To ensure we are equipping our readers with all the information they need, we will continue to report on all travel, safety, and COVID-related news that could impact a Disney Parks visit.

As the situation with COVID-19 continues to change and develop, we’ve kept looking for updates on mask rules, isolation requirements, testing recommendations, and more, all of which could impact your next park trip.

One thing you might be using a lot of right now, whether you’re at home or in the parks, is hand sanitizer. If you’re planning to visit Disney World soon, you might be wondering what the hand sanitizing situation looks like there to help you get prepared and determine whether to bring your own sanitizer. Are there hand sanitizing stations readily available? Do they actually work and are they actually full with the sanitizing liquid? Here’s what we’re seeing.

Why Hand Sanitizer?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that individuals can do a number of things to prevent COVID-19, one of which (according to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is wash their hands often for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

If soap and water are not immediately available, however, the CDC does note that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used. The CDC recommends that it contain at least 60% alcohol.

The FDA even has an entire page dedicated to safely using hand sanitizer.

So are the hand sanitizing stations in Disney World working? Where can you find these sanitizing stations and are they actually full of the liquid you’ll need? Let’s break down what we’ve seen.

Magic Kingdom

At Magic Kingdom, we noticed that some places that used to have hand sanitizer stations no longer have them, but several hand sanitizer stations are still up in other spots. 

Right at the front of the park, there is a sanitizing station under the gateway to Magic Kingdom and it wasn’t working at the time we visited.

From what we saw, The Hall of Presidents, Memento Mori, the Liberty Square Riverboat, and Liberty Square Market didn’t really have any hand sanitizers close by. 

Near Fantasy Faire, we saw a hand sanitizer station…

…but noticed that it had a red light, indicating it was not able to be used or empty.

What we’ve noticed, however, is that some stations seem empty at first, but if you held your hand under it for long enough, they did distribute some hand sanitizer.

For several locations that we tried in Magic Kingdom, most had some sanitizer left in them. A few did not have any sanitizer liquid in them. 

One hand sanitizer located at the exit to the Magic Kingdom ferry boat was working, though we felt like it was the type of busy spot more than one hand sanitizer should be located at!

At the exit to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover we also spotted a hand sanitizer station and it was working.

The one at Bonjour Gifts, however, was empty during our visit…

…but over at Sir Mickey’s the sanitizer station was working fine!

At Frontier Trading, we spotted one machine that was working and another that was not.

These sanitizing stations are meant to be refilled from time to time, and during our trips to the parks, we did see some Cast Members working on filling these up, like the Cast Member refilling this station in Magic Kingdom.

Basically, many of the hand sanitizing stations were working, but some were not. It can be hit-or-miss, which is one of the reasons why you might want to bring hand sanitizer with you so you can always be prepared.

EPCOT

Over in EPCOT, we tried several of the hand sanitizing stations as well. Most of the ones we tried there were full, with some exceptions.

There was one by an empty merchandise kiosk set up for the upcoming EPCOT International Festival of the Arts — that one we noticed was empty.

But we tried other ones by Club Cool (2 here, both were working when we visited!)…

…the Refreshment Outpost, Creations Shop…

…the Art of Disney store, and near other Festival of the Arts kiosks — all of which were full.

During subsequent trips, we did notice that one in the Italy pavilion was not functioning properly.

But one at the Norway pavilion was working.

We did notice a lack of sanitizers in some places. For example. there really weren’t any over by the gift shops at the Canada pavilion.

Again, this is all based on what we experienced. Things might be different in a day or two, or whenever you choose to visit.

Hollywood Studios

At Hollywood Studios, we noticed that the one inside Walt Disney Presents: One Man’s Dream was working…

…and the ones at each door to Droid Depot were working.

These stations can be sporadic and mainly placed near stores, rides, etc. If you want to make sure you’ve got sanitizer with you no matter where you happen to be in the park (without having to go seek it out at a nearby spot) then having some with you is probably your best bet.

Animal Kingdom

In Animal Kingdom, the situation seems to be similar to the other parks (some sanitizer stations have been working and while others have not). What’s interesting here is that we’ve also seen some stores setting up sanitizers at the checkout counter.

At Discovery Trading Company and Island Mercantile, we spotted some sanitizer stations at the checkout counters but noticed that on that day there were no sanitizing stations located at the doors where guests enter the stores.

Outside Pongu Pongu we tried the sanitizing station and found that it was…empty.

But one at the entrance to the Africa section of the park was working…

…and the one near Mr. Kamal’s was working as well.

Flame Tree Barbecue also had a working sanitizing station.

We also spotted some sanitizer stations at the entrances to the store near Expedition Everest (Serka Zong Bazaar), both of which were working.

The ones at Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures were also working.

We’ve also spotted some hand sanitizers by the carnival-style games at Dino-Rama.

You’ll want to look for these pumps near the games.

We also spotted these inside Windtraders at Pandora — The World of Avatar on the counter, similar to what we’ve seen at some other stores in Animal Kingdom.

So if you don’t see a sanitizing station near the front of a store, be sure to check the checkout counter to see if there is some available there.

Overall

We asked our reporters, who are in the parks every single day, to give us a rough estimate in terms of what percentage of hand sanitizer stations in the parks have been working. They told us that from what they’ve seen most of the stations are full and working in the morning hours. By the afternoon, however, they noted that the percentage of working sanitizers with liquid still in them can drop to around 60-75%.

Another reporter echoed these statements saying that the empty ones they’ve gotten have all essentially been in the afternoon.

Keep in mind that this is just what we’ve experienced. A station that was full for us on one day might be empty the next. And one that was malfunctioning or was empty on one day, might be refilled or replaced on the following day. It can all depend!

That’s one big reason why you’ll probably want to bring your own hand sanitizer with you. It’s perfectly fine to rely on the ones in the park when you see them and when they work, but you may feel more comfortable with your own sanitizer for those days/situations where you can’t find a working sanitizing station nearby.

Even if many/most of the sanitizer stations in the parks are working during your trip, there are other reasons why you might want to bring your own sanitizing sprays, lotions, or liquids during your trip.

The texture of the sanitizer at Disney can sometimes be sticky, which is something you might not particularly enjoy. Some sanitizing stations can be near crowded areas, meaning you’ll have to go through the crowds to get there. If you will be sanitizing often, it’ll likely be helpful to carry at least one sanitizer with you so you can use it whenever, wherever you want.

Click here to see 3 reasons you should seriously consider bringing your own hand sanitizer to Disney World!

While this article focuses on our experiences with hand sanitizers, remember that you can also hop into one of the many restrooms around Disney World to wash your hands with soap and water if that’s what you prefer.

We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more news about Disney World, health and safety policies, and other updates that could impact your trip. Stay tuned for the latest information!

Click here to see more about the record daily COVID-19 case number hit in the U.S.

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Do you prefer to bring your own hand sanitizer to Disney World? Tell us in the comments.

The post The TRUTH About Hand Sanitizer in Disney World Right Now first appeared on the disney food blog.