Disney World Only Accepting Reservations for June 1 or Later
Following Walt Disney World’s announcement that Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom theme parks will remain closed indefinitely, hotel and dining reservations were suspended for the months of April and May 2020.
While we don’t yet have any official word as to when the parks or resorts will reopen, but yet another update to DisneyWorld.com’s operational update/travel advisory (the pop-up alert that appears at the top of the site) offers some insight into Walt Disney World’s tentative plans.
In this post, we’ll share the full text of the changes to the information about booking future trips, plus our speculation about what this means in terms of a reopening date, as well as the likelihood of discounts in light of Walt Disney World’s Summer Free Dining Recovery Deal that also went live over the weekend…
In pertinent part, here’s what the updated travel advisory on DisneyWorld.com states:
“For Guests who are interested in modifying their existing travel dates or making a new reservation for a future vacation, reservations are currently available for travel dates June 1 and later. As always, Guests are able to modify these bookings if Walt Disney World Resort opens before or after that time.”
This means that you cannot presently book hotel or dining reservations for travel dates this month, next month, or even in May 2020.
We spot checked dates in each of those months–right up to Memorial Day weekend, and there was nothing. Every room at every resort showed up as “unavailable for the dates selected.”
Ultimately, people are going to read into Walt Disney World’s updated travel advisory what they want to believe. It’s like a Rorschach test, but everything is Mickey ears.
Optimists will point to the last sentence, which leaves the door open for Walt Disney World to open at some indefinite date well before June. It could very well still be sometime in early May and still comport with that travel advisory.
Pessimists (we prefer the term realists) could point out that Walt Disney World has previously continued to accept reservations and modifications for dates that ended up being encompassed in the closure extension.
For example, just last Friday morning I could’ve made a hotel or dining reservation for April 1. This was even after Osceola and Orange County issued stay at home orders that effectively extended the closures that rendered the parks and resorts being open on that date impossible.
Though many people don’t view Walt Disney World this way, the resort complex is a colossal hotel business with theme parks being almost ancillary to that. After a decade of nonstop construction, Walt Disney World has dozens of resorts on property and tens of thousands of hotel rooms in its inventory.
Walt Disney World needs to accept hotel reservations now in order to meet minimum occupancy thresholds that are a necessary prerequisite. Without a certain number of bookings, opening those resorts is not practicable. (That doesn’t foreclose the possibility of reopening the parks, but it certainly makes it less lucrative for Disney if relying almost exclusively on the local Central Florida population.)
Typically, people plan Walt Disney World vacations over 5 months in advance. For many, less time is not practical from a budgeting or planning perspective.
In other words, in order to get even some of the resorts up and running by June 1, 2020, Walt Disney World needs to accept reservations now. From our perspective, the updated date is not a signifier that the resorts will definitely reopen on June 1, 2020. Rather, it’s evidence that they almost certainly will not reopen before then.
A few weeks’ notice is not realistic. There’s no way Walt Disney World can announce on May 1 that the resorts will reopen on May 14, 2020. The vast majority of tourists cannot book airfare, hotel reservations, and make other plans in that short of a timeframe.
Again, the turnaround time for locals is obviously significantly shorter, but they are not Walt Disney World’s core/coveted demographic. (One of several reasons why this is all so much easier for Disneyland.) This is why Walt Disney World needs to accept reservations now even for dates that might end up being cancelled or modified later.
We’ve already heard from many readers who are now concerned that June and July will be slammed with “wall to wall people now.” If you’ve read online comments from people rebooking trips, you’d have ample basis for this belief.
We highly doubt that will be the case. It’s important to remember that there’s a huge amount of selection bias on sites like this one and Walt Disney World social media circles. People commenting in these places are in no way representative of the general public. We’re much more likely to be diehard fans who move heaven and earth to make a trip happen.
It should go without saying, but the general public is not so Disney-obsessed. While a vocal minority (extreme emphasis on both words) will be back at Walt Disney World as soon as possible, that’s unlikely to be the case for most park-goers, especially those who are not so enamored with Disney. Many will be reticent to get on airplanes or go into crowded places.
There are also the practical realities. Even assuming more people will be eager to get out of the house and go somewhere (probably a safe bet), we’d anticipate the biggest beneficiaries of this desire will be regional attractions like state parks or local amusement parks. Fewer people will be able to book long and lavish vacations due to a combination of financial circumstances, employment uncertainty, or simply needing to get things back to normal in other facets of life.
