta to chicken, burgers to a full turkey dinner.

When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, everything came to a screeching halt. The parks and some resorts reopened in June 2020 but had to make major changes to maintain social distancing and keep guests safe from the virus. Slowly but surely, the parks have been gradually reintroducing shows, fireworks, and resorts back into the Disney World experience. Masks are no longer required for those who have been fully vaccinated, and social distancing markers that had been placed in queues to remind visitors to stay six feet apart have been removed.

However, with the changes required for the pandemic, some other changes have taken place—and not for the better.

In the next series of posts, we will go over some of the changes that have taken place and detail how they are better or worse.

Overall, our family vacation was fun, and there were quite a few memories made. But even though the parks have “opened,” they are still not quite the same. There are also indications that the parks will never be quite the same again.