If you have been following my page for a minute, you will probably have heard me say that I thought masks and Disney were not a good combo, that it would ruin the magic and that it would be way too hot. I got a lot of feedback on those comments, encouraging me to give it a try before I was so quick to cast judgement, so that is exactly what I did. Yesterday I ventured to Disney Springs to see what it was really like and to share my experiences with other people who may have precious life experiences who make masks wearing hard. As someone with some not so nice precious life experiences, the masks are actually a big trigger for me, so I had a lot of mixed emotions going into the day. Luckily I had a Disney friend who was willing to brave the Springs with me.
The first thing I noticed was that the parking situation was quite a bit different than I anticipated. I thought they would be parking cars every other spot to allow for social distancing, but that was not the case. They had the orange and grapefruit garages open to park in and I have to say they were pretty busy. You do not have to wear your mask in the parking garage, but are expected to put it on when you get to the temperature check. The temperature check was actually done by Advent Health, not Disney cast members, and for some reason I did like that. It doesn’t bother me when Legoland employees do it either, but something about it being a medical professional felt a little bit better.
I was expecting Disney to be SUPER strict about mask wearing, but they actually were more relaxed. They do have cast members who will ask you to put your mask back on, but if you are drinking something or eating something you can take it down. However you do have to have it on inside the stores, even if you have a snack or beverage. I did not have an issue keeping my mask on for majority of the day. With Disney springs you can go in and out of stores pretty easily and although it was busy, we at no point had to wait in a line to get into a store.
When we needed a break from mask wearing, we decided it was a good time to sit down and have some lunch. When you sit down to eat you do not have to wear a mask, so we popped into Paradiso 37. They are operating on a limited menu, but the food was delicious, the staff was super friendly, and most importantly, the restaurant was clean. I definitely recommend giving them a try if you are heading to Disney Springs for the day. According to Aubrey, the churros were out of this world and the best she has ever had!
Here is the main thing I gathered from being at Disney Springs yesterday: Disney has to require the masks because social distancing at Disney is not always possible. Unlike Legoland, where it is incredibly easy to spread out, Disney Springs was still pretty busy and even outside I would say the times were few and far between when we managed to stay six feet away from people. However it is unrealistic that people will keep their masks on all day, which is why they offer some exceptions. While we saw them enforcing the mask rule with adults, in a super polite way I might add, they do not seem to be enforcing it with children. We spoke with several families who had been multiple times and had never had a cast member try and force a mask on their tiny children. This tells me that Disney really just wants us all to try our best. I did not have an issue wearing a mask, but I know lots of tiny children would, so I am just going to leave that bit of info there.
Visiting Disney Springs did make me optimistic about the future. Seeing the mask rule in person basically just solidified what I already knew: it will not be here to stay. Disney just needs the mask rule in place as a temporary precaution. Is it the most fun in the world to wear a mask? No, but it is a small price to pay to get a little Disney Magic back.
If you are missing Disney, the masks really are doable as long as you are drinking lots of water and making sure you take some cool off time too. Would i take a trip from out of state and pay for a Disney vacation while the mask requirement is in place? No, probably not, but this is temporary and I think soon enough we will see everything back to normal. As of now, I don’t see this being a continuing thing into 2021 and I’m looking forward to Disney slowly transitioning to normalcy! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Marvelous Mrs. Morin 