Social Distancing Guidelines have been Updated at Universal Orlando

When Universal Orlando first reopened, social distancing was fully enforced throughout the parks. This morning, an official statement on these guidelines have changed. Do you agree with the new guidelines?

Universal Orlando’s Reopening

When the park first closed its doors in March 2020, all the theme parks within the Orlando area patiently waited to receive re-opening guidelines from the Governor of Florida.

Universal Orlando made the announcement in late May that the park would reopen its doors on June 5, 2020.

As Universal Orlando was the first to open its doors both at City Walk and at the parks, many guests were concerned about the safety protocols and restrictions that would be enforced.

Would these guidelines take the joy out of visiting an entertainment park?

What would a theme park experience be like with social distancing and rides running at half-capacity? Most importantly, what would it feel like to walk around all day in a mask?

Since the reopening of the theme park, many guests have expressed that even though it felt a bit different to visit the parks due to the new guidelines, the theme park experience had once again returned but in a more intimate way.

Current Operations at Universal Orlando

Whereas the first week proved to show low attendance at Universal parks, over time we have noticed how it has progressively gotten busier.

Various images have been posted on social media that shows no social distancing with heavy numbers of guests attending the parks.

It is important to note that Universal Orlando does not require park reservations like Disney World does. This means that as long as the park was not at capacity, guests were able to show up the day of!

Updated Social Distancing Guidelines

With the concern of the Labor Day weekend crowds, the changes caught many guests off guard.

On Twitter @Amusementinside stated along side a clip of The Hulk ride:

HULK is now loading one party per row instead of every other, making the wait time much lower. New barriers in place at the station so groups are not interfering with each other. Personally I like this change.

However, not all of the guests them were happy with the changes.

As it turns out, there are two rides that have been modified in social distancing. In another tweet where a guest posted about the lack of social distancing Universal Orlando Resort twitted back:

We are making a modification to our loading procedures for The Incredible Hulk Coaster and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. To accommodate Guest demand, we will load every row of the vehicle while still ensuring there is separation between Guests onboard.

From the separate tweets, we can confirm that both The Incredible Hulk Coaster and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will be loaded fully. This is due to the demand and the long wait times at the park.

Local health officials have agreed to this new plan as the theme park has ensured of safety and separation.

This makes me curious if Walt Disney World will soon follow this new practice. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group.

-Marisol White