10 Biggest Problems You’ll Run Into in Disney World Right Now

Planning on visiting Disney World soon? Disney World might be magical (the most magical place on earth in fact) but you may still encounter quite a few problems while you’re there!

Today we’re sharing our list with you of the 10 BIGGEST problems you’ll run into in Disney World right now so you can best prepare for your upcoming trips!

Let’s dive in!

1. Limited/No Nighttime Dining

One of the biggest problems you might encounter right now in Magic Kingdom and other locations around Disney World has to do with dining. Although the theme parks have been staying open later recently, we’ve still found it difficult at times to find dining locations that are open late.

Even though the park may not be closing until 9 or 10 PM, you may find that many of the restaurants will close 1, 2, or even 6 HOURS earlier. 

If you’re planning to stay in the parks until very late at night, be sure to check My Disney Experience in advance to see what will be open during your late evening hours. You can order from those locations later in the night, or consider eating dinner a bit earlier so you can make sure you get the meal you’re looking for. Don’t wait until 1 hour before park closing to realize you’re hungry and need to eat!

Click here to see more about our experience with this late night dining issue!

2. Some Hotel Reservations May Be Harder to Get

While many things at Disney World have reopened, quite a few hotels are still closed. For example, Disney’s All-Star Sports and Music Resorts and Disney’s Port Orleans Resorts (both French Quarter and Riverside) are still closed and no reopening dates for them have been set yet.

Because several hotels are still closed, you may find it a bit tougher to get a reservation at the other hotels or you may find that you just have more limited options.

Our advice? Book your hotel room early when you’ll (hopefully) have a greater selection. If discounts or deals later get announced that you want to take advantage of, you can try to see how to make arrangements to apply those to your upcoming trip.

Click here to see our full list of reopening dates for Disney World’s hotels.

3. Park Pass Reservations Running Out

Although Disney World has increased its capacity, Park Pass reservations are still required for you and every member of your party for every single day of your trip.

Park Pass reservations can quickly fill up, particularly with the summer approaching, which is typically a busy time at the parks as kids get out of school and families plan their vacations.

We’ve already seen many days in the summer filling up when it comes to Park Passes (although some have later been refilled). You’ll definitely want to book your Park Pass reservations AS EARLY as possible to give yourself the best chance to visit the parks you want to go to during your trip.

You can always cancel the Park Passes later on and try to make new reservations depending on availability, but at least you’ll have some reservations confirmed for your trip.

Click here to learn more about the Park Pass system!

4. Long Lines and Virtual Queues in the Parks

Another problem you’ll have to face is long lines in the parks, along with those virtual queues. Lines in the parks can sometimes stretch far beyond the actual ride or store that they’re for, due mostly to distancing guidelines.

And while distancing is being gradually reduced, we expect that some distancing coupled with increased capacity will likely keep these lines fairly long (at least in terms of pure length, not necessarily in terms of long waiting times).

It can sometimes be confusing what a particular line is for. Our best advice is to look carefully for those “line starts here” signs and ask a Cast Member for assistance if you’re unsure where a particular line may start.

Some rides or other locations in the parks are also utilizing virtual queue systems like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (with its boarding groups) and the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge market shopping area. Sometimes virtual queues can pop up in new places too, so you’ll just want to keep that in mind.

Not being able to stroll right onto a ride or into a store can be a bit of challenge for your itinerary. It’s important to keep an eye out for virtual queues throughout the parks and stay flexible! Take advantage of that virtual queue time to grab a snack, ride an attraction, or just enjoy the parks.

Click here to see more about the virtual queue in Galaxy’s Edge!

5. Transportation Troubles

There are a number of transportation problems you may encounter in Disney World that you’ll want to be aware of. Right now, all of Disney’s transportation are operating a bit differently to allow for social distancing. There’s limited capacity and barriers in place on the monorail, Skyliner, Disney buses, and more.

Due to these changes, you’ll likely have to wait a bit longer to get on your chosen form of Disney transportation. 

You may also find that certain forms of transportation that you used previously are not currently available. For example, the monorail to EPCOT is still not available and the buses from the Transportation and Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom may or may not be available depending on the day.

Again, it’s important to be flexible here. We’d also recommend getting to these forms of Disney transportation as early as possible when it comes to the mornings as that generally can help you beat some of those long lines.

Click here to see little-known Disney World transportation tips that will save you time!

6. Changing Rules

As the situation with the pandemic develops, rules and regulations in Disney World have changed, and we expect that they will continue to change throughout the next several months.

