News Changes to operating Walt Disney World attractions due to COVID-19

wdwmagic

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Original Poster
I've seen various requests for information about what the changes are to the attractions since reopening from COVID-19 shutdowns.

Please reply to this thread with any changes you have noticed and I'll update here.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

AVATAR Flight of Passage

  • Reduced pre-show - no Avatar matching, and no second video in the second pre-show room. Both rooms are playing the same shortened video.
  • No water effects during the ride.
Dinosaur
  • Pre-show on continuous play, with queue lines in pre-show room.
  • Plastic dividers on ride vehicles.
Kali River Rapids
  • No waterfalls or effects
Kilimanjaro Safaris
  • Plastic dividers between rows.
Na'vi River Journey
  • One party per boat.
Disney's Hollywood Studios

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway

  • No pre show
Rock n RollerCoaster
  • No pre-show, space being used for queue.
  • Empty row between riders.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
  • One party per ride vehicle
Star Wars: Smugglers Run
  • One party per ride vehicle
Tower of Terror
  • No pre-show in the library. Library space being used for queue.
  • Four parties per elevator.
EPCOT

Gran Fiesta Tour
  • Two parties per boat
Spaceship Earth
  • No touch screen on ride vehicle
  • No customized ending animation
  • Post-show shutdown
Test Track
  • No pre-show, space being used for queue.
  • One party per vehicle.

Magic Kingdom

Haunted Mansion

  • Stretch room is walk-through with no stopping
 
Last edited:

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
As of 2 weeks ago Spaceship Earth was running the picture and animation with touch screen capabilities. If you don't answer any of the questions it gives you a random "future."

As for Flight of Passage, they do run a show in the second room, but it's the same abbreviated video as in the first room. Half of the groups watch it simultaneously in either room to allow for distancing. Sometimes the water effects have worked and other times not. I'm not sure if they just forgot to turn off the effects in some seats, or if the water effects are just not working on others.
 

Magic Feather

Well-Known Member
Most boat rides (Gran Fiesta, Pirates, IASW) seat two parties per bit in the front and back.

RotR has distanced preshows (which were recently changed to accomadate 7 parties instead of the previous 6).

Tower and RnRC are both not running their preshows and using the preshow rooms for queues.

Tower can fit up to 4 parties per elevator (four corners) but two or three seats must be between each party (so if row 6 has 4 people, then only a single rider could be in row 5).

All rollercoasters leave an empty row between parties.

Nemo leaves two shells between vehicles (Mermaid and Mansion only leave one).

All 3D shows load every other row, with blocks of four seats (and three seats blocked between each one).

Jungle Cruise has plastic dividers and only fills about three parties per boat (Maybe up to four or five now).

Soarin and Star Tours have plastic dividers on booster seats to divide seating into different blocks.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
Most boat rides (Gran Fiesta, Pirates, IASW) seat two parties per bit in the front and back.

RotR has distanced preshows (which were recently changed to accomadate 7 parties instead of the previous 6).

Tower and RnRC are both not running their preshows and using the preshow rooms for queues.

Tower can fit up to 4 parties per elevator (four corners) but two or three seats must be between each party (so if row 6 has 4 people, then only a single rider could be in row 5).

All rollercoasters leave an empty row between parties.

Nemo leaves two shells between vehicles (Mermaid and Mansion only leave one).

All 3D shows load every other row, with blocks of four seats (and three seats blocked between each one).

Jungle Cruise has plastic dividers and only fills about three parties per boat (Maybe up to four or five now).

Soarin and Star Tours have plastic dividers on booster seats to divide seating into different blocks.
Adds new value to riding in the front row, let the covid flow to those in back
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Busses have plastic dividers between parties, numbered seating per party, and grasping handles are ziptied. Feel free to use any pics.
2F559D82-88E7-4E85-8E69-C251452E387E.jpeg
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Post show for imagination is closed. One ride vehicle per party/skip a row for imagination.

At the seas with Nemo, they try not to let people stop and look in the tunnel. They try to keep people circulating and they tell guests that they can walk through again if they want to look longer.

There are viewing spot stickers for the manatee viewing.

American Adventure doesn’t hold people people in the lobby for announcements and they don’t hold people upstairs for an additional announcement anymore. They open the rope and people walk straight on in.

There is no seating in the waiting room for Awesome Planet. There is a social distanced queue line.

Epcot experience has circles for parties to stand on stationary.

you cannot walk around sipping drinks or eating food. I got Told this at the Mexico pavilion, I was Oblivious to the rule. You HAVE to be stationary AND eating/drinking. That’s the only exception to wearing masks.

That concludes the Epcot report. We didn’t do M:S, Frozen, or the circle visions
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Living with the Land - plastic dividers between row.

Mexico ride: one party in front row, one party in back row.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Post show for imagination is closed. One ride vehicle per party/skip a row for imagination.

I thought the post show closed years ago ;)

you cannot walk around sipping drinks or eating food. I got Told this at the Mexico pavilion, I was Oblivious to the rule. You HAVE to be stationary AND eating/drinking. That’s the only exception to wearing masks.
This was an added rule a few weeks ago after the loophole was discovered.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I thought the post show closed years ago ;)


This was an added rule a few weeks ago after the loophole was discovered.
More like, after the previous rule was badly abused.
For what it’s worth, 99% of park guests are cooperating with the mask rule. Even with the extremely brutal heat at Epcot.

With that being said, if there’s ever a party of 2 or more, these social distancing stickers are definitely NOT 6 ft apart.
 

techgeek

Well-Known Member
For what it’s worth, 99% of park guests are cooperating with the mask rule. Even with the extremely brutal heat at Epcot.

With that being said, if there’s ever a party of 2 or more, these social distancing stickers are definitely NOT 6 ft apart.

I got in line behind a party of about 15 the other day at Smuggler’s Run. The CM at the head of the line made sure to point them out to me, and advised when following them through the queue to not strictly follow the stickers but ‘leave as much space as you’re comfortable with’.

I suppose you could misinterpret that language, but I understood his point that the guidance breaks down pretty quickly with larger groups spilling across 2 or more markers.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
small world is two parties per boat. They try to give you one party per boat if it’s slow.

We walked through the right side stretching room. Interactive queue is closed. Separate every two doombuggies per party.

Splash is one big party / 2 small parties per boat.

Thunder and Dwarfs is every other road.

Peter Pan is virtually no change.
 

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