Travel Gluten Free Podcast

S04 Episode 21

COVID Disney Travel Update, Star Wars Galaxy Edge and Gluten Free Disney

 

DisneyWorld - Perhaps the Safest Place in Florida during the COVID Pandemic

 

In this episode, I chat about Disney Star Wars experience, the new COVID restrictions at Disney theme parks, Disney apps you can use to enhance your Disney experience, and the level of service Disney offers to those of us who are gluten-free or have specialty diets.

 

Amidst the most significant COVID numbers yet seen, with over 15,000 cases in one day last week, the state of Florida alone has recorded more COVID cases than other countries! Even though it's tempting to go and actually get a seat on Rise of the Resistance, those epidemic numbers are way too high for me to be comfortable to fly to Florida. I will say that with all the sanitization, social distancing, and touchless services Disney has in place, a Disney theme park is most likely the place you'd be least likely to catch COVID in Florida.

 

I'm a Disney fan by default, as when they purchased Star Wars, I became a Disney fan only because I love Star Wars. When I lived in Florida, I was a short 45-minute drive away from DisneyWorld. Our family would often go to DisneyWorld on the resident pass, which, 15 years ago, was only $99. Of course, there were blackout dates, but honestly, I wouldn't want to go during the holidays that were blacked out anyway as it would be super packed with people, and that's just not enjoyable for me.

 

Creating a Disney Account Online

 

If you're planning on going to Disney, you'll first want to open a Disney account for yourself online https://disneyworld.disney.go.com Next, create an account for each person in your party, then link people who are traveling with you. If someone in your travel group already has an account, do not create another account for them. Simply email them an invitation to join your group! 

 

Create all your plans on your Disney account and make plans for the people in your party! Reserve Fastpass up to 30 days ahead of time. Now, you can create dinner reservations, reserve FastPasses, buy merchandise, and book your Disney stay all from one place! Get FastPasses for your entire group, or make dinner reservations for each individual person. If you want to divide your group into two - no problem! You can put only individuals that want to go on a ride or to a restaurant on that reservation. Additionally, you can change your reservation online 24 hours ahead of time on the app or on your desktop.

Of course, Disney makes it super easy to separate you from your money, it's what they are good at. 

Using the Disney App to Enhance Your Vacation Experience

 

Next, download the My Disney Experience app to view all your park plans including hotel, dinner reservations, order meals ahead of time, access PhotoPass service, view park maps, see wait lines at different rides, find character greetings, view showtimes, access FastPass reservations created with your Disney account.

 

When waiting in line, I recommend downloading the Disney Play app to your phone. Log in to your account and play a game that is based on your location in the park! Most games are two players, so you’ll need a person in your group to play with on the app.

 

FastPass and FastPass Plus at Disney

 

Fastpass can be reserved up to 30 days in advance and gives you a shorter line to wait in when at any of the parks. Fastpass + charges a fee and puts you at the front of the line. With COVID modifications, Fastpass + isn’t available right now as they are using social distancing with wait lines, and they are using the FastPass+ space for their regular line queue. Note: You can get three FP for one park per day.

 

From the Disney...

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