Cast a Member Preview

As many of you know, I have 3 members of my immediate family who are cast members. They were given the opportunity to register for the cast member preview prior to the re-opening. Only my daughter was actually able to participate as my husband and son were working. Ashleigh was also able to bring 3 guests with her, so she invited myself and my 2 youngest daughters. This was Tuesday July 7th and we were headed to the Magic Kingdom.

We would be allowed entry from 9am to 7pm. We were also warned not to show up early at the auto plaza. Anyone doing so would be turned around. We arrived approximately 9:15 a huge line of cars at every booth. We sat for about 10 minutes before we moved an inch. Once we moved all lanes began moving. Still once again we were stopped for another 10 minutes or so as we passed through the booths. Once moving again we were parked 2 at a time meaning the front and back of a space, but we were spaced one car apart. We were parked in Aladdin so it was not much of a walk to TTC. Once there, there was plenty of signage regarding social distancing and directing you where to go. There were several tents for temperature check which seemed to be very efficient. Once past that, security directed us to place all cellphones and anything metallic into a clear plastic bag before going through metal detectors.

Both the express monorail and ferry boat were operating. We chose the monorail and had a relatively short wait for monorail black. They were allowing one party, depending on size, to sit on one side. They directed you as to which side you could sit. After they loaded, they brought another party to load to the other side. There are now numbers on the ground to make it easier for cms to direct you. Also there are shields in between the double set of cars. They are not clear.

Once we arrived at MK, we entered using a scan of my daughter’s phone. It definitely felt great to be back and I’d have to say I was a bit emotional. As we came through the train station we were greeted by a parade float with Birthday Mickey and Minnie as well as Donald and Pluto. Making our way up an almost empty Main St., we were able to take the perfect pictures of the newly painted castle and Partners statue. Well almost perfect, as a crane remained. It was odd to see Casey’s closed and all the tables and chairs stacked inside.

We opted to turn right into Tomorrowland. Monster’s Laugh Floor and the Peoplemover were closed, but there was no line for Buzz. We found hand sanitizers at both the entrance and exit to each ride. I even scored one my highest scores at over 700,000 and was the winner of our family! We are not Astro Orbiter riders so we bypassed that as well as Carousel of Progress which I was surprised to find open. We headed on over to Space instead and found a 5 min posted wait which dropped to nothing while I was getting a pic. Ashleigh then checked other wait times throughout the park. Mine Train was closed, but found the Splash was open surprisingly so we headed on to Frontierland. The wait was posted at 15, but the actual wait was much longer. They kept making an announcement every few minutes that they apologize, but they needed to sanitize all of their logs. Finally, we heard that they had completed them all and the line proceeded much more quickly. We were given our own log and could choose any row we wanted. Ashleigh went in the first followed by Emily, then Hallie and I together in the 3rd. As long as we were there, we chose to ride BTMR even though that had a posted 30 min wait and we had just waited a long time for Splash. As it turned out, the wait was only about 10 minutes tops. I took notice of some of the plastic shields they had set up in the queue. Next up: POTC another walk on. We tried for Jungle Cruise next, but the thunder started and they closed for weather just after we got in line. Haunted Mansion appeared to have a big line so we put that off until later.

The rains started so we ducked into IASW. We were seated in 2 rows in the back and then there were 2 empty rows in front of us before anothwe party was loaded. We were all getting a little hangry, so since Pinocchio Village Haus was right there we opted for that, but mobile ordering was required. This was probably the only thing that did not run smoothly all day. We all had to wait outside once we ordered and it was nearly impossible to social distance as the line grew and grew. Finally we were notified our order was ready and were let inside and directed to the counter to be picked up. There we waited another 10 min or more. They got the drinks wrong, luckily I had noticed, but I did not notice that they got one of our flatbreads wrong. Oh well, I just wound up eating it anyway. Next up were walk ones for Little Mermaid and Pooh. I also noticed that Philharmagic was operating despite some of the other shows in other parks not being operated. We did not go in however, so I can’t comment on how they were enforcing social distancing there. Earlier there had been a fairly long line for Peter Pan, but was now a walk on so you can bet we seized that opportunity. Then it was time to try Haunted Mansion again. The line was not long, but it did take quite a while until the doors were opened and we were led directly through the stretching rooms and into more orderly lines onto the ride. Ashleigh went to the shop there to be sure to take advantage of the 50% discount they were offering today. HM is definitely her favorite ride of all time. Next up was Jungle Cruise which had a bit of a wait as we still had to snake through both sides of the queue while following the markers on the floor. While I didn’t see any plastic shields in the queue, you can find them on the boats to separate parties and of course the boats were not run at capacity. I had heard there would be a plastic curtain in front of the skipper, but we did not see this, so not sure if that was a rumor or that they just weren’t using them today. Next we decided on one more ride on Splash Mt since it may be the last one we will ever get. The line for merchandise there was crazy, but not nearly as bad as the next few days at pass holder previews. At this point it was 5 and I had accomplished more in one day than I had in years! It was time for me to head home! Just as we were about to leave Ashleigh heard from her bf who wanted to meet up and stay still 7. She offered to let the girls stay with her, but only the youngest took her up on it. Emily and I headed home, while the others were still able to pack much more into the last 2 hrs. They rode Mine Train which had opened up as well as Dumbo and Barnstormer as well as several others that we had already ridden. I also forgot to mention that earlier while crossing through the hub. Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore were making there way around on the trolley!

All in all it was a great day!
1. It was great to be able to get back to a Disney Park
2. I think Disney proved it was serious about enforcing social distancing and providing the most sanitized environment one could hope for.
3. I think they will be able to handle this re-opening as efficiently as possible.
4. I hope and pray all goes well today and in the next few days!