Disney World had another few days of big updates, and we’ll cover all those. We’re going to start with some updates from Disneyland, and then we’ll close with the new reopening dates from Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort.
Previous Update + WDW Masterpost
In case you’re behind (it’s easy to fall behind these days…even for us), our last update was on June 19. If you’re brand new and would just like a thorough look at the Disney World reopening, we have a Disney World Reopening Masterpost that covers the basics and links to our deeper content.
Disneyland Updates
I know most people are here for Walt Disney World, but there’s a ton from Florida covered next, so I wanted to quickly share some California updates, first. Chiefly, I think some of the California news reminds us of the complicated context around these reopenings.
Downtown Disney + Hotels “Know Before You Go”
Disney has started a “Know Before You Go” campaign for Disneyland’s reopening. Downtown Disney has been approved to reopen July 9, and the hotels have been approved to reopen July 23.
The “Know Before You Go” campaign covers the basics of what you can expect—face covering required, temperature screenings, and enhanced sanitation. Read the Disney Parks Blog post launching the campaign here.
…But the parks?
Notice what was missing from that above update? The parks. Disney proposed reopening the parks on July 17, but that plan hasn’t yet been approved. Moreover, Disneyland employee unions are fighting back against the July 17 date, arguing it isn’t safe enough to reopen.
I bring this up not to jump into this fight, but because we’ve frequently talked about the pressure on Disney to get this right, and employee unions are a part of the pressure.
Guests might be scattered across the country, making it difficult to track an outbreak back to any single tourist destination, but Cast Members are a tight community. Disney’s reopening—until this pandemic is somehow resolved—will be monitored not just by media and local authorities, but by employee unions, too.
Walt Disney World Updates
There were a lot of updates from Walt Disney World this week, including the first guests getting reservations to visit the parks. Here are some highlights from the week.
We Have a New Parks-Focused Post
Our Disney World Reopening Details — Parks post is where we’ll be putting all the latest information about the parks. We have separate posts covering hotels and dining, too.
Disney World Theme Park Reservation System Opens, With Glitches
Guests with Disney and partner hotel reservations were able to make theme park reservations beginning June 22. We have discussed the system and now expanded to include the process in our Guide to the Disney World Parks Pass Reservation System.
The major hiccup we’ve heard so far is that annual passholders are being restricted to three days of reservations even if they have hotel reservations. We expected the 3-day limit to only apply outside your hotel reservations, and we expect Disney to correct this. BlogMickey has good coverage of this and another glitch.
The next big date for the system will be June 26, when reservations open for annual passholders without hotel reservations. They’ll be limited to three slots. On June 28, the system opens to all other ticket holders.
Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom First Parks With Days Booked
Scott Gustin is reporting fully booked days will reopen when June 26 rolls around and annual passholders have their chance to make reservations. But so far, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are the first parks to see days run out of space for Parks Pass reservations.
You can see in the above screenshot of the availability calendar that Hollywood Studios no longer has reservations for July 16 (also 15 and 17). This means guests with hotel reservations and tickets—the first group to book reservations—have nabbed up all the slots for that day.
When the 26th rolls around we expect more slots to open up on these days, but it’s not clear if those will be for APs only, or if ticketed hotel guests will also be able to grab them. We’ll find out June 26th at 7AM Eastern (expected time, always be prepared earlier, though).
Disney World DVC Hotels Reopen (Incl. Dining)
We got our first look (well, besides Disney Springs) at a reopened Disney World when the DVC hotels reopened this week. While you might not be a DVC member, these hotels share space with Disney’s deluxe hotels, so we’re also getting an early look at the deluxe hotels, including check-in and dining offerings.
Disney Food Blog has an early look inside some of the hotels. While some of the changes are “wow” at the moment, it’s hard to take much away from these looks until the parks reopen and crowd levels are higher than 0 (not that they’ll be at all high anytime soon).
Tom Bricker has a review of the modified Topolino’s Terrace experience. In case you missed it, Topolino’s Terrace will have the only character meal at Disney World during the reopening phase.
Disney World Releases Expected Attractions & Entertainment
Disney announced this week which attractions and entertainment guests can expect when the parks reopen. The full list is here (“Available Experiences” under “Attractions and Entertainment”), and we have commentary at our parks reopening post.
Most entertainment, all nighttime shows, and all character greetings have been cut. Instead, guests will see cavalcades (miniature parades) of characters around the parks. Most attractions will be open, the major missing ones are the stage shows.
Notably, Spaceship Earth will reopen. It was supposed to begin a lengthy refurbishment in May, but that has been delayed.
Our rule of thumb for 2020 is simple. Expect to get on all your favorite rides. Don’t expect any entertainment or character experiences.
This isn’t to say I don’t think the cavalcades will be any good, or that Disney won’t find a way to add some entertainment. I just think if these things are involved in tipping the scales for you, you need to be thinking about a late-2021 or 2022 trip, not a 2020 or early 2021 trip.
Disney World Hotel Reopening Dates
As covered in our Disney World Reopening — Hotels post and officially by Disney here, the following hotels now have reopening dates:
July 10 – Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House (DVC), Pop Century Resort, Contemporary Resort
July 29 – Caribbean Beach Resort
August 12 – Polynesian Village Resort, Art of Animation Resort
August 24 – Yacht Club, Beach Club
September 21 – Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
October 1 – BoardWalk Inn
October 14 – Coronado Springs Resort
The rest of the DVC properties at Walt Disney World (besides Jambo House) reopened June 22.
Notably, the following hotels have not been scheduled to reopen: All Star Resorts, Wilderness Lodge (except DVC properties), Animal Kingdom Lodge (except DVC properties), Port Orleans Resort — Riverside, Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter.
If you have a reservation scheduled at a hotel prior to its reopening, or if your hotel is not scheduled to open, you can request to modify your reservation on June 22 (we don’t know yet if this will be online or fully by phone, or what the process will look like).
Disney World Theme Park Dining Updates
Disney World announced which restaurants will reopen with the theme parks. Like all things, expect these to be in flux. As crowds increase, Disney will need to add more locations. BlogMickey has two good lists:
Disneyland Paris & Tokyo Disney Get Reopening Dates
Disneyland Paris announced plans to reopen July 15, including use of a theme park reservation system for its two parks. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea—the two parks at Tokyo Disney Resort—will open on July 1. They will also utilize a reservation system.