The mouse is back – with a mask! After being closed for nearly four months, Walt Disney World began its phased re-opening with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom welcoming guests on Saturday, to be followed by EPCOT and Hollywood Studios on Wednesday (July 15).

The opening comes despite a surge in reported COVID-19 cases in Florida in recent weeks with over 10,000 on Saturday alone. Disney is the last of Orlando’s big three theme parks to re-open with Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld having done so a month ago. (Disneyland’s planned re-opening in Anaheim, California on July 17 has been postponed indefinitely).

Nevertheless, in Orlando theme park officials are promising a “deliberate, responsible approach” that draws on the company’s experience from previous openings in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the Disney Springs retail and entertainment complex in Orlando.

Measures include a “significant reduction in capacity” and adherence to new park policies designed to manage park entry, attractions, dining, retail, transportation and more.

Here’s what guests can expect:

Reservations: Guests with a ticket or Annual Pass must use the new Disney Park Pass system to make a reservation in advance for each park entry (i.e. no park hopping). Once guests log in to their My Disney Experience accounts on Disneyworld.com and link their tickets, they have access to a calendar of available reservation dates for each theme park; multi-day tickets require a park reservation for each day of their tickets. Families and friends can link their tickets together and look to arrange theme park entries at the same time. Park reservations are limited in number and subject to availability.

Transportation: Capacity and guest density is limited for complimentary Walt Disney World guest transportation, and guests are required to wear appropriate face coverings. Buses and monorails will implement a combination of physical distancing and physical barriers to provide separation between guest parties. Party groups will be required to maintain physical distancing while aboard Disney watercraft. Disney Skyliner will load one party per gondola when it returns to operation July 15. For those arriving in their own vehicles, auto plazas will offer cashless payment; parking lot trams are not be available at this time.

Temperature Screenings: All guests will be required to undergo temperature screenings prior to entering a theme park. Anyone displaying a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher will be directed to an additional location for rescreening and assistance. Those who again measure 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher will not be allowed entry, nor will those in their party.

Face Coverings: All guests two years of age and older, along with cast members, will be required to wear an appropriate face covering while visiting the theme parks. They must be worn over the nose and mouth at all times, except when eating and drinking while dining.

Physical Distancing and capacity: A limited number of guests will be able to visit each theme park each day; limits will also be in place for indoor locations within the parks, such as retail shops and dining locations. Ground markings will help promote proper physical distancing throughout the parks, including attraction queues. Physical barriers will be in place in select locations where maintaining a proper physical distance from others may be difficult.

Cleanliness: High-traffic areas will receive increased cleaning. Guests will be encouraged to frequently use hand-washing stations and hand sanitizer available in the theme parks.

Dining: Enhanced cleaning procedures and reduced contact menus will be supplemented by mobile orders and check-in on the My Disney Experience app.

Cashless transactions: Guests are encouraged to use cashless options whenever possible, including MagicBands, debit cards, credit cards, Disney gift cards, etc.

Cast members: Extensively trained cast members will wear brightly coloured, easily identifiable attire and walk through the parks to explain the new procedures and answer any guest questions, while encouraging everyone to follow the new health and safety measures.

Attractions and characters: Most attractions will be available at each park when they reopen, however traditional character greetings, parades and nighttime spectaculars are on hiatus during the phased reopening. Disney characters, however, “will appear in new and different ways throughout all four theme parks,” including in cavalcades motoring around the parks.

Despite the required changes, park officials say “the fundamentals of a Disney theme park experience remain the same.”

On Saturday, park-goers reported that nearly everyone in sight wore masks and significantly reduced capacity. A typical 90-minute for the popular Buzz Lightyear ride was only five minutes.

“I’ve been here on spring breaks where you can barely walk around. The walkways are very wide open,” said Lori Lovell of Evansville, Indiana.

“It’s the chance to come back and be in the magic,” said Diane Watkins, a preschool teacher from Helena, Alabama, who visits the park about eight times a year. “Hot or not, mask or not, we’re just happy to be here. I feel like everybody here is in the same frame of mind. Everybody is just so excited to be here.”