“We have to go back to Disney and Universal this year,” my partner said, and so we did. In 2016 I took my partner on her first trip to Disney World and Universal Studios, and we were hooked! Erin and I ended up there annually, whether for summer vacation, Christmas, or, best of all: Halloween. Like all things in 2020, our plans to venture into the hot, sticky land of Orlando were put on hold thanks to, you guessed it, the COVID-19 pandemic. When 2021 finally came around, a lot of things had changed. Our schedules began to grow more demanding, money became less expendable as we took on more responsibilities, like tuition and housing, and it seemed like making the trek out just wouldn’t be feasible. Still, we wondered what the most magical place on earth would be like during one of the weirdest and transitory times in modern American history. With a bit of love, some coupon clipping, and a lot of help from those payment plan companies that seem to be popping up left and right, we were able to plan ourselves a little vacation to Orlando. 

We left New York City bright and early on Oct 1 at 6 a.m. Out of an abundance of caution, we arrived at Newark Airport three hours earlier than our scheduled departure time. We were delighted to learn that passenger turnout was low in a post-pandemic world, expecting a long line and an equally long wait time. The look of astonishment on my partner’s face was unforgettable when we passed through airport security in under 15 minutes, belt and shoes unremoved. Now we had time to kill and lots of it. In our haste, we had forgotten to eat breakfast, and coincidentally enough, the line to get breakfast sandwiches nearly doubled airport security. Go figure. We boarded the plane, and for the first time in my history as a flight purchasing bargain hunter, I found myself on a flight that wasn’t sold out.

We were exhausted, we landed and checked into the hotel around 3 p.m., but there was no time to waste. We got dressed, pounded some coffees, and made our way over to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Mask mandates were put in place for park attendees in all indoor attractions and eateries. This year, we experienced virtually no wait time and breezed right past security into Universal Studios.

Horror Nights attendance was significantly lower than in 2019, and the parks are thoroughly more enjoyable with fewer people. Wait times for attractions dwindled, the time we usually spent standing around was spent walking or on a ride, and there was ample space for pedestrian traffic. With more room to breathe, you can really enjoy what the park has to offer. There is no more scrounging for a seat at Duff’s Tavern or waiting to grab a picture with the DeLorean. 

Horror Nights placed several haunted house-style attractions based around popular franchises, including two of our favorites, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Beetlejuice.” If you’re a fan, I highly recommend it, as you’ll find yourself immersed in the world of the movies. When I saw Grandpa in the “Chainsaw” house, it was horror heaven. Seeing characters from some of my favorite movies come to life in an environment true to the film was surreal. 

The next day we woke up bright and early to attend Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration at Magic Kingdom. Disney typically hosts “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party” during this season, but they had to postpone the festivities until next year due to you-know-what. Not much was different aside from a change in the castle that sits at the center of the park’s design and, of course, the fireworks. The best part of Disney in a post-pandemic world is, similarly to Universal, the reduced wait times. In previous years, Disney would allow guests to reserve up to 3 “Fast Passes” pending availability, which would allow you to skip the line for various rides. After you use up all 3, you could reserve one more ride at a time, and we would use this system to our advantage. Disney has since canceled this feature, and everyone was forced to wait the same amount of time. This could have been problematic, however throughout the whole day, I didn’t see a wait time over 65 minutes long (it was for Jungle Cruise, a killer ride if I do say so myself). This would be a deal-breaker to any sane person, but a Disney Park attendee could do that standing on their head. In previous years at Disney, we’ve seen up to 3 hour wait times. I’d like to think that they might be able to keep attendance lower in the future, but I sincerely doubt it.

All in all, our experience only slightly differed from the “before” times, maybe a bit better in some ways. We traveled back to New York with remnants of magic from our trip to the parks. The line for airport security mirrored that of Disney World in the pre-pandemic age, “it’s always worse on the way back,” I remembered to myself.