For all of these reasons and more, we expect a flurry of discounts–something discussed in great depth in our Will Walt Disney World Offer Huge Discounts After Reopening? post.
In all likelihood, many of these deals will come once there’s more certainty about both an actual reopening date and the circumstances. (E.g. will all parks be open? Which resorts will resume operations at first? Which sister properties will be consolidated? What entertainment and attractions will go ‘seasonal’?)
Our expectation is that the biggest discounts will come via targeted offers. Think PIN/Unique Offer Codes and Priceline Express Deals for Walt Disney World Hotels. These are good ways of filling hotel inventory that are already somewhat ‘last minute’ in nature, and aren’t as public facing.
That last part is critical because it allows Walt Disney World to dump rooms for massive discounts without bringing it to the attention of the general public, and thus increasing expectations of future deals of that nature.
We’d also expect some of the best deals in a decade for Annual Passholders and Florida residents. Generally speaking, these are also guests better situated to book closer to travel dates, and these also are available to a more limited audience.
Expect to likewise see more general public deals. The first and easiest ones will likely come in the form of extensions (something we’ve already seen with the Sun & Fun Room-Only Discount) and reissued past deals. It would surprise us if the Summer Free Dining Deal (which is currently being offered only in “recovery” form) is not re-released for the general public in a few weeks. Following that, a second wave of new Free Dining dates seems all but inevitable.
Ultimately, no one knows when the parks and resorts will reopen–not even leadership at Walt Disney World. There are obviously internal projections and tentative timelines, but those necessarily make assumptions about containment and other variables that are very much unknowns at this point.
We’ve stated many times that we’re hopeful for May 2020, but view June as more realistic. That’s not even an educated guess–it’s just a guess based upon what we think are relevant considerations. There have been a lot of definitive proclamations about when everything will or will not reopen. The reality is that we do not know–and neither do you.
Many people are eager to plan upcoming trips, both as a matter of practicality and as a mental escape from what’s going on in the real world right now. That’s perfectly understandable and frankly healthy. However, we’d stress patience and flexibility. (And if you’re going to comment here, a dash of humility and empathy for other readers who may feel differently than you.)
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
When will you return to Walt Disney World after the parks reopen? Will you be back in the first week, first month, a specific month, sometime within 2020, sometime within 2021, or does it remain to be seen depending upon your personal circumstances, discounts, etc? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? 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 have a trip planned in late May. Right now I am just waiting. I am not making any more payments toward the trip but I am not canceling yet either. If they are open, we will go. If not, I am not sure when we will reschedule. It will depend on our schedule, discounts and predicted crowds.
We are same, our trip is mid-May. Crossing our fingers it is reopened. Been advised to let Disney cancel (if they remain closed thru our arrival dates) & hopefully we will get a unique pin code for a rebooking for future!
Tom
I always look forward to your updates! Once again I think you are absolutely correct in your predictions. We rescheduled from April of this year to April of next year. We were paid in full for our room so they just transferred the money for hotel to next year. Our tickets retain their value so we would only need to pay any increase that occurs. All good & looking forward to our trip. Looking forward to your next update.
Hi I have reservations for the second week of July. I already have the free dining package. Can I change my reservation for a later date and still get the free dining?
I’m sorry, but I do not think WDW will reopen this year. Once the peak will pass, there will always be a risk of a new peak happening. So a trace and isolate strategy, like they’re doing in China and South Korea at the moment, will need to be implemented. Every confirmed case will have to be isolated, every person he’s been in contact with in the previous 2 weeks will need to be tested and isolated if positive. You cannot do that if theme parks are open or other large events (concerts, sport) happen. Remember: in Italy the current situation originated from 3 small towns who have combined fewer people than are at WDW at any given day. It’s too much of a risk.
Totally agree. It will be months before the parks fully open (I would guess 2021 comfortably). People need to get real to this disease.
Another reality: there is going to be a cross our fingers and hope moment in the next few months. True contact tracing in this country is just about impossible.
This is not a question of zeroing out cases. It is about hospitals keeping up. If the number of cases is 130k in the U.S. you can unscientifically estimate it’s 10x that in reality right now because most people aren’t going to get tested or even seek tests. Personally I’d say 100x.
