Walt Disney World is planning a phased reopening for its parks and resorts this summer.
With that being said, Senior VP of Operations Jim MacPhee outlined a detailed proposal for the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force on Wednesday morning. The plan was ultimately approved, endorsed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and sent to Governor Ron DeSantis for a final review.
Here’s what we know.
Park and Hotel Dates
Walt Disney World plans to open the parks in two phases:
- Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom will reopen on July 11th
- Epcot and Hollywood Studios will reopen on July 15th
Hotels will also open at a staggered rate:
- Disney Vacation Club hotels and Fort Wilderness will reopen June 22nd
- Disney’s Vero Beach will reopen June 22nd
- Non-DVC resorts will reopen July 11th
General Safety Requirements
Upon reopening, guests will be subject to temperatures upon arrival at parks and resorts and must wear face coverings at all times. Cast members will be required to do the same.
VP MacPhee said there will be “relaxation zones” for guests to visit and take their mask off for a brief time.
Park Operations
Disney will be severely limiting the amount of guests allowed at each park, resort and attraction. Some of the ways they will do that is by:
- Requiring an advanced reservation for the park
- Limiting park capacity
- Limiting transportation capacity
- Suspending character meet & greets
- Closing high-contact areas
- Suspending fireworks & nighttime spectaculars
- Forming a “social distancing squad” to show safe practices around the park
- Add safety signing across property
Booking Hotels and Park Tickets:
Disney says guests who had to cancel their visits due to COVID-19 will have the first chance to visit upon reopening bookings:
At this time, we are temporarily pausing new ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel reservations so we can focus on guests with existing tickets and reservations (Disney Vacation Club members can still make new reservations). Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make reservation requests in phases before new tickets are sold; we’ll be reaching out to these guests soon to provide additional details. We will resume new ticket sales and hotel reservations after that period of time. Theme park reservations will be limited due to attendance limitations and will be subject to availability. More details about this new reservation system will be available soon.
You can see Walt Disney World’s whole proposal here.
Governor Ron DeSantis still needs to sign-off on Disney’s reopening plans.