As I was out and about in the Walt Disney World parks this week, a few changes came to my attention, and, if you’re making a visit to the parks in the near future, you may want to have the heads up before you go.

Guests at the Disney World parks, while still seeing the maintaining of physical distancing standards and safety measures, are also starting to see some of the initial safety measures be removed.

As we reported last week, guests at the parks no longer need to wear their facial coverings while taking a picture. This alone was so interesting to witness in the parks this week. It’s a refreshing change, and one that I’m sure that guests posing for their next family keepsake photo will appreciate.

Along with guests not needing to wear masks while taking a picture, the stickers that used to be present in popular photo spots to remind guests to keep their masks on have now been removed. Just before I snapped the sticker-less picture at the top of this article, a brother and sister reluctantly sat in front of those ostrich topiaries so that their parents could take the perfect, mask-less picture. Hang in there, kids. Just three more pictures…

Another in-park change this week has been the removal of the standalone hand washing stations. These stations were everywhere when the parks reopened last July, and certainly made washing up on the go very easy. I took the picture above of the hand washing station in Liberty Square during annual passholder previews on July 9th, 2020.

The same spot (above) now stands empty. From that location, the nearest restrooms are the ones that are in the walkway that connects Frontierland and Adventureland, and the Tangled restrooms in Fantasyland. Grab your pack of wipes for sticky fingers in between bathroom stops, and you’ll be good to go.

These changes are only the first to be implemented, and I’m sure that we’ll see more in the days ahead. We’ll keep you updated as more modifications are made.