Disney is going to reopen this year Whether it is half capacity or some other strategy, it is going to reopen. To put it bluntly, Tourism is the reason FL has an economy. There is no way the state sends the signal that it isn’t safe, effectively shutting it down for the rest of the year. there would be a real risk of the closure extending for upwards of a calendar year. That’s not happening and it probably doesn’t need to.
I had a cruise and a Disneyworld vacation in May. Since my cruise got cancelled I pushed the Disney vacation back to October. I already booked the room at the Disney resort. I’ll see what happens by then.
Hi Tom,
As you consider topics, I’d be greatly interested in your speculation on crowd patterns at WDW over the coming months, perhaps with a few likely scenarios based on different re-opening dates/other variables. If WDW does a phased re-opening this summer, might September still be light and October still heavy? Is it likely the holidays will be back to business as usual for crowds? (I have a family trip booked end of Aug. – mid.-Sept. and am really wondering if it will likely be a ghost town, wall to wall, or something in between… or what month to look for if I do reschedule.)
Your articles are a ray of light… balanced, compassionate, informed, engaging. I realize we’re perfect strangers, yet it feels like advice from a trusted friend. Thank you.
I plan on doing a speculative crowd update later this week or early next. Stay tuned! 🙂
“However, we’d stress patience and flexibility. (And if you’re going to comment here, a dash of humility and empathy for other readers who may feel differently than you.)”
Thank you! I saw so many people being down right mean on the will Disney open April 1st post.
We just rebooked for end of Sept! We were originally going to rebook for October, but wanted to take advantage of the recovery deal. I know other deals will most likely be offered for October, but I didn’t want to ignore a definite deal for a possibility of something later. This is our first time going in the fall, so it’ll be our first time doing Food and Wine and also MNSSHP. Hopefully everything is back to normal by then!
We have a package booked already from May 30-June 5. Disney has not canceled our vacation and I have not as of yet either…I wonder though what will happen with our reservation since it overlaps the last 2 days of May….ugh.
We have reservations for the same dates! Waiting (somewhat!) patiently to Reschedule…so many factors to consider!
I, too, have reservations late May. I’m truly hoping Disney does a soft opening for those booked who did not reschedule. Smaller controlled crowds are doable, provided we are on the downside of the bell curve. Keeping my fingers crossed that we flatten the curve in the next two weeks.
Same here! Wondering about those couple first days!
So… first predicament; You had a vacation using points or cash room and bought separate tickets. They are not currently refunding tickets. If I re-book this vacation for July, will they through in the free dining? Or, do I have to buy the whole package all over again and hope that they will eventually offer refund for the original tickets? Second, Will they offer this for people using points at all?
Based on the communication from Disney, we can simply draw some loose conclusion-
1- they suspect they will be ready to FE-open by June 1.
2- they don’t believe there is a realistic chance of opening significantly before June 1.
But a big factor – what new safety and social distancing precautions will be in place when they re-open?
I actually think they will want to avoid a huge sudden grand re-opening with 100,000 guests streaming into the hotels. Because I suspect lots of new safety measures – like temperature checks at check-in. Extra sanitizing through the day. Lots of procedures that prevent operating at 100% capacity.
Thus, easy to imagine a “soft re-open” or phased opening. Maybe in early May, announce something akin to late May opening for previously existing, non-cancelled reservations.
I also wouldn’t be shocked to see limits on offsite guests.
Easier to monitor onsite guests for fevers.
Also, if you limit park attendance to onsite guests only – you still generate all your hotel revenue while significantly reducing “density” in the parks.
This may prove critical to allowing operations to resume.
We have a trip planned for May 18-24th.
Do you think if we wait to rebook until a few more weeks from now, there will still be room availability with the free dining?
Also, do you think I could change one of the guests on the reservations.
The people I was supposed to go with will not be able to go on the new dates. We are looking at June 2-8th.
Also, I actually had 2 reservations for the same dates in May because I wasn’t sure which resort we wanted, do you think they will allow me to book 2 trips on 2 different dates.
Any insight will be helpful and much appreciated.
Sorry for so many questions.
Yes you can modify persons in your traveling party..i do it all the time.
Unless it has been canceled June 2-June 8 is gay days at disney. Not sure if that matters to you but you should be aware.
