Here’s the latest, mostly from Walt Disney World…
Note: This post may be updated throughout July 17. Updates will be added to the top of the post.
Disneyland Paris Reopened
Disneyland Paris reopened July 15. Check out some articles at Travel & Leisure and OC Register (also a good read for Disneyland fans). And here’s a good visit report from a guest.
We’ve made a few visits to Disneyland Paris, and we’re big fans of the castle park. I don’t expect to have much commentary on the Paris reopening in the near future,
Disney World Updates
Epcot And Hollywood Studios Reopen
Following the reopening of Epcot and Hollywood Studios on social media / blogs, we prepared a post with Notes on Reopened Epcot and Hollywood Studios. That post has information on relaxation stations, the new cavalcades, what wait times are looking like, and more!
If you haven’t already, you’ll also want to read our post on the Cast Member Previews at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, which covers similar information at the other two parks.
As other sites roll out more comprehensive visit reports, we’ll be linking to them. We’re also working on a post discussing how the wait times are looking. We’ll cover all this in future update posts, but it will also be linked from our Disney World Reopening Details—Parks post.
New Maps!
BlogMickey has a look at the new maps at Walt Disney World, which include the more limited attraction / entertainment lineups and the relaxation stations.
Epcot Project Updates
The Spaceship Earth refurbishment and new Mary Poppins attraction have been postponed (which possibly just means cancelled). And a “different approach” is coming to the previously announced Festival Center.
Look…I don’t love changing Spaceship Earth. I wasn’t particularly interested in the Mary Poppins…whatever it was going to be (enhanced character experience, like Enchanted Tales With Belle, was my guess).
But any cuts to Epcot are bad news. The park is in the middle of a gigantic overhaul. The overlay and new attraction might return at some point, but cutting back on a permanent fixture, like the Festival Center, potentially alters the landscape of the park for decades.
The festival calendar makes Epcot a unique park. Not just in offerings, but in guest composition. Epcot had more guests than Hollywood Studios in 2019, and I have to believe a large part of that is locals coming to enjoy festivals.
Epcot’s large size and ongoing Taste of Epcot Food & Wine Festival also make it particularly appealing to annual passholders—who are in a disadvantaged position when booking parks—at the moment.
Making cuts to Epcot while simultaneously straining your relationship with annual passholders seems like doubling down on a bad idea. I haven’t written much about why I’m not at Disney World right now, but I know I’d be much more likely to go if I were a local.
We’ll never see data on guest composition, but we know Disney is slowly reopening their 20+ hotels. That’s not a sign that vacation travel is in a good position.
As with the Animal Kingdom cuts below, I don’t really sit in judgment of the decisions Disney executives make for the sake of their business. When I say “sounds like a bad idea,” what I really mean is something like “I’m worried if we’re at the point where this is a good idea.” But that’s where we are.
Animal Kingdom Cuts
Rivers of Light and Primeval Whirl have been permanently closed.
Rivers of Light was the nighttime show at Animal Kingdom. It consisted mainly of water features and colorful illuminated floats. While it didn’t ever have the fandom of IllumiNations (miss ya!) or the Magic Kingdom nighttime shows, I’m glad to have seen it, and I wish it weren’t getting cut in these circumstances.
Primeval Whirl is a “wild mouse” coaster in Dino-Rama, Dinoland USA, Animal Kingdom. Dino-Rama has another ride—TriceraTop Spin—and Dinoland USA also has DINOSAUR.
Primeval Whirl had been seasonally operating. Best I can recall, the leading theory was that mechanical issues made the cost of operating it hard to justify full-time.
On their own, these cuts might not be shocking. In better times—as in, five months ago—they might have even been welcomed as good news because they meant something new and better was coming.
In the current fiscal and economic situation, these cuts are awful. Animal Kingdom is our favorite Disney park, but it’s already become clear that without its formerly robust entertainment lineup (including lots of great streetmosphere), the park isn’t a full-day park.
Permanently cutting the nighttime show and a ride basically admits this park won’t see love anytime soon. Like I said, in better times I’d be thrilled about the Primeval Whirl news because I’d expect an announcement of a brand new land over there to follow.
But there aren’t going to be any brand new lands announced soon. I worry that Dino-Rama is going to sit mostly unused for years. And it’s hard to see them going from “let’s not even stick to the existing nighttime show and ride” to “let’s add things” anything soon.
I want to be less pessimistic…but it’s hard. We’ve got TRON at Magic Kingdom. Then there’s Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, the Guardians coaster, and a bunch of other Epcot stuff. This is all higher priority than Animal Kingdom right now, and that’s just looking at the Florida portfolio. Major work is ongoing in California, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Paris, too. (Tokyo, too, but it’s run by Oriental Land Co.)
Parks Pass Availability Updated
On July 16, the Disney World Parks Pass Reservation system opened up new space to passholders (and other groups, we believe).
As of this update, Parks Pass has space for passholders to book at least one park every day except July 18 and 19. Hollywood Studios is booked until late August, but the other three parks are bookable most other days.
Resort guests can book any park any day of the calendar. Theme Park Ticket Guests are blocked from Hollywood Studios July 17 through July 24, but otherwise can book any park any day.
Annual Passholder Refunds Continue To Vex
As part of the introduction of the new Parks Pass system, Disney is offering refunds to annual passholders who might feel their passes are no longer worth what they paid. I’m continuing to follow this DisBoards thread, which is growing rapidly.
Best I can tell, no one has yet succeeding in having a refund processed (fine, they take time) or getting Disney to tell them the amount of their AP refund.
You’d think “well it’s just the number of days left as of the closure divided by 365 times the cost of the pass.” But lots of people buy passes through Sam’s Club, or they upgrade park tickets (sometimes discounted tickets) or other non-conventional options.
We upgraded 10-day tickets, so the difference between refunding the upgrade cost vs the full annual pass cost is going to be significant.
Tokyo Disney Cancels Holiday Events
Not surprising, but Tokyo Disney Resort has cancelled a variety of events and their associated overlays.
Random Thoughts
More about soft demand. I wrote last update about my concerns demand was so low Disney might need to close a park. I guess I’d add that the parks are already operating on significantly reduced hours, which saves costs.
Hollywood Studios is seeing periods where Mickey & Minnie Runaway Railway has 90 minutes and a handful of other rides are over 30 minutes or even near an hour. If you compare that to Animal Kingdom, where ride waits are usually one at 20 minutes, one at 10 minutes, and everything else at 5 minutes, you notice the stark contrast.
Closing a full park might not be advisable—though it’s still on my radar. Park hours being cut seems more likely. I love Animal Kingdom, but it doesn’t make sense to operate it for ten hours daily.
AP Lawsuit? Disney was recently sued for errantly charging some annual passholders for the payments that were paused. It’s very hard to imagine a larger dispute about annual passes won’t find it’s way into court (I have lawyerly thoughts about them, but here it just suffices to say I’m concerned about this getting worse for Disney).