All Construction Has Stopped at Disney World
All construction has stopped at Disney World according to the head of the region’s top construction trade organization (via Orlando Business Journal). In this post, we’ll cover details of the shutdown, plus speculation about how specific projects will be impacted.
In our past posts about Walt Disney World closing, many readers have wondered whether the shutdown of the parks means that construction and refurbishments can be accelerated without guests in the way. It’s not a totally outlandish idea in theory–some work done primarily overnight could be done out in the open during daytime hours.
This has actually been such a common question that we specifically addressed both fixing the Expedition Everest Yeti and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance reliability in our Walt Disney World Closure FAQ. Our answer to both: don’t count on it. Now, we have confirmation of that…
In a statement to the Orlando Business Journal, Mark Wylie, president and CEO of the Central Florida chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. indicated that all construction projects have been halted at Walt Disney World. It wasn’t known if construction workers will be paid or when construction operations will resume in the parks.
Construction has been booming in Central Florida, but Wylie expects other construction sites in the region to shut down, as well. “They’re going to be closing a lot of construction sites,” Wylie said of the Central Florida region. “It’s already having a terrific impact on the economy.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now deferring to the President’s Guidelines for America — 15 Days to Slow the Spread, which recommends events of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed. It’s not immediately clear if this is the impetus for Walt Disney World shutting down construction sites, or if it’s a matter of cutting costs with the parks closed and a looming recession. (Or both.)
In our area near Walt Disney World, residential construction has continued on new homes and expanding roadways (as I type this, I can literally hear the work outside). It remains to be seen whether this will continue–both in light of the new recommendations/restrictions and due to an anticipated fall in demand. Sadly, it’s already getting tough out there for a lot of people.
No matter how quickly the situation is resolved, there’s likely to be fallout in the tourism sector that extends beyond the end of this year. In the long-term, Walt Disney World will be fine, but the short to mid-term ramifications could be significant. (The perception of WDW as overpriced, which people laughed off with #BROKE or Most Expensive Day Ever shirts, could be difficult to overcome.)
In the days before the parks closed, entertainment cutbacks began occurring. That’s likely just the beginning. We’ve previously touched upon the possibility that Walt Disney World would adjust timelines, scale back projects, or halt them indefinitely depending upon how long the parks are closed and the economic fallout of the pandemic.
This would not be unprecedented. Disney’s Pop Century: The Legendary Years is the most notable recent example, which is the second-phase of a resort announced at the beginning of the new millennium. During its construction, 9/11 happened and tourism to Florida plummeted.
The first phase of Pop Century (obviously) eventually opened, but it was delayed over a year. Across Hourglass Lake and Generation Gap Bridge, the half-finished “abandoned” resort was plainly visible, and sat that way for nearly a decade. Above is a photo I captured about a decade ago (pardon the old-timey film processing…I was going through a phase.)
That’s when Walt Disney World announced Art of Animation Resort, which used the existing lobby and motel-style buildings that had already been constructed. (If you ever wondered why the Little Mermaid rooms are so different, now you have your answer.)
Here are the projects we anticipate are most likely to be impacted this time around…
Reflections — A Disney Lakeside Lodge – This has yet to go vertical, meaning it’s not even as far along as the Legendary Years was when that project hit the pause button for nearly a decade. In my view, Reflections Lodge is the project most likely to be outright cancelled or at least postponed indefinitely. At minimum, I’d be surprised if Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge opens before 2023.
Disney Vacation Club already has a lot of unsold points, and a recession would make those more difficult to sell. On top of that, there’s a strong possibility that foreclosures will outpace new sales, meaning that DVC’s point inventory will start increasing. On top of that, there’s the possibility that they will need to exercise right of first refusal to buoy resale values.
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Resort – This project is much further along, with exterior construction nearly complete. We anticipate this hotel opening more or less as planned, but perhaps with a modified scale. There are several big questions here. How much of an investment has already been made in terms of research and development? How much capex remains to be spent? What will the operational costs/profit margin be for the existing concept?
All of these are relevant considerations in judging whether Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Resort retains its current scope and ambition. If most of the money has already been spent and operational costs aren’t prohibitive, there’s no reason to adjust plans. If lowering nightly rates would kill margins, don’t be surprised if cuts are made.
Epcot Festival Center – The architectural centerpiece of the core redesign of Epcot is the unnamed festival center. Innoventions is pretty much fully demolished and the central spine of Epcot is a mess, so this project will proceed in some form.
Moreover, the festival center is (presumably) going to directly generate revenue. Food and alcohol will be sold inside, and it’s safe to assume some sort of rooftop dessert party will be offered. Cutting the multi-story project entirely thus seems unlikely. Making it less architecturally ambitious does not.