Just recently, Disney announced that they would be phasing out temperature checks, reducing distancing, and changing their mask rules.

Changes are sometimes announced weeks in advance, and other times the changes are made overnight. Before and during your trip, you should continue to keep an eye out for more updates from us or Disney about changes in their rules and policies. You’ll definitely want to make sure you’re up to date on all the latest. Again, flexibility is key here!

Click here to see our thoughts on how the new social distancing guidelines could change Disney World.

7. Long Lines and Limited Capacity for Things You Might Not Expect

While we’ve already addressed lines and capacity when it comes to the parks and transportation, right now you’ll also find that there are some LONG lines due to limited capacity at a lot of things you might not expect there to be lines for.

For example, Disney World’s pools have been operating under limited capacities. That has led to some of the pools using virtual queues or just having guests wait in line. And sometimes those lines can get VERY LONG!

Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney Springs also utilizes a virtual queue and sometimes the waits there can be hours long.

You probably already expected to wait in quite a few lines because that just goes with visiting Disney World. But, you may have to wait in some unexpected lines during your upcoming trip(s). If you can, getting to the pools and some of those places that use virtual queues early, can help you miss most or all of the long lines.

But, if you’re stuck waiting, be sure to come prepared with some mobile games, or work on some back-up plans to keep you and the family busy.

Click here to see our list of 7 things to do in Disney World when the lines are WAY too long!

8. Mobile Order Lines or Late Pick-Up Times

Mobile Order can be a really convenient way to quickly order your food to be picked up later. But, if you don’t plan carefully, you could also experience some big Mobile Order problems.

First, if you schedule your food pick-up time to be during peak lunch or dinner time, you could be stuck waiting in a LONG line of other guests also waiting to pick up their food. You might want to consider scheduling your food to be picked up at times when things are not as busy.

Second, if you wait until you’re hungry to order your food, you may find that the next available pick-up time isn’t for a while. That could leave you and your family feeling hungry (more like hangry) for a half-hour or more.

Instead of waiting, consider placing your order well in advance. You’ll likely have a greater selection of pick-up times available and you’ll be able to pick up that food right when you get hungry — perfect timing!

Click here to see how to avoid Mobile Order wait times in Disney World!

9. Limited Options

All 4 theme parks have reopened at Disney World, along with several hotels and restaurants, Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, Disney Springs, and other things. But, quite a few things are still closed, as we mentioned above when it comes to hotels.

In this section, however, we’re not talking about hotels. We’re talking about the rides, restaurants, and other entertainment offerings that still haven’t reopened. Many live performance shows (like Finding Nemo — The Musical and more) are still closed in Disney World. Some restaurants (like ‘Ohana, Columbia Harbour House, and others) are also still closed. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park is still closed. Fireworks and full parades also still haven’t returned.

In other words, while a lot of things have reopened, Disney World still doesn’t have all of the same offerings it did before. That’s important to keep in mind. Things will likely continue to change and reopen in the upcoming months, but we’d recommend that you take a look at what is available now. It’s best to know in advance that your kiddo’s favorite show isn’t going on right now rather than find out when you get there!

Click here to see what still hasn’t reopened in Disney World!

10. Phone or Tech Issues

As you go through your Disney World trip, you’ll likely use your phone a LOT to check wait times, place Mobile Orders, and maybe even use Disney’s new MagicMobile service.

A BIG problem you might encounter in Disney World has to do with your phone’s battery. With all that phone use, you might find that your mobile device has run out of juice way earlier than it normally would.

You’ll want to think about this in advance and figure out whether you’d like to bring a phone charger and portable battery from home or potentially purchase a FuelRod in the parks.

You may also encounter tech issues with your phone when it comes to in-park Wifi or just general tech problems. That’s why we think it’s a good idea to make sure you’ve got screenshots of your reservations and other information, and potentially think about a back-up plan.

Do you have your park ticket or MagicBand with you just in case your phone battery dies? Does someone else in your group have screenshots of your dining reservations? Being prepared can take the stress out of these situations if you experience a tech issue later!

Click here to see every major feature added to My Disney Experience in the past year.

And that’s our list of the 10 biggest problems you’ll encounter during your upcoming trips to Disney World. We’ll continue to work on more tips and tricks that can hopefully help you plan the very best Disney trip and face all of these potential problems with ease!

What is one problem you’ve faced in Disney World? Tell us in the comments.

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