Following up with the criteria for the reopening of Disney and Universal Studios, we now see the start of this taking place. It feels like a long time since either City Walk or Disney Springs has been open but there is a light. We now see the start of the reopening of City Walk as well as Disney Springs. This will likely be a slow process and slowly ramp up little by little over the next few weeks.
City Walk reopening
City Walk is now starting to open up several of its restaurants. There are still some limitations to the reopening such as no theatres, performances such as the Blue Man Group, and no night clubs. The reason behind this is that it is to increase social distancing. In the mention locations, this is difficult due to room limitations. One of the most popular reopenings at City Walk was Margaritaville, which reportedly had about 2 and a half hour wait time. It is important to remember that this is likely due to the reduced capacity due to social distancing. The hours have been limited to 4pm-11pm.
At this point, theme parks such as Universal Studios and Disney World can submit their plans for reopening after phase 1. It has not been announced how Universal Studios plans to reopen or if they have submitted yet or not. The parks across the board could look drastically different from how they had been operating in the past.
City Walk reopening shops/restaurants
- Auntie Anne’s
- Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant & Market
- Cinnabon Cold Stone Creamery
- Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company’s retail shop
- Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
- Red Oven Pizza Bakery
- Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen (Dessert Foundry & Candy Smith areas only)
- Universal Studios Store
- Voodoo Doughnut
Disney Springs reopening
Disney Springs will soon follow suit later this month. It was announced earlier this week that Disney Springs would see restaurants starting to open on May 20th. All of the restaurants that will be opening are third-party vendors. What this means is that they are not run by Disney, they are controlled by outside organizations. Part of this is likely due to less risk for those companies. Disney has to make sure that they have plans ironed out over the long term and may open slower and at a lower capacity than what is recommended. Several stores will be opening up as well. This will include Marketplace Co-Op, World of Disney and D-Luxe burger (for mobile order). Part of the restrictions will include parking and entrances. Face masks/coverings will be required for guests that are ages 3 and up, along with social distancing.
Disney Springs Restaurant Reopenings
- 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck
- Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza Boathouse
- Chicken Guy
- Earl of Sandwich
- Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC
- Frontera Cocina
- Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co.
- Paradiso 37
- Planet Hollywood
- Polite Pig
- STK Orlando
- Sunshine Churros (both Marketplace and West Side locations)
- T-Rex
- Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill
- Wine Bar George
- YeSake.
Disney Spring Stores Reopening
- Anthropologie
- Art Corner
- Basin Chapel Hats
- Columbia Sportswear
- Crystal Arts by Arribas Brothers
- Edward Beiner eyewear
- Free People
- Happy Hound
- Luxury of Time by Diamonds
- International Pandora Jewelry
- Pele Soccer
- Pop Gallery
- Ron Jon Surf Shop
- Royally Yours
- Sanuk
- Savannah Bee Co.
- Sosa Family Cigars
- Sugarboo & Co.
- UGG
- Uniqlo
- UNOde50
- Volcom
- Vera Bradley
- Zara.
Shanghai opening
The Shanghai opening is the beginning fo the reopening overall. Why this is true is because they will be testing reopening procedures to make sure that it is feasible for Disney World and Disneyland when it opens. They will be likely testing parades, fireworks, and shows to see how they can safely provide these attractions to the guests. It is also likely that Universal Studios will be looking at Shanghai Disney to see the best way to get back up and running. Hopefully, we will soon find out how they will start to open the parks. I am excited for them to reopen and to go back but they have to be able to do it in a safe manner to minimize risks to park guests.
If you had the chance to go when they reopened, would you go? Let us know in the comments!