Hello from a wet and rainy Magic Kingdom! We had an exciting day here at the park, both weather-wise and news-wise. The majority of the rain and thunderstorms held off until the afternoon, which we were thankful for, but it was still grey, wet, and humid. Today was the first day that face masks were no longer required for guests inside shops, in queues, and on attractions. We found quite a few things to show you, so let’s get started!

Upon arriving at the Transportation and Ticket Center, we found a new system in place for loading the Express Monorail. Two numbers per load gate were placed on the ground.

When the Monorail arrived, we could see why. All dividers had been removed from inside the car, including the vinyl barrier that divided the car in half. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

Inside the park, progress is being made on the refurbishment of the façade for Peter Pan’s Flight. Half of the painted scrim was removed last night, revealing the building underneath. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

With safety guidelines being reduced across the park, we are seeing a somewhat rapid return to normalcy regarding attractions. The queue for Jungle Cruise, which was roped off in such a way to create distance in between lines of guests, is now filling all available lines with guests.

On the Jungle Cruise boat itself, the plexiglass barriers have been removed, allowing guests to sit directly next to other parties, and allowing an increase of capacity on each boat.

On the attraction itself, we saw the “Trapped Safari” animatronics were functional again today after a brief hiatus.

We also found a new addition to the “Hippo Pool” scene, with this sunken boat. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

With face masks no longer required for guests in most areas around Walt Disney World, we saw many guests taking advantage of the relaxed rules and riding attractions such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train mask-free. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

Several attractions have increased their capacity by reducing the physical distancing in between guests. Splash Mountain is now loading every row of their boats. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

“it’s a small world” and Pirates of the Caribbean, formerly loading three parties per boat, are now also loading every row. Plexiglass remains in the queues of these rides to aid in physical distancing while waiting to board, for now.

With the biggest updates out of the way, we took a moment to check on merchandise. We found pin trading at Memento Mori had moved into the small room towards the back of the shop.

Speaking of pins, we found quite a few today at Frontier Trading Post. The latest edition of the “Magic In The Stars” and “Where The Fantasy Grows: A Disney Terrarium” series were both released today. We also found this Limited Release Legacy Collection pin featuring “The Reluctant Dragon” characters. These pins retail for $19.99 each.

We also found three Limited Edition pins in honor of the 25th Anniversary of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. These pins retail for $19.99 each as well.

While at Star Traders, we found two more additions to the ever-growing Stitch merchandise collection. This youth shirt retails for $19.99.

The second piece was this youth sweatshirt with “Walt Disney World” printed across the front with bites taken out of it by a mischievous Stitch. This piece retails for $39.99.

We had a wonderful time at the Magic Kingdom, and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us. Have a magical day!

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.