Five years ago, tourism officials were wrapped up their heads in the concept of theme park bookings, temperature checks at turntiles, raised disinfection procedures, and social distancing as an early week of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some steps have faded with the virus, while others have evolved into a continuing practice within the travel industry.
In 2020 and 2021, the Orlando Sentinel asked five tourism experts what trends they would predict. Now in 2025, they are talking about the enduring effects of the pandemic and new trends in international travel, room service and rooftop bars.
Reservation Station
Theme park date-specific bookings did not last long at most locations, but the technology used is accelerating the relevant development, said Curti Sparks, managing partner of Jacksonville-based Icon Experience.
“Then we’re creating all these new options that can be done with the ticket system, from dynamic pricing to hotel and park tickets and meal bundles. Pass holders can now add friends to ticket purchases and send online tickets to digital wallets,” he said.
Park reservations were born as the attraction ended its pandemic-related shutdown in 2020. Walt Disney World continues to require booking for some ticket types, despite its low restrictions.
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The focus on online purchases and cleanliness has influenced trends in cashless parks at SeaWorld Attractions, Bush Gardens and Six Flags locations, Parks said.
“All the major players were still robbing cash, and when the pandemic hit, they paused it, went just to the cards and pushed everyone online,” he said.
“They say it’s faster, safer, safer… You don’t have a big cash vault anymore, like you had in the park,” he said.
The advantage is that billions of dollars are being invested in theme park projects that were once suspended or cancelled, Parks said.
“You’re betting on American families and people visiting the parks, and that’s exciting to see,” he said.
The effects of fading
The pandemic has been passed down as long as future attractions progress, says Brian Morrow, the owner of B Morrow Productions, a Kissimmee-based design studio that works on theme parks, resorts and museum projects.
“The words pandemic and covid are rarely used in any design process today. We went back in 21 and now we can’t hear them at all. Our clients don’t use those words,” he said.
Another previous factor is touchscreen horror.
“We do some work in the education category, so there’s a lot of touchscreens there…and all (concerns) gone,” Moreau said. “It really dissipated. It’s not the best topic.”
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While virtual queue stories have diminished, reservations remain for some attractions for crowd management and guest satisfaction, he said. Gaylord Palms Resort held them for its “ice” attractions during the holiday season.
“They kept it because they allowed us to remove these huge 9am arrivals for this huge queue line they’re building and guests,” Morrow said.
Changes to chew
AJ Wolfe, who runs Disney Food Blog, a site independent of Disney World, said that in terms of food, eating at Walt Disney World has returned to the old ways.
“It all returns fine in terms of the character’s meals and buffet,” she said.
Some restaurants within the theme park are not as open as before. Additionally, some restaurants have changed their dietary options. For example, in favor of the Prix Fixe menu, Wolfe says, will become a Magic Kingdom counter service guest restaurant at lunchtime. La carte service on the contemporary resort at California Grill is no longer available, she said.
Room service is available only in Grand Florida at Disney-owned resorts, Wolf said. It could be a temporary staffing or financial issue, she said. There are no 24-hour eateries at the moment, she said.
“There have been so many issues with staffing, but maybe it’s not being re-employed because of those specific things,” she said.
There was also the rise of food delivery services. Wolf said it is likely a cheaper option than room service.
“Whatever is very prominent, like Doordash or Uber Eats, they’ll deliver to your hotel,” she said. “The biggest difference is that you have to get dressed because you have to get off and get it.”
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Filling room
Hotel occupancy in the US is less robust than in 2019, says Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality, at Costar Group, an Arlington, Virginia-based real estate company that tracks realtate analysis.
“You think we made up for it,” he said. “The good news is, of course, room rates are 30% higher than they were back then.”
Industry trends that have skyrocketed during the pandemic include keyless entry and remote room check-in.
The idea that there’s no need to clean a room every day combines the hotelier’s desire to meet green expectations with pandemic precautions, Freitag said.
But in the pandemic era when “many people are fired and hired again,” the union says, “wait, wait, wait, wait, if you need to make a chore option, which means there are fewer members.
More visible hotel trends for emergence: rooftop bars.
“They were always trending like ’17, ’18, ’19, but if we build a hotel today, we think we’ll have a rooftop bar,” Frytag said. “It’s just such a great magnet, and customers love it, and even locals like it.
Brit Parade
“Looking back at locations in 2021, there certainly wasn’t an immediate indication that the international market would return. There was a lot of fate and darkness about it,” said Simon Benes, co-author of “111 Places in Orlando,” co-author of “The Brit Guide to Orlando.”
For the Orlando-bound Briton, “This year’s bookings were roughly the same as last year, and that was back to a fairly pre-pandemic level,” Veness said.
“The bad news we’re looking at across the UK market is that Germany, France and Scandinavia have become popular for us this year, especially during our visits over the last few months,” Veness said. “Orlando is not very dependent on these particular markets, but it’s not substantive.”
He said that European tourists are currently in the UAE and have a great deal of marketing in the UK and the US.
“It could certainly be one of the places with immediate appeal for the UK and Western Europe, because it’s a shorter flight for the US and certainly for Florida,” Veness said.
He said there is evidence that some people are now “politically hampered” to visit the US.
“The good news for Orlando and Florida is that it’s a slightly kettle kettle of fish,” Venes said. “The UK in particular still tends to see it as a destination for this fantasy, divorced from reality.”
Generally, Europeans don’t plan their vacations as pre-planned as Americans, he said, and he suspects they’ll be waiting for the epic universe to open up at Universal Orlando on May 22. A large UK ticket broker reported that he could buy spectacular tickets.
“It’s a very great indication that people are turning on more by theme parks than they’re being turned off by politics,” Veness said.
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