We had a few of our team members arrive at Magic Kingdom this morning to attend the special Annual Passholder preview that’s happening today!
Magic Kingdom
And just about all of us took a different method of transportation to get here! See what our team experienced driving their own cars to Disney World today as well as riding the monorail and using the Disney World buses to get to the gates of Magic Kingdom! We also checked out the ferryboats on our way out of the park today too!
Driving and Parking at Disney World
We arrived bright and early this morning — as did A LOT of folks! There was quite the crowd waiting for Magic Kingdom to let cars through. The toll plazas opened a little after 7:45AM and began slowly letting a few cars in. This part of the arrival process took a good deal of patience, so make sure your vehicle is fully-equipped with some Hamilton tunes to rock out to!
Magic Kingdom AP preview entrance crowds
More lanes began opening, and more cars slowly started to move. Every now and then, we’d be stopped for a few minutes before we started rolling again which gave us ample time to snap a pic of the parking rates sign.
Parking Rates Sign
Disney World is also encouraging guests to use contactless payment options whenever possible. This sign informed guests to have their cashless forms of payment handy.
Cashless Payment
Once we paid and passed through the toll plaza, it was still a bit of a wait. Cars were being directed to park in every other spot so that guests could social distance while exiting their vehicles.
Parking at the TTC
Once we finally had our parking spot, we had to walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center because parking lot trams are not currently in service. We were able to pass through the temperature screening and bag check at the Ticket and Transportation Center so we could skip this step once we arrived at the entrance to Magic Kingdom.
Temperature Screening at TTC
And once we made it through both checkpoints, the next step was choosing how to get to Magic Kingdom. Available options include ferry boat, monorail, or bus.
Riding the Bus From Ticket and Transportation Center
For us, buses seemed to be operating the fastest this morning, even with significantly reduced capacities and other new protocols. Physical distancing markers have been placed on the ground at the bus station while Cast Members wearing bright orange vests direct guests to the next available bus.
Disney Bus
Each bus is now divided into six zones and each party is assigned to a group of seats. If your group is bigger than what one zone can accommodate, your group will get two zones.
Zone Seating
Some zones are also marked off as “unavailable.”
Marked Out Seating
Note — bus service will resume from the resorts to the theme parks once they are officially open to the public, but for now buses are only running to and from the TTC and Magic Kingdom and to and from the resorts and Disney Springs.
Riding the Monorail From the Ticket and Transporation Center
The lines for the monorail looked lengthy this morning. Markers have been placed on the ground in spread-out intervals and our team members who rode the monorail today said it looked worse than was. It actually wasn’t that bad of a wait.
Monorail Lines
In the loading area, railings are taped off in yellow indicating guests should not lean or stand to close them.
Monorail Line
Monorail cars are now split with physical distancing barriers. For the initial phased of Disney World’s reopening, the monorail will only run to Magic Kingdom and not EPCOT.
Monorail
And in no time at all, we arrived at Magic Kingdom!
Magic Kingdom
After we enjoy our Endless Yum at Starbucks, rode Splash Mountain a few more times, and witnessed the bizarre paint-by-number castle, we took the ferryboat for their return journey home to see what it was like!
Riding the Ferryboat From Magic Kingdom
Luckily, a ferryboat was waiting at the dock and we were able to board it immediately. If there isn’t a ferryboat, guests need to wait at social distancing markers until one arrives.
Ferryboat
Once we climbed aboard we noticed little green dots have been placed throughout the boat. This indicates where parties should stand while the vessel is in motion.
Ferryboat
Benches have been marked as unavailable.
Ferryboat
Meanwhile, both levels of the ferryboat were open to guests, even though our ferryboat was relatively empty when we left towards the end of the day.
Ferryboat
Once we arrived at the TTC, we saw social distancing numbered markers have also been placed on this side.
Ferryboat
After our boat ride, we walked to our cars to go home and take a long, hot bath! Luckily we got to accomplish just about everything we set out to do today, except one of our favorite attractions was still closed — find out which one here!
Did do attend the Annual Passholder preview today? Tell us what your experience getting to the parks was like in the comments below!
From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, annual passholder preview, bag check, bus, Disney World, ferryboat, health and safety measures, monorail, Parking, parking lot, reopening, social distancing, temperature checks, ticket and transportation center, tram, ttc
