Disney World with No masks!? New Mask policies at Disney World.

We were super stoked to go on our upcoming Disney World trip and were busy with packing and preparing to go when the CDC announces that masks are not necessary for vaccinated people. This was already great news because that meant our day to day lives were about to get alot easier.

It was not even close to on our radar that theme parks would start loosening their policies so soon since it was such large gatherings of people.

Sure enough later that evening a tweet pops up on Universal Orlando’s account announcing that masks would no longer be required outdoors, effective almost immediately. We were STOKED and completely shocked! We did have a day planned at Universal, so this was awesome news! We proceeded to spend the next few hours praying that Disney would follow suit. We figured it had to be coming soon since Disney could be loosing potential guests to Universal if they didn’t keep up.

Our prayers were answered and Disney also made the announcement that face masks would be optional outdoors. Our trip officially got about 1000% more comfortable.

This new policy comes with LOTS of questions, many of which we ourselves had, so we hope to be able to answer a few and give you an idea of what it’s like at Disney World now.

The official policy (as of May 2021) is that masks are optional in all outdoor common areas, but are still required indoors, on transportation, on rides/attractions, and while in queues for rides/attractions.

Seriously AMAZING news! But we did have some questions about what was considered ‘outdoors’ and ‘queue lines’. When we visited last October, the lines for attractions spread way past the normal entrance for rides since everyone was spaced 6 feet apart. I was curious to know where the mask policy would be enforced and where it was not.

Here is what we discovered:

Of course the indoors one was super easy. Any time you would walk into any sort of building, (shop, resort, restaurant, etc.) you just pop your mask on and cast members where there to politely remind you. The only part that was a little inconsistent was restrooms. These are still considered indoors, so you should be wearing your mask. But since there weren’t cast members or signs reminding you, lots of people seemed to be breaking this rule.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with, but be sure that you are remaining respectful of those around you in these areas and maintaining your distance whenever possible.

Transportation was another one that was a little tricky at first, but made sense pretty quickly.

On the buses and monorails you for sure had to wear them since you were pretty close and ‘indoors’ with several other families. Again, the cast members politely reminded you to put it on before you boarded as it can be easy to forget sometimes.

Boats, although outdoors, still require that you wear masks. My guess is that it is because you are still in close proximity to other guests for a longish period of time. The nice thing is that there is usually a wonderful breeze while on the boats, so we didn’t mind this too much.

The Skyliner was another one that was pretty inconsistent. They board only one family in each gondola, so you are totally welcome to take your mask off while riding! The lines for the Skyliner seemed like it just depended on the cast member you encountered. I would say about half the people that were waiting in line did not wear them and the other half did.

We rode the Skyliner quite a bit on this recent trip, but we only saw maybe one or two instances where guests were asked to wear their masks in line. They for sure did not care at the end of the night when the line was insanely long and spread all the way from Epcot’s International Gateway to almost past Beach Club Resort!

This is another circumstance that I would say do what you feel comfortable with. Those lines can crowd fast, so try your best to keep a little spread out from the groups around you so that everyone can have a comfortable experience.

Now for the big one….

What is considered outside and what is considered queue?

This was the biggest question I had and unfortunately it was again… mixed… The part that seemed the most consistent was that once you entered the official ‘entrance’ to the ride queue (basically where the fastpass and standby wait times are listed, not the extended line) cast members asked you to put your mask on past that point.

Anything past that seemed to be up to you. Again, I would say it was about half and half. It was not enforced, but there were some signs asking to have masks on and of course to not be eating or drinking in line.

Personally, we felt comfortable without ours and it was pretty hot, so we opted to not, but we did see many families that still chose to wear theirs. We personally did not have any cast members ask us to put ours on, but it could also be a case of it depends on the cast member.

Overall

As I mentioned earlier, we personally felt totally comfortable the entire and there wasn’t a time that we were feeling crammed with a bunch of other people. There was still plenty of cleaning as well as social distancing procedures in place. For us it was a truly awesome trip and one step towards back to normal!

We totally understand that not everyone feels comfortable with how quickly things are moving and we have a few tips to help you feel safe during this new transition.

1. You can totally still wear your mask!

There are no rules saying that you cannot wear a face mask. If there is ever a moment where you are uncomfortable or feel like you are in too crowded of a space, you can absolutely wear your mask and no one is going to judge you! We noticed that people were being very respectful of a family’s space if they saw that they were wearing their masks outdoors or anywhere it isn’t required. Everyone has a different comfort level and that’s ok.

2. Continue to wash hands and use hand sanitizer.

I’m not a huge fan of hand sanitizer, but I always make sure that I have some disposable disinfecting wipes that I use before eating. This is a little extra step you can take to make sure you aren’t putting yucky who knows what in your mouth!

3. Take breaks away from people

Disney is for sure getting busier, especially with the summer months ahead. Take time to find a place away from thick crowds and take a break. This can be eating at a sit down restaurant, finding those hidden less busy spots in the parks, or even just heading back to your hotel for the pool or a relaxing nap in your room!

The resorts are ALWAYS a great place to go if you need to get away from crowds and there is still plenty to do at each resort!

If you want some tips on some places to take a break at Disney, check out our video:

We hope that your upcoming Disney trip is absolutely amazing and we will be sure to keep you updated with any future changes!