Yesterday was the first step in the re-opening of Walt Disney World – the opening of Disney Springs. I wanted to get a first hand experience of the ups and downs of navigating Disney masked with my kiddos. For my boys, it was the first time they had done more than a car parade since mid-March and it was great to get out of the house.   I have a lot of families that ask me for up to date Disney info and I wanted to make sure I was able to give proper guidance.  As always if you have any questions of all things Disney, or need help securing resort reservations or tickets, feel free to message here – rachel@magicboundtravel.com. Here’s what we learned:

The process to get into Disney Springs was extremely easy.  We stopped for a quick temperature check.  The Advent Health professional staff were super kind and asked each of my kids if it was ok to take their temperature.

A reminder that anyone whose temperature is above 100.4 will not be allowed entry NOR will anyone in their party be allowed to enter Disney Springs.  The entire process was done in a quick minute.

I had masks for each of my kids and this is where I’ll focus my advice.  It was an eye opener. The number one tip I have is to have a perfect fitting mask for each child.  I had two of my boys pick out their own masks online and this really helped with their enthusiasm for wearing it.  They asked to wear them! Because they were cool!

Two of my kids wore disposable masks.  I quickly realized that even with me trying to adjust them, they still did not love them.  I had complaints of masks falling, itching, and general discomfort.  I ended up switching one to a cloth mask.  This worked great until he realized how fun it was to spray himself with the fan/sprayer…and his mask was totally wet.  Which meant the mask was falling off.

The entire experience left me with great takeaways.  The first was setting expectations.  Masks are to be worn at all times.  They asked questions about why people had masks off while eating AND walking around with drinks.  Explaining this ahead of time will help keep complains/protests at bay.  You will definitely want to hydrate ahead of your trip.  This is a fantastic Disney rule of thumb regardless of masks or no masks.

You’ll want to be clear of what to expect as you venture out.  My one son was bummed that not all stores were open.  I had known this would be the case but failed to let my kids know.  Remembering to keep your kids updated about any changes in routine or just the general flow of the day will really help keep them on track and in good spirits.

An additional note is that you’ll want to have multiple masks for your trip for any variety of reasons that the mask you are wearing gets wet, hot, dropped, etc.  It may also be a good idea to have a place to store your mask as you exit Disney Springs.   The adults at Disney Springs all did a fantastic job of abiding by the rules.  Everyone had masks on – as is the guidelines set upon entry.  Disney also had a plethora of hand sanitizer stations, social distancing guidelines, walkway directional signage, and cast members out to help guide guests.

I ordered my mask from Whistle While We Stitch, based here in Orlando, and I love it!  My youngest son’s mask was ordered from KidsPartyDreams on Etsy and we are huge fans of it as well.

As always, follow my three main rules with kids when you are at Disney – feet, heat, and eat.  Should you kids even start to hint that they are tired, overly hot, or hungry, make a stop to address those needs.  This parenting quick save will do wonders in the long run to keep the trip successful and with minimal meltdowns.

Stay tuned as I keep you updated on all things Disney!  And if you want to see the most current updates, make sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook! Have a magical day!