It’s been a long time since I walked through the gates at a Disney Park. In the grand scheme of things, it was only summer 2017, and that’s nothing compared to many people, but this trip was originally planned for early 2020. But life happened, I had my youngest during the early days of a global pandemic, and we stayed home. A few months after giving birth, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid disorder. Then a little over eight months ago, my immune system decided that food was an issue and I developed several food allergies, including some pretty severe reactions to fish, shellfish, and oats.
Generally I don’t get nervous going to Walt Disney World, I typically feel like I’ve got things pretty under control and know what to expect. But this trip is unique compared to our previous trip in several ways. And honestly, the things that have me slightly nervous are the very same things that I decided to start this blog to help reassure other guests about.
Since our last trip in 2017, so many things have changed in the parks:
- No more FastPass+, we have to learn a new system with Genie on the Disney World App.
FastPass+ was not the best thing for our family, the Disability Access Service was the only way we could access most rides on our last few trips. Still, it was helpful for rides that the DAS holder did not want to ride, and even more importantly to me, it was familiar. We aren’t planning on using Genie+ or the paid Individual Lightning Lanes this trip, but we are going to give the standard Genie system a try. - DAS reservations are available to set up online now.
This works similar to how the old FastPass+ system was set up where you can pre-select a couple rides in advance of your trip. We haven’t set up our DAS for this trip, but I’ll definitely be sure to share how that registration and pre-selection process goes. - Dining has changed a lot in general since the pandemic.
I did a whole post on that last night. I think the change that’s going to be the hardest to adjust to for us is that the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is unavailable. We’ve used the DDP for all but one trip since 2012, and while some people choose to debate over whether it’s worth it , our family loved it. It was a great way to keep things simpler, and if you were doing a lot of character meals like we were, you would typically come out ahead. - Park Reservations and Park Hopping are totally different, and the evening Extra Magic Hours for all resort guests is gone.
The reservation system started when the parks re-opened after the COVID-19 closure, and is just another unfamiliar thing about this trip. My family were avid park hoppers, typically hitting 2-3 parks a day. We’d start at whichever park had the earliest opening time (or morning Extra Magic Hours), take a break mid-day, and then we’d head out to whichever park was open latest (typically with then evening Extra Magic Hours running to or past midnight). We liked being in as early as possible and then closing down the parks at the end of the night. We can still do the morning early entry but that’s cut down dramatically from where it was before too. And we can’t enter a second park until 2 p.m. - So many NEW Attractions since the last visit!
This is both super exciting and anxiety-producing for me as a fat person. I love new rides, but I am human and I’ve done “walk of shame” at theme parks before. This is just a quick list of some of what’s new since my last trip:
– The EPCOT France expansion
– Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
– Skyliner
– Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
– the entire Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge expansion at Hollywood Studios
– the entire Toy Story Land expansion (also at Hollywood Studios)
– Harmonious
This doesn’t even take the new TRON coaster coming to Magic Kingdom into account, because we leave before it opens.
And aside from all those changes that are just general Disney Parks changes that effect everyone, this is also…
- the first trip where my wife and I will be outnumbered by our kids
- the first trip where I’ll be bringing a mobility aid (nearly fainting at Animal Kingdom in 2017 and a recent exacerbation of my symptoms – apparently pointing to POTS, but waiting on a tilt table test – has led me to make the decision to bring my rollator along for the ride.)
- the first trip where we’re navigating my long list of food allergies (we’ve dealt with the wife’s celiac disease and my in-laws’ food allergies before, but they only had one or two each, where as mine are in the double digits)
- the first Disney trip where my wandering sensory kid is too old for a backpack harness and will simultaneously be wearing “blockers” (noise-cancelling earmuffs). I’m legitimately considering buying some AirTags to hook to this kids shoes, just in case.
- the first trip since 2012 where I’m trying out as many new things as possible. I’ve deemed this the “Year of New Experiences”.
It’s a little overwhelming, right?
On the upside, even with the anxiety, I’m incredibly excited for this trip. My oldest is finally getting her long-awaited trip to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique before she “ages out” later this year. My middle kid is excited for sushi at the Japan pavilion at EPCOT and Pirates of the Caribbean. My baby is having his third birthday and his first haircut in the parks, and is talking non-stop about wanting to meet Goofy (his favorite Disney character). I’m planning a short Skyliner excursion over to the “new” Riviera DVC resort to check out the absolutely GORGEOUS mosaics, and a boat ride from Disney Springs to taste test the allergy-friendly beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter.
Access the Mouse 