Spaceship Earth Reimagining – The bold move here would be to plow forward with this reimagining as scheduled, even if it means the last guests have already experienced this incarnation of the attraction. Attendance is likely to drop in the near-term even once the parks reopen, so now is the perfect time to get as much done as possible at Epcot with lighter crowds.
The easier route is to release a statement beginning with the words, “due to guest demand…” and indicating the project has been postponed so guests who had trips cancelled or postponed can say their goodbyes. Our money is on the latter, but we’re hopeful for the former.
Play Pavilion – There has been speculation that the Play Pavilion, which has an official opening of “in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary,” could open late this year if park attendance and lack of other things to do in Epcot necessitates it. The emphasis here is on speculation–virtually no rumors have leaked about the actual progress on this pavilion.
This likely pushes the opening of the Play Pavilion back, closer to the official start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. That’s both due to the construction delays that’ll occur due to this stoppage, and the lack of demand/need.
That’s more or less with where other projects like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Tron Lightcycle Run, Harmonious, Space 220 Restaurant, and other additions stand.
They’ll be impacted to the extent that construction is not actively occurring, but there’s not even a remote danger of those projects being shelved. They’re simply too far along and Walt Disney World will need splashy additions to entice guests to visit post-recession.
Beyond what we’ve listed here, the biggest impacts will likely occur to expansion plans that have not yet been announced or commenced work. Expect pretty much all of that to be shelved, at least in the near to mid-term. Don’t be surprised in the next D23 Expo is very light on announcements, and mostly reveals new details about existing projects.
There is a silver lining, as all of this likely means a return to aggressive discounting. Some readers have feared that Walt Disney World will continue to raise prices to compensate for the parks being closed. That’s not how this works. As always, Disney charges what the market will bear…and when the parks reopen, Walt Disney World will simply not bear its previous pricing. On another positive note, Disney could use entertainment as a less expensive way to lure guests back to Walt Disney World. It’s obviously way too early to say, but this could mean new fireworks, parades–maybe even a night parade–for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary…
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you anticipate a long-term impact on projects around Walt Disney World? Anything you expect to be outright cancelled or postponed indefinitely? Things you do not expect to be impacted? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We returned from Paris on Sunday, March 15. 4 days earlier than scheduled. Those 4 days were to be spent at Disneyland Paris. Some may wonder why we decided to go. Well, we had to base our decision on what we were reading. And I read a lot. The administration was contradicting itself with every communication. So we decided to leave.
By our 4th day in Paris it appeared that France was strategically addressing the issues of covid-19 and taking responsible action. The president’s announcement that ALL travel was being halted from Europe caused friends and family to send us messages asking if we would be OK stuck in France. It didn’t take long for the administration to realize that the president’s declaration forgot to address Americans in Europe and what to do about getting us home. With the administration’s latest event confirming to us that strategic leadership coming from the US on the issue of covid-19 was lacking, we thought it best to get home before the administration reversed course.
We thought there could be some challenges getting to CDG with public transportation running on limited schedules. We hired a private car with no problem. Easier than hauling luggage on public transportation and much quicker. Check in was efficient, fast, courteous. Security at the CDG has always been efficient and not intrusive.
A fellow passenger had traveled with a friend who had returned to JFK earlier in the day. She received a text from her friend who had arrived at JFK and said there were no issues or delays re-entering the US. She also reported that O’Hare and Dallas were experiencing up to a 7 hour wait to re-enter. We braced for the what could be the worst at LAX. Luck was on our side. Although the CDC screening was in its 2nd day, our experience at LAX was very positive. Lots of people to offer advice and ask questions. We passed through immigration quickly. The CDC screening was conducted by polite, respectful representatives who did their job efficiently. Picked up our luggage, which had just arrived, and walked through customs, no questions asked.
We made the best of a difficult and somewhat stressful situation. We never felt that we were at risk and were very cautious of hand sanitation, taking precautions, and keeping our distance from others. So far, so good. We remain healthy and under government imposed lockdown. It is what is it. Our feelings about the trip are mixed. A lot more could have been done in the US that was strategic and helped us to make a confident decision on the trip.
Our thanks to Delta for providing their passengers with an efficient method to modify travel, to Disneyland Paris for eventually making it very simple to request a refund of our 4 day package (Disneyland Paris posted a notice to their website 1 day before the parks closed and provided an online method to cancel and request refund in the last few days), to Get Your Guide for contacting us to tell us that our tours had been cancelled and a full refund was being issued, to SNCF for their simple method to cancel and process refund for our train travel, and surprisingly, to aloof, leveled headed Parisians for not panicking and causing so much unnecessary disruption.
Sorry for the long post. Thought our experience may be helpful to others. Be informed, be cautious, be safe. And consider others. Thanks for reading.
Any thoughts on how this will impact DCL and the construction of the new ships and the new island?
