Universal Studios Orlando, Florida - 2020
I recently completed a trip to Florida to experience the “new normal” to better advise any clients who may be thinking about travel in the near future. Although many international locations are still closed to US citizens, there are plenty of domestic locales that are open, as well as a few of the normal warm weather destinations us Minnesotans flock to in winter months!
I took Delta for my trip, and can highly recommend them as the airline of choice when it comes to health and safety precautions. In the airport and on the plane, social distancing was heavily enforced and masks were required. Middle seats were all left empty (unless the same party of more than 2 people were traveling together), and the usual beverage and snack service was replaced with a pre-bagged small water bottle, snack, sanitizing wipe, and napkin. They boarded the plane from back to front (I’ve always wondered why they didn’t do that to begin with…), and the flight crew was not able to help with storing bags in the slots above. Delta sanitizes between each flight (unlike some other airlines who only do it once per day), and the flight crew came through frequently with bags for people to dispose of trash (so as not to stuff it in the seat pockets).
Once we landed, we took a ride share to our hotel, the Holiday Inn & Suites across from Universal Orlando. Orlando area requires masks to be worn at all times in public - inside and out. Knowing this ahead of time helped us prepare mentally for the stifling humidity when wearing a mask, and to know to bring water to drink anytime we were outside. Masks are required of drivers and passengers alike in ride shares and public transit. Our hotel also required masks anytime you were out of your room. Hotels in general have stopped doing daily cleaning of rooms, opting for before and after guests stay instead. If extra towels or anything specific is needed, guests can go to the concierge or call guest services to request them. Our hotel offered a free shuttle 3 times a day to and from the parks, but it is also an easy 20 minute walk to get there.
The resort did a wonderful job with health and safety precautions. Masks were required everywhere, and crew members were often heard reminding people to wear them correctly (over mouth and nose) if anyone was seen to not be wearing theirs, even on rides (aside from water rides, those were exempt but only after you boarded the ride). To give you an idea of how serious they were about this, I was in line for the Hulk rollercoaster and one of the crew even stopped the ride after it had started due to someone not wearing a mask.
Additionally, the resort was at limited capacity, so the streets were virtually empty compared to normal. Each ride’s capacity was limited as well, to allow for social distancing on the rides themselves. Unfortunately for us, that meant the lines were just as long as normal. To try to limit people from congregating in long lines for extended durations, they implemented virtual line passes for many of the more popular rides, in which you could come to the entrance, scan a QBR code and select a time to come back to get in a shorter line. The park had many stickers on the ground reminding people to stay 6 feet apart, even in line queues, and crew members also verbally reminded people anytime they saw people congregated closer together. The park did offer a few designated spaces where you could unmask to get relief from wearing a mask in the Florida humidity and sun. However, overall, I didn’t find it too unbearable, as most of the rides had lines that were partially indoors or at least shaded. To be honest, I was in the parks 2 and a half days, didn’t wear any sunscreen (they were all very sunny days), and didn’t get burned—that’s how many lines are shaded or indoors. Characters still came out for meet and greets, albeit socially distant ones, and there were still the parades that come through occasionally.
All in all, it was still incredibly fun and a great trip, despite the new precautions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
