Watching Disney World change from the beginning of the pandemic until now has truly been fascinating, as we have seen protocols go into place, and now we are watching many of those rules and regulations begin to relax and fade away.
Most recently, Disney has removed temperature screenings, physical distancing is starting to reduce from the original 6 ft, and masks are not required when Guests are walking outdoors. These changes are clearly a push towards a more normal theme park experience, and now, it seems that the monorails are beginning to move in the same direction.
Credit: Inside the Magic
When Disney World reopened, the monorails to get to Magic Kingdom would load one party per cabin. As time progressed, we saw dividers added to each cabin, allowing Cast Members to board multiple parties in a cabin at once while still ensuring everyone had their own space.
Credit: Inside the Magic
When boarding a monorail, a Cast Member would tell you what number to stand on when you walked towards the gates of your respective cabin, and then, you would sit in the divided section that correlated with your number. The protocol is simple to follow and allowed Guests to get back to the Ticket and Transporation Center a lot faster at the end of the day or help Guests get into Magic Kingdom a lot quicker in the morning.
It seems that now, however, Disney is beginning to phase out the monorail barriers. We were at Magic Kingdom this weekend when we entered monorail peach. Our number was 27; however, when the doors opened, we saw no dividers. Multiple parties loaded into the barrier-less cabin, and we all rode to the TTC together.
Credit: Inside the Magic
Please note that not all monorail cabins removed their barriers, and earlier in the day, we experienced a cabin with the barriers in place. From this, it seems Disney is doing a slow removal of the barriers inside their monorails, which makes sense considering Disney CEO Bob Chapek has admitted to raising capacity once again, and removing the barriers in the monorail will only help speed up the loading process, and help Guests transit in the most efficient way possible.
We will need to stay tuned to see if the relaxation of barriers on the Disney World monorails becomes a permanent change. Considering how many attractions are beginning to load every row, while others have done so for a few months now, this change and return to normal does not seem too surprising.
What do you think of sharing a monorail cabin with others when visiting Disney World?
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Credit: Disney (left) ITM (right)
