I understand that there are so many uncertainties right now and now with all the theme parks opening many ask is it safe to visit? How will we feel safe there? Plus many more questions. We were asking the same things when learning about the opening of theme parks. I was extremely nervous. What made us decide to go so early vs waiting was seeing all of their safety precautions they were doing. Universal's Website is the greatest place to begin. They have all the updated warnings (Exposure to COVID-19 is an inherent risk in any public location where people are present; we cannot guarantee you will not be exposed during your visit.) and information regarding visiting the park. I would highly suggest reading all the policies on Universal's website before going to see if you feel comfortable going. Everything I will be writing is all 100% my opinion and wanted to share my experience with going to the parks. If you do not feel comfortable in going yet, please wait. You do not need to rush anything. Also for everyone to be kind and do not judge people who decide to go or don't decide to go.
The best part about right now, if you are a Passholder we get some awesome extra perks! So once you park your car (they are parking every other spot for social distancing), you will go right to the temperature screenings which is right in the parking garage. Both times we have gone so far it took us less than 5 minutes to go through the temp checkpoint. You'll sanitize your hands then walk up to the team members and they will take your temp and you'll be on your way! There will be markings all on the ground at the parking garage and security on where to stand for social distancing. Also, they have an announcement continuously running talking all about the policies. We instantly felt welcomed and were happy to be back!
Once you near the parks, they will have team members out there again speaking with Guests about social distancing, washing hands, etc as the reminders plus numerous signs to remind you. Typically to enter the park, they would scan your ticket/ap and then do your fingerprint. This has now gone away and they will require your ID to be sure you are the person on the ticket/ap. So be sure to have your photo ID!
Now let us talk about attractions and how they work. Many of the popular rides are now on a virtual line queue where you can grab a time on Universal's mobile app. I LOVED this option! We were finally able to go on Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure after never being able to ride due to the crowds and long lines. The best part of the virtual queue is they add them throughout the day! So if you don't see the time right away, keep checking! We also used the virtual queue for other popular such as Skull Island. Other attractions depending on how busy they offer to walk on or the virtual queue. On Monday we were able to just walk onto Gringotts, but other times you must have the virtual queue. There are other attractions such as E/T Adventures (Talia's favorite) that are still just the normal line queue. They are still offering Express pass, so if you have that included with your hotel stay or bought one you may still use it! I will say they did take away preshows, but that was expected due to crowding in rooms. So using E.T again, you used to go into a smaller room for a preshow with Steven Spielberg and E.T, now you'll just walk right through it. All attractions have their extended queues opened for social distancing and they have it marked on the ground where to stand while waiting. Just be sure to pay attention to the group in front of you to see if they stopped so you aren't awkwardly in the middle of two spots (this happened to us briefly). Once you are near the front of the line queue, a team member will be there to give you a pump of hand sanitizer. I liked them doing this and Talia thought it was so fun. Once you are on the ride, you will be sat with social distancing in mind. Typically when you go on rides if you have a small party, you'll be seated with others. Now you will have your row. They will also now skip a row on all attractions. Also if you take the Hogwarts Express, your party will get their cabin vs sharing. Masks are required to stay on during the entire attraction. Rider swap still exists for families, however, it is now different. Rather than waiting in the family room, you will wait outside and get a slip. You will either then go up the exit in a designated area or you will go through express. The team member will explain where to go.
They have the majority of their quick service locations opened now as well. Plus their sit-downs and many locations in City Walk are opened to eat. We were curious about how the quick service locations were operating with the new policies. We took a visit to Cafe4 at Islands of Adventure (mainly to get our free refillable mug that you get with being an ap right now with a mobile order). What they are now doing is sitting you down at a table and then you can mobile order or someone will come and take your order and one person in your family will go cash out. They still accept your ap discount as well, you'll just need to let the team member know and they will give you cashback for the difference.
I love that also Universal kept all their characters out! Now you can take social distance photos and/or selfies with them! They have markers where you can stand to take photos with them. The best part is they still talk and interact with you! I love it! Also my favorite Blue is still meeting in her brand new Jurassic World paddock! I do miss her nuzzling on your head but I'm just happy to meet her. Please be warned, if you want your entire family in the photo you must take selfies. Out of the safety of Team Members they cannot use your phone for photos. However, they still have their photographer with Blue and certain other locations. So if you have their photo package it will come in handy for these photos! Also, they still have certain outside shows still going on and they have special marks on the ground where you can stand to watch them!
Now onto everyone's favorite topic: masks. This is probably the biggest complaint I have seen from people on social media. Honestly, we never had any issues. Yes, it gets HOT but there are ways to assist with that. Each park plus City Walk has U-Rest stations that you can enter and safely take off your mask to social distance. On Monday we utilized the one in Universal because it was hot. It was a nice minor break. Also, you can take it off briefly when you are drinking and eating so remember those water breaks! Stay hydrated!! Once you are in a restaurant you may take your mask off as well once you're seated. This also is a very nice break and especially if its AC. Now talking about a toddler wearing a mask, I was concerned with Talia but she was a rockstar! How did we get her to wear one at age three? We first had her try it on at home and flat out told her if she wants to go anywhere she must wear it. Once we also got there we told her again, to stay at Universal she must wear it! There were moments that we had some issues with the mask and her which is understandable since she is so little. When she did this she would sit in her stroller and we took that time to get her to drink water and have a little snack to be sure she was doing okay. She understood though to walk and ride rides she had to wear it. I also do have asthma and I did well wearing the mask in the heat. I just paced myself and didn't over push myself. We have cloth masks but I heard that surgical masks are easier to wear with the heat. Also, be sure to bring more than one mask if you plan on staying the entire day between the sweat and possible rain, you'll want backups. Universal also sells them but you have to wear a mask to get in to buy one if you want one of theirs.
Following up on everything I want to say I honestly felt safer at Universal than going to a local store. Here in Florida, it seems like many do not listen to social distancing anymore or wearing masks in stores and gas stations anymore. So going to Universal and everyone listening was a huge relief. Again I am just going off my experiences. If you still do not feel comfortable going yet then please take your time. There is no rush, Universal will be waiting for you when you are ready! Also please do not try to "cheat the system" with not wearing masks and please stay home if you feel sick in any way. We are happy to have Universal back! If you plan on going just remember to follow all the rules and be smart! I hope this blog helps a bit!
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