Ayla
Well-Known Member
Disney transportation is under federal jurisdiction because of the 2009 monorail accident.
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With Disney World mask free, does it feel like everything is normal again?
- Thread starter Walt Disney1955
- Start date
Married5Times
Well-Known Member
this is inaccurate.
The US govt for decades has had 'jurisdiction' since monorail travel, like train travel, is deemed a 'common carrier' whereby a much higher duty of care to operate safely is expected. prior to the 2009 collision WDW operated under a modern day "salutary neglect" with relaxed US govt regulation.
in short the jurisdiction was there decades but enforcement was not
Okay, interesting. Hey, that's good. I was told by a friend who was there in February that Splash Mountain was down for maintenance when she was there. So I assumed (without even checking for some reason) that it must mean Splash is done and the refurb is starting. Hey, if it never happens, that would be great. Splash is arguably the best ride in the park, or close. A Princess and the Frog ride isn't a bad idea, but not at the cost of Splash. So is there some backtracking now with this? I always thought Disney was sort of just piggybacking on the protests back in 2020 and may have wanted to replace it since I assumed Splash would be expensive to run with all of the animatronics. So do you think it is staying?
Someone did say Universal doesn't do this, so I don't know. I would assume it isn't something being enforced that much anyway. You can be in a theatre (CBJ, Hall of Presidents, Carousel) and not need it but there needs to be one on a monorail? It doesn't make sense, and I think that will slink away soon.
What about the boats? One guilty pleasure I have always had is hanging around Disney Springs or the Boardwalk and taking a ride on the boats to the resorts. Sometimes not even getting out. No masks on there I assume, right?
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Yeah, that was just the normal yearly maintenance. Haven't heard much more about the re-theme since it was announced.
You can go without a mask on most of the boats since they are open, the exception is the inside portion of the friendship boats.
Good to know, thanks
gorebunch
Member
We were there last week so here goes...
Negatives:
The masks on transportation weren't bad but make no sense as far as crowds go. I get that it is not their choice but it is still frustrating. We were just as crowded in the pre-show of Haunted Mansion as any bus, monorail, or skyliner.
Park hopping after 2 p.m. is also not great. Being stuck at a park until 2 for the upcharge is a little hard to swallow for me.
Mickey meet and greet at Magic Kingdom was also strange. There is no photographer there and with the ropes it made it hard to get a group picture. I did not ask the person working the room to take one and I do not know if they would but trying to get 6 of us in a selfie in such a small space was hard. The pics are horrible. Hoping this ends soon.
The only other thing that we experienced was with a photographer on Main Street in Magic Kingdom. We have gone to WDW dozens of times and several times during covid and this was the first time we have had a rude cast member. We asked for a picture and she scanned our magic band and as is customary she took our photos. I then asked if she would take one with my phone (I am aware that during covid they could decline.). The photographer literally rolled her eyes at me, pulled out her hand sanitizer and grabbed my phone. She had so much sanitizer on her hands that it was literally dripping off her hands and my phone when she handed it back to me. She also took one picture that turned out to be horrible. It was so bad my teenagers even noticed how rude she was.
I know everyone has a bad day from time to time but I was shocked at how bad she acted.
Having said that, overall we had a great trip and didn't let one cast member ruin it all.
Positives:
Smiling faces - I shared the story above of the rude cast member but overall it was great to see the faces of all the cast members. It makes it so much better to see their faces when they greet you or help you out. The same is true for other park guests.
Mobile ordering for quick service is still great. This is not necessarily related to being back to normal but having it available at more restaurants was great for us as it saves so much time.
Entertainment coming back slowly is great. It was nice to see the show in front of the castle again. The Festival of Fantasy parade also started back last week and is great. As a matter of fact our family was chosen as the Grand Marshals for the Thursday morning parade last week. It was a blast.
Negatives:
The masks on transportation weren't bad but make no sense as far as crowds go. I get that it is not their choice but it is still frustrating. We were just as crowded in the pre-show of Haunted Mansion as any bus, monorail, or skyliner.
Park hopping after 2 p.m. is also not great. Being stuck at a park until 2 for the upcharge is a little hard to swallow for me.
Mickey meet and greet at Magic Kingdom was also strange. There is no photographer there and with the ropes it made it hard to get a group picture. I did not ask the person working the room to take one and I do not know if they would but trying to get 6 of us in a selfie in such a small space was hard. The pics are horrible. Hoping this ends soon.
