A lot has changed in Disney World since the phased reopening of the parks began. Following the COVID-19 pandemic closures, health and safety guidelines were implemented to keep visitors and Cast Members safe — and some things never came back to Disney World.

It’s been over three years since Disney World reopened its gates following the closure. While many things have returned to normal in the Disney parks, there are some things that we have noticed that have not, and we miss them.

Package Delivery

In the before-time, otherwise known as pre-2020, we could visit Disney theme park shops, buy something, and have it sent directly to our hotel room so we wouldn’t have to carry around our purchases all day long. Well, that’s been gone since 2020, and it hasn’t returned yet.

What’s even more annoying is that the service returned to Disneyland, but not Disney World. What gives?

So if you’re planning on making any big purchases in the parks, we recommend doing it at the end of the day so you don’t have to lug it around everywhere. There are also rental lockers available at each park (for a price), but we miss the days of that convenient FREE package delivery service.

Tables in Wonderland

Tables in Wonderland was a Walt Disney World discount dining program open to Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club members, and Florida Residents. The membership provided a 20% discount on food and beverages (including alcohol) at over 100 restaurants and lounges in Walt Disney World parks and hotels, as well as other perks such as special dining events and free valet parking.

Walt Disney World is not currently selling new Tables in Wonderland Memberships, and all existing Tables in Wonderland cards expired as of September 1, 2021. There has been no update on this perk returning.

Room service

Before Disney World’s closure, you could get room service at many Disney World hotels (mostly deluxe resorts, but Coronado Springs also offered it). Now? If you want to get food at a hotel delivered to your room at most hotels, you’ll have to Mobile Order, pick it up, and deliver it yourself. 

The only hotel currently offering room service is the Grand Floridian, so many resort guests would love to see it return to other hotels, too. Finding late-night dining is already tricky in Disney World, but room service was often delivered until the early morning hours.

Park Hopping Anytime

Park hopping before the closure was not restricted to a time. Pre-2020, you could “hop” from one park to another at any time of day, go back and forth, and visit up to all 4 of Disney World’s theme parks on the same day.

Then after the reopening of the parks in 2020, we had lots of new rules and restrictions on everything from how we lined up for transportation to how we had to choose our park days because capacity in the parks was strictly limited. One of the new restrictions was that you could not park hop until 2PM each day. While most of those other restrictions put in place bcause of health and safety have disappeared over the past couple of years, but the park hopping rules remain in place. We really miss being able to hop around so much and we’re hopeful this might change in 2024!

Entertainment

Before 2020, Disney World hosted some world-class Streetmosphere entertainment that we almost never missed. That included the Citizens of Main Street in Magic Kingdom and the Citizens of Hollywood in Hollywood Studios. After Disney World’s historic closure and reopening, those two groups disappeared.

Also, The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show in Hollywood Studios has also been closed since the pandemic shut down Disney World. Disney hasn’t announced when or if the Voyage of the Little Mermaid will reopen.

Dine with an Imagineer

“Dine with an Imagineer” gave Disney guests the opportunity to chat with a Disney Imagineer while enjoying a four-course meal in a Disney World restaurant. This was a limited-space event, and guests could dine at Hollywood Brown Derby or Citricos. This was such a unique opportunity, and we really hope Disney brings it back!

Dessert Parties 

There are a few dessert parties that never returned. The Fantasmic! Dessert & VIP Viewing Experience paired sweet and savory snacks along with reserved seating at the popular Fantasmic! Nighttime Spectacular in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests received a dessert box, bottled water, a light-up souvenir cup with a specialty beverage (with an alcoholic choice for guests 21-and-over), a light-up credential, and seating in a reserved viewing area for Fantasmic!

The Frozen Ever After Dessert Party offered a dessert buffet paired with a reserved viewing area for Epcot’s nighttime spectacular Epcot Forever. Both of these dessert parties have yet to return since the closure.

We will report if any of these things return to the parks. For more Disney news, keep following Disney Food Blog!

 

What is something that has not returned since the COVID shutdown that you miss? Let us know below. 

The post 7 Perks That Ended With COVID and Never Returned to Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.