I’m planning a trip to Disney May 1st. Are the chances pretty good that it will be open by then or should we cancel it and try next year?
Not Tom, but I don’t think the odds are high the Parks will be open then (but I’d like to be wrong.)
But the chances aren’t zero, so I don’t see any reason not to keep the reservation for now. If Disney re-opens, you’ll be able to visit with low crowds, probably, and if Disney doesn’t re-open you can get your money back. So unless you need your money back right away I’d wait. But YMMV.
I’m just wondering with the close of parks and no construction, how will this impact the grand plans for the 50th anniversary of MK. I wonder if they will push it back of go ahead as planned but on a smaller scale. What’s your thoughts on that?
I just want to thank you for continuing posts, whether good news or bad. In these very uncertain times, I truly enjoy the escape your blog provides me! I truly appreciate you both!
What she said. Even if the news isn’t all rosey, it’s nice to be back in Disney, if only in my head. Please keep posting.
Glad to be helpful Jane. The order of the day from the Disney Leadership is to make sure that Disney fans know what is really happening and not have mis-information and rumors mislead the conversation.
The notion of closing WDW is something easier said than actually done. It’s not just construction that has stop at Disney World. The Disney Co. is attempting to close all business in the complex. This has never really been attempted before so nobody knows what that actually will look like.
The current phase, today through Friday March 20th, is the part of the action plan to close everything down (Close of Business) at Walt Disney World. At least, this is the goal set by leadership.
Once that is accomplished, many discussions will take place on how to proceed from that point forward. I am certain that some sort of assessment of the status of all the pending multitude of projects will take place.
Obviously, there will be some major adjusting to project schedules and timing windows.
The big question will be the re-start date for the opening of business and what, when and how all the multitudes of projects that will be set for completion before WDW officially re-opens for business.
I can only imagine that it will be a very dramatic count-down to that day. Much like a moon launch.
i will always wonder how the original legacy years half of pop century would have looked.
I know it isn’t fully your wheelhouse, but any idea what will happen to Universal’s new theme park they recently announced? Any chance of that being axed?
We have a two week trip from the UK booked, landing in Orlando on 9th May. I refuse to cancel as there’s still a slim chance! The CDC’s 8 week recommendation currently ends on 11th May I believe, so if need be we could maybe shift our dates a couple of days. (Feel free to say something optimistic to boost my spirits!)
However, the one thing consoling me from our sadly likely cancellation is the prospect of lower prices for 2021/22. Maybe we won’t get our trip this year (I’m strongly disinclined to rearrange for September-December as so many others will be) but with any luck we’ll be able to afford an extra trip in the coming years.
It’s a shame construction couldn’t continue or even expand during the closure, but I understand. I thought maybe they could have prioritised small but useful changes that would normally impact a large number of guests – things like widening pathways – but alas.
Here’s some optimism: if I were you, I’d do exactly what you’re doing.
Best case: you turn out being correct, and while other people will have preemptively cancelled their trips, you’ll enjoy lower crowds as things get back up and running.
Worst case: Walt Disney World extends the closure and cancels your trip for you. You’re out nothing.
Thanks! I was bantering with my fiancée that, if it opens again just before our dates to extremely low crowds, we may even get to ride Rise twice in one day…
Aren’t flights from the UK currently suspended?
I would expect Epcot will finish the demolition and add rolling hills with some carve out areas to place booths for festivals. I don’t’ see the Moana stuff being added. I don’t see the Play Pavilion opening.
For the Hotels, expect any additions or increases to be done immediately. Any updates to the rooms will be canceled.
The next anticipation is selling 21st Century Fox at any price someone is willing to pay. Disney needs the cash, and I would bet the Murdoch Family would buy the business for $20 billion. While a $50 billion loss seems obscene, if Disney dumps the movie studio, they save a lot of capital in funding movies, and they can create flexibility in managing their debt.
Our small family business is following the new guidelines and closing this Friday. We are not in the food industry and are following our attorney’s advice to limit liability. I expect that the construction stoppage is due to worker safety but can guarantee that liability played a role. It’s sad that the work can’t be completed while we are all away, but we can’t have our cake and eat it too. I am really looking forward to seeing the parks again and just added another 100 shares of Disney to my portfolio. Great time to buy folks! If you think Disney is not going to come back bigger and better, sell me your stock.
What a bad time to buy into DVC. Signed our paperwork on Thursday. I fear now ill miss out on dining and hotel discounts. However it should help me buy more points on resale (followed your recommendation of buying the minimum direct)
Not too late to cancel the DVC purchase.
I can still afford it, just wondering if better deals are ahead. I have 90 days to before the full deposit is due so I have time to change.
Obviously, it’s a personal decision whether to continue with the purchase. If it were me, I’d cancel if that’s possible without penalty.