The only other thing that we experienced was with a photographer on Main Street in Magic Kingdom. We have gone to WDW dozens of times and several times during covid and this was the first time we have had a rude cast member. We asked for a picture and she scanned our magic band and as is customary she took our photos. I then asked if she would take one with my phone (I am aware that during covid they could decline.). The photographer literally rolled her eyes at me, pulled out her hand sanitizer and grabbed my phone. She had so much sanitizer on her hands that it was literally dripping off her hands and my phone when she handed it back to me. She also took one picture that turned out to be horrible. It was so bad my teenagers even noticed how rude she was.
I know everyone has a bad day from time to time but I was shocked at how bad she acted.
Having said that, overall we had a great trip and didn't let one cast member ruin it all.
Positives:
Smiling faces - I shared the story above of the rude cast member but overall it was great to see the faces of all the cast members. It makes it so much better to see their faces when they greet you or help you out. The same is true for other park guests.
Mobile ordering for quick service is still great. This is not necessarily related to being back to normal but having it available at more restaurants was great for us as it saves so much time.
Entertainment coming back slowly is great. It was nice to see the show in front of the castle again. The Festival of Fantasy parade also started back last week and is great. As a matter of fact our family was chosen as the Grand Marshals for the Thursday morning parade last week. It was a blast.
BalooChicago
Well-Known Member
I’m just back, very little mask usage (except monorail and Skyliner) I still used my mask occasionally, such as in Tiki Room where one woman was coughing a lot. Genie, Park Reservations, mobile order, and Park Hopper are bigger changes. 2PM really sucks for Animal Kingdom, especially with Everest down. We did Dinosaur to fill time, Avatar FoP and the Safari and we were ready to hop, but had to wait.
jonnyc
Well-Known Member
The reduction in flexibility has changed the experience for me.
On that topic - I had a reservation for AK, but it was raining all day, so had a resort day and then headed over to DHS about 6pm. I thought, provided you had a reservation a park for that day, that you could go to any park from 2pm onwards.
This was not the case - I was told at the gate that you need to go to your reserved park first even though it's after 2pm. Luckily the parks weren't full and they swapped my reservation for DHS.
On that topic - I had a reservation for AK, but it was raining all day, so had a resort day and then headed over to DHS about 6pm. I thought, provided you had a reservation a park for that day, that you could go to any park from 2pm onwards.
This was not the case - I was told at the gate that you need to go to your reserved park first even though it's after 2pm. Luckily the parks weren't full and they swapped my reservation for DHS.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
Yes, you have to go to your reserved park first before hopping. That has been repeatedly confirmed and talked about here.
So, have they stopped it then? Was there too much blow back for them to get rid of Splash Mountain and they quietly just sort of scrapped the idea? Or have they just not gotten around to doing it yet and still plan on it?
Correct. It is amazing what some people make up.
FutureCEO
Well-Known Member
Diamond Dot
Well-Known Member
I shared a Skyliner this morning with a family and the youngest child, aged about 12 looked extremely unwell and had a hacking cough, now it could have been just the early hour, but, I was glad I was wearing a mask as none of the family were.
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Atlantix2000
New Member
Since the initial announcement, there's been no further statement from Disney so all of your options would be pure speculation. No timeline or start date was ever announced so there is no evidence whether the project is on schedule, delayed, or canceled. The safest assumption is that it is still in the planning or pre-construction stage.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
I caught covid last week at WDW, so that is different. 
I'm recovering quickly, and would do it again. Other than that, it was normal in that is was absolutely packed to the gills with people. Elbows and armpits. I was doomed from day one.
On Edit: There are a bunch of super weird transport rules. When we boarded the "shuttle" from Starcruiser to the surface, we lined up in a tight tunnel in a group cuddle, then right before we boarded the shuttle the agent yelled masks on, on they went, on we went, and when we landed and hopped off, masks came off. It was a weird formality.
I'm recovering quickly, and would do it again. Other than that, it was normal in that is was absolutely packed to the gills with people. Elbows and armpits. I was doomed from day one.
On Edit: There are a bunch of super weird transport rules. When we boarded the "shuttle" from Starcruiser to the surface, we lined up in a tight tunnel in a group cuddle, then right before we boarded the shuttle the agent yelled masks on, on they went, on we went, and when we landed and hopped off, masks came off. It was a weird formality.
WishIWasRetired
Active Member
I’d also mention that if they knowingly had a cough, they should either mask up or isolate. Just RUDE! and I’ll warrant they didn’t bother to attempt to cover with an elbow or anything
The problem is that when people spend many thousands of dollars for a Disney trip I doubt they will isolate. Even when they were doing the temp checks at the gate I believe most people would just take some Tylenol to reduce fever so they can get past the gate.