The phased reopening of Disney Springs continued today with the opening of several Disney-owned locations, including World of Disney, Marketplace Co-Op, and D-Luxe Burger. For domestic Disney fans, these are the first Disney-owned locations open since mid-March and demand was high. Our own Jeremiah Good visited Disney Springs to capture the reopening experience where the Orange Garage was already very busy when he arrived at 8:00 am.
A crowd was gathered outside World of Disney, the largest Disney shop at Walt Disney World. A social distancing queue was set up to provide the store with your information to join a virtual queue. World of Disney has a reduced capacity for the safety of Guests and Cast Members.
The physical queue stretched throughout the Marketplace, past Rainforest Cafe and around T-Rex Cafe, with markers on the ground to keep Guests 6-feet apart.
Another location that reopened today was the LEGO Store, which had a small crowd waiting to get in.
The physical line moved quickly for Jeremiah and once at the front, a Cast Member took his name, the number of his party, and the phone number he could be texted at when it’s his time to enter the World of Disney.
Jeremiah’s name was put in at 9:19 am and his virtual wait to enter the store was about 3-hours. During that time, he could enjoy the rest of Disney Springs. This included sampling the brand-new Dole Whip Nachos from Marketplace Snacks.
In true Disney fashion, some added entertainment brought some magic from a galaxy far, far away as stormtroopers patrolled the balcony of the Uno de 50 jewelry shop.
We have separate coverage about the items available within World of Disney, but the biggest difference was the checkout experience. The queue included markers on the ground to keep Guests 6-feet apart.
Plexiglass windows have been added to registers to reduce the amount of face-to-fact contact for Cast Members as they ring up purchases.
Hand sanitizing stands have also been added to the store and Guests are encouraged to sanitize and wash their hands frequently while visiting Disney Springs.
The Marketplace Co-Op was available to shop, which includes multiple experiences like Disney Tails, the Disney Dress Shop, and D-Tech On Demand.
Signage at the entrance reminded Guests of the new rules including social distancing, wearing a face covering, and washing hands frequently.
Since the location has multiple stores within the same complex, there are designated entrances and exits.
Registers inside this complex have a line that Guests should not cross to keep their distance from the Cast Member processing their transaction.
D-Tech On demand has closed half of the design screens to keep Guests further apart.
Dressing rooms are closed to reduce the number of hands touching apparel before it is purchased.
Disney’s D-Luxe Burger also opened today with mobile orders encouraged.
Disney announced earlier today that the parks will begin reopening in July with Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom reopening July 11th, followed by EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on July 15th. For a list of all open locations at Disney Springs, click here.