5 lessons Walt Disney World can take from the reopening of Universal Orlando

Last week, I traveled to Orlando for the soft opening of Universal Orlando. I spent a night at the new Endless Summer Resorts: Surfside Inn & Suites to access the theme parks on their first day back after an 80-day closure.

While I had a blast during my park visit (the new Hagrid roller coaster at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a must-ride), the experience was quite different from what it was pre-coronavirus.

The next major reopening on the summer schedule is July 11: the planned return of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Although Disney is renowned for its logistical expertise and has Shanghai Disneyland as a reference, there are still valuable insights it can gain from the recently reopened Universal theme park nearby.

In addition to learning from Universal, what other enhancements can Disney implement to offer guests (who are paying full price for tickets) a much-needed dose of summer magic?

To receive more TPG news in your inbox each morning, subscribe to our daily newsletter.

Mask fatigue

July in Florida can be unbearably hot, even under the best conditions.

This makes it challenging to implement any coronavirus safety measures. I wore a mask for over eight hours on a relatively mild, cloudy early-June day. If it had been 95 degrees and sunny, I would have felt extremely uncomfortable. If my 3- and 5-year-olds had to wear masks in that heat, we probably wouldn’t last long at all.

Universal offers U-Rest areas where guests can sit apart and briefly remove their masks, but I only noticed a few. They weren't well advertised, with only a sign indicating their location. While having masks on at all times is a wise public health measure, I anticipate it could make the visitor experience uncomfortable on a hot, humid day in Central Florida.

Disney needs to harness its top talent to find ways for guests—both young and old—to combat mask fatigue on the hottest days, as masks are mandatory for everyone aged 2 and older.

This might involve creating a guide highlighting the most effective and comfortable masks for hot weather. Disney could also sell these masks at the resort hotels and throughout the theme parks. (Additionally, keep in mind that it often rains in the afternoons in Orlando during summer, so masks may get wet.)

The app could include a push notification reminding guests to stay hydrated and take a socially distanced break to remove their masks. Capacity would need to be limited to allow for multiple designated U-Rest-type areas where people can comfortably distance and relax without their masks on.

I don't have a flawless solution on hand, but I’m confident that some of the top Imagineers can devise innovative strategies to help guests beat mask fatigue and stay cool outdoors during the summer heat.

Inform guests about the virtual queuing system in advance

The biggest source of confusion and frustration for Universal Orlando guests on opening day was the lack of clarity regarding the Universal Virtual Line Pass system. I observed many guests attempting to join physical lines for attractions that were only operating with a virtual queue.

This information wasn't communicated effectively beforehand, leaving many guests in a sort of ongoing lottery to ride the park's most sought-after attractions. If you weren’t lucky enough to secure a virtual pass in a poorly explained system, you missed out on the most enjoyable rides. Plus, keep in mind that theme park tickets were still full price, meaning you paid top dollar for the chance to ride very little if you weren’t familiar with the new system.

Disney has already implemented virtual queuing for the new Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride, and slots for this ride were consistently filled within minutes of the park opening.

The Disney theme park must quickly communicate the new system and clearly indicate which rides and attractions will exclusively use virtual queuing technology. They should also adequately limit park capacity during the initial days to ensure all guests have the opportunity to secure a pass and understand how ride throughput will be affected as crowds test the system. (Remember, FastPass+ will not be available upon reopening.)

Key questions to address in advance include: How many virtual queue passes can guests hold at once? Will they be obtainable 24 hours ahead of time or only in the morning when the park opens and your phone verifies your presence in the park? What happens if someone doesn’t own a smartphone or encounters technical difficulties?

Provide answers to these questions now so that guests can arrive well-informed and avoid disappointment.

Ensure adequate transportation planning

The Universal resort buses appear to be the same model that Disney uses to transport guests between parks, hotels, and Disney Springs. During my visit, Universal allowed only 18 passengers on a bus that could likely accommodate three times that number or more before the park closed in March.

This resulted in a long line of guests waiting for a bus from Surfside Inn & Suites to Universal Studios.

I anticipate that the capacity on Disney buses, boats, and the monorail will be similarly limited. This significantly reduces the usual capacity to transport guests from areas like the Magic Kingdom parking lot across or around Seven Seas Lagoon to the main entrance.

At park closing, the large crowds exiting at the same time already take considerable time to move. This will be even slower unless park capacity is greatly limited. Also, keep in mind that the Minnie Van service will not be available when the park reopens.

Disney needs to deploy a large number of buses to transport guests, advise them to allow much more time to navigate the resort, or devise creative new methods for getting guests around the entire Disney property.

Disney will require reservations to enter the park, so implementing a timed-entry system could help spread out the transportation load, preventing everyone from arriving simultaneously. However, this would necessitate a defined end time for attraction access, so guests wouldn't all leave at once. Still, it would be challenging to justify full price for a timed access system that doesn't allow for a full day in the parks.

Ideal mobile food ordering

Disney has had a mobile food ordering system for some time, but it will need to expand rapidly, potentially to include full-service restaurants in addition to quick-service options. At Universal, this system became problematic at restaurants that hadn’t previously used mobile ordering. For instance, it took me 30 minutes to receive a beer I ordered through the Universal mobile app. Both the server and manager mentioned they were new to mobile ordering and were still figuring it out.

The mobile ordering system at Universal felt ineffective when sit-down restaurants lacked specific mobile order pickup lines. Guests still had to queue with other patrons to enter a restaurant with reduced capacity, as many tables were blocked off for social distancing. Similar to the limited bus capacity, this resulted in lengthy wait times for a table. Even after being seated, a server would come to request your mobile order number and enter it into the system.

Ensure sufficient space

There were several instances at Universal where inadequate space was allocated for certain new procedures.

This became a hazardous scenario when a temperature check was positioned at the top of an escalator. The designated area quickly became crowded, leaving individuals exiting the moving escalator with no place to go. The outcome was a tightly packed group of people stuck just inches apart.

Now, consider the line for the monorail or ferry from the Magic Kingdom parking area to the entrance. With everyone maintaining six feet of distance, that line will stretch significantly long and require extensive physical space.

At Universal, ride, attraction, and restaurant lines mandated six feet of spacing, quickly pushing queues into main walkways or beyond designated areas. This forced pedestrians to navigate around large lines, often encroaching on the needed six feet of separation, rendering the spacing efforts somewhat ineffective.

Ultimately, there will probably be lines at Disney that force guests to stand in the sun for long periods, as socially distanced queues extend far outside buildings and shelters. To prevent mask-wearing guests from overheating, more umbrellas or shade structures should be installed in the additional space.

Conclusion

As mentioned with Universal, Disney faces a daunting challenge in implementing public health best practices and CDC guidelines within a theme park setting. I hope Disney has been closely monitoring guest feedback from Universal to learn from those experiences. I remain hopeful that Disney's creativity and ingenuity will lead to fantastic ideas to ensure the guest experience is both enjoyable and safe.