Disney has officially released their reopening plan to the Orange County Task Force, similar to Universal Studios last week. Disney appears to be taking a more cautious approach to opening the parks back up. There will be a lot of changes coming, but as always, we don’t know for how long they will be in place. There have been theme park site inspections where held on May 26th both for Disney World and Sea World. This was done to review the readiness to implement any potential plans. With that being said, let’s jump into Disney World reopening plan!
Disney Reopening dates
When Walt Disney World reopens, it will be in 2 groups. The first group that will open will be Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. This group will open on July 11th. The second group will consist of Hollywood Studios and Epcot and opens on July 15th. Disney has started to reach out and bring back some of their furloughed cast members.
Cast members during reopening
As will everywhere else at this point, cast members will have to undergo temperature checks. They will also be required to wear face coverings for the near future. Cast members will improve health and safety measures that include more frequent cleaning. They will be recommending using cashless transactions. High-traffic areas will have increased disinfection procedures.
Changes to the daily operation
One of the biggest changes will be the crowd levels which will be reduced for a period of time. The goal, as with other theme parks, is social/physical distancing. What this means is that they will reduce experiences that draw larger crowds as well as “high-touch” experiences.
This includes no:
- Parades
- Fireworks/nighttime spectaculars
- Character meet and greets
- Playgrounds
- Makeover opportunities
Moreover, guests will be required to wear face coverings. What is important to know, is that this will include any guest over the age of 3 years old. It is unclear how long it will be for the parades and meet and greets to be integrated back into the park. It also appears that Disney has removed resorts from their reopening strategy. What is not know is if this was an error or purposefully done but this could mean a later date for non-DVC resorts.
Booking a trip
There will be a hold on new reservations to Disney World for at least a couple of weeks. Disney world reopening plan will include a new reservation system that will be used to allow guests to get a reservation for park entry in advance. Annual Passholders and guests that have already purchased tickets will be able to have phases in which they can make reservation requests. This will be done before new tickets to the park are sold. Fastpasses and dining reservations have also been put on hold.
It has been discussed that Disney may have a safe zone, which will allow guests to get a reprieve from wearing a mask in the parks. Not much information has been released on this yet but will be released closer to the reopening date.
Disney stores will start to open up, including World of Disney at Disney Springs, which reopened on May 27th. Others restaurants and stores have slowly reopened at Disney Springs
Would these changes affect you going to Disney World if you had the chance? Let us know in the comments below!