Perhaps I missed this in a recent post, but has the walkway from MK to the Grand Floridian been completed yet?
No. Still at least a few months away given appearances.
Construction should be booming at this time through the parks? In light of the increased hours those in construction will be able to work, less people working in shift around the clock- keeps the industry working, workers and families paid and when WDW opens up again…a delightful surprise for its guests.
Keep those industries that’s can work, working, keep our economy afloat.
I don’t think Disney is that bold, and there’s probably anxiety about cash-flow.
I wouldn’t be that surprised if Trump gave Disney and other similar businesses some form of sweetheart deal to encourage them to keep construction workers busy during this period. It’d go totally against any sensible health advice but I doubt he cares, and it’d be something where he could show how he’s saved jobs etc.
That’s a bummer – I had hoped that it would be like we’ll all be doing at our own homes – cleaning up! There’s never been less dust at our house or less weeds in the yard. Stale honey-do’s are finally getting checked off the list now that the madness of day to day life has quieted down.
Was hoping that WDW had a similar laundry list of tidy-up projects to hammer out, which could be tackled at a slower pace by “small” crews.
Thanks Tom. I received a DVC flyer in the mail yesterday ironically. I’m sure others did as well. I’m ok with the Reflections DVC getting the axe as I loathe more hotels and DVCs that increase crowds. I’m really looking forward to the new Future World and Tron so hoping construction resumes as soon as feasible and safe. My bet would be for a June opening or even July. I anticipate a huge amount of people WILL go because they’ve been cooped up for so long and “deserve” a vacation but maybe you’re right Tom if the economy completely tanks maybe WDW will have promotions.
My suspicion is that there will be some degree of pent-up demand, especially among locals who already have Annual Passes.
However, I don’t think that’ll be the case with hotel occupancy (which is the primary form of discounting, anyway). Even if people do plan trips to return to normalcy, they’ll be looking for ways to cut costs, given the economic hit so many have or will take.
I’ve booked for September during the Free Dining. Do you think that will still be offered? Also, what about the Food and Wine festival? Will it still happen?
I would expect another wave of Free Dining, yes.
I’d also expect Food & Wine Festival to occur as normal.
If they are open the first of June, do you anticipate dining offers?
Tom Bricker, thank you for the information. Our room isnt paid for yet. We still have until April 30th because we have a meal plan. If they have a free one, would they just refund that part of our package? Thank you!
Hey Tom, long time reader and new DVC member (as of Feb 2020) here.
My question is the impact on SSR: Congress Park is finished on renovations, correct? How do you anticipate their timeline being impacted?
I am asking because I have a trip planning for mid September, and I booked a 1 bedroom villa Preferred in hopes of getting a renovated room. I am assuming that both Preferred buildings will be completed by then- what are your thoughts?
I’d expect all resort refurbishment projects to be delayed by a few months. Perhaps the ones at the All-Stars will be paused indefinitely. That’s just a shot in the dark, though.
I never knew AOA was supposed to be an extension of POP! That’s cool – anymore picture you can share?
If you google Pop Century Legendary Years youll get pics and articles about it. Also if you look at the current view on satellite youll still see the symmetry of the resorts.
That’s why the bridge between Pop and AoA is the “Generation Gap” bridge over “Hourglass Lake.” It was meant to literally bridge the gap between the 00s-40s and 50s-90s over a lake representing the passage of time.
Groovy!
Search “Abandoned” on YouTube and look for Legendary Years. I actually just watched it when it came up as a suggested view.
Disney left Pop Century abandoned for 2 years and part of what became AOA to rot for 11 more years. The video is chilling at what Disney left behind. Amazing the drastic action Disney went through after 9/11. Interesting to see what does happen to any projects in progress now.
I expect the entertainment shut downs were planned well before the virus arrived as the new WDW President Josh D’Amaro, who was known for shutting down entertainment options at California Disneyland resort for years. He even moved the fireworks shows at both parks to weekend only instead of all week. So I expect most entertainment options to go away at WDW, Parades to limited to the 3 PM parade and fireworks here only on weekends too. This is despite the virus as Josh is known to be a severe cost cutter at DL and that is why he is now here at WDW and George Kalogridis is out.
When do you realistically expect Disneyworld to reopen?
The optimist in me is hoping for early May.
The pessimist in me is bracing for June.
I think a closure beyond that is unlikely. No matter where things actually stand with the coronavirus outbreak, it seems unrealistic to expect people to stay at home for several months. Not only would that have catastrophic economic consequences, but people simply will not accept it.
There was a meeting between WDW Senior Management and the Disney Building Trades Council on Monday, March 16th. Currently, the plan is to close all business on Disney Property until March 31st. There will be another meeting with the Building Trades at another time to discuss how the Disney complex will be re-opened.