Yes you can have 2 reservations at one time..just make sure to cancel one of them in a timely manner because they will charge you for both.
Jill, if you are going to have two reservations, maybe make one later than June 2.
Thanks everyone for your nice and helpful feedback.
Jill
Thanks Tom. Good to read your perspective. We have a large family vacation that starts May 30th. We’re hoping that the parks and hotels open that weekend, or maybe the week before in order to allow Disney to have a “soft opening” prior to June 1.
To me, all of that depends on what happens in April with the virus. Does our country get testing really going? Do we develop some useful treatments that reduce the patient load at hospitals? If we (as a country) aren’t better able to handle the virus we probably won’t even see Disney be able to open in June!
Hi. We have a trip planned for June 19-27 for my daughter’s graduation trip. We have the reservation made but saw this morning that the free dining plan was offered. Is this just for cancelled trips or is it worth the wait to call and see if I can add this to our plan? Currently we are paying for the regular dining plan but if I can save $3,000, the wait on the phone will be worth it. I have 5 teenagers on pins and needles hoping that their June trip will still be available.
Hey Toni, the current free dining promotion is for guests that had reservations from March 16 – May 31 that had to cancel due to the virus. I’m fairly certain your reservation wouldn’t be able to get the promotion. Sorry.
Mike Ellis
Do you think they will extend Flower and garden? what about the ap magnets?
@ Yulan, you’re not the only one wondering. I’m really glad we made a quick trip on 3/15. Aside from a coolish morning and scoring boarding group 3, we did get a short visit to the festival.
Thanks everyone for your nice and helpful feedback.
Jill
Before the crisis, we were contemplating a June trip to Disney World. Now thinking we should at least try to book it then wait and see. Would be a great way to get things back to normal and planning a trip is a great distraction. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the re-opening gets pushed back further.
I think there is still a strong chance May works. There are tons of current reservations in play already and this may be geared to allowing Disney to ramp up operations slowly with a limited capacity. Why take tons of reservations and have to adjust bookings anyway. I agree June is looking more likely but I do not see this as a negative prediction but rather acknowledging that life just won’t click back on full go anyway.
With reduced workforce, lower demand, and a need to control capacity, this may make sense to push a bulk of reservations back as it possibly allows them flexibility to open up earlier in a limited fashion… a great idea I believe.
Great read as usual. Agreed that most folks will do driving distance trips or vacations soon after the outbreak subsides and will avoid flying for awhile. We plan to wait for a sweet deal if there is one. Full free dining would entice us or heavy room discounts. We are not ready to travel right away so I’m thinking this Fall the absolute earliest for our comfort level but again, we’d like to see some great promotions otherwise will delay another WDW tripeven further into late 2021 or 22.
Another great post!
Interestingly, DVC is still accepting reservations for April and May. I wonder when/if this will change.
Separately, I have a DVC reservation which has me checking in on April 5, 2020. Obviously, I won’t be checking in, but I’m surprised that reservation has not yet been cancelled. Anyone have any ideas how long in advance DVC has been cancelling reservations? I’d prefer to just let DVC do it automatically, rather than jam up the phone line for others who have more important issues to discuss. Any input from other DVCers who have had their reservations cancelled would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I rented points to a family due to check I. On the 1st April- they haven’t cancelled it yet. The email sent by DVC indicates that they are working through the cancellations in date order
Thank you Tom for your valuable advice. I have a reservation for a Disney Cruise that sails June 21st. What is the likelihood that it will sail if the parks open June1st? I love this blog. It is my go to for all things Disney.
Quick question that probably has already been answered: Disney states that park tickets are non-refundable. Are they making exceptions in this circumstance, or is the option only to move them to a future date? Thanks in advance.
If you are rescheduling your vacation tickets are valid thru Dec 2021.
If you are canceling your vacation then your tickets are refundable if purchased in a package.
My family has a trip scheduled for the end of July. I expect the parks to have resumed operations by then but feel some trepidation about being in such a crowded environment. Our family travels to Disney 1-2 times a year and views pixie dust as essential to life, but even we are concerned about where the COVID-19 situation will land. For now, we are continuing to plan for the trip but understand we may have to cancel and reschedule for later in the year or even the following year. I think Tom is right and crowds will be low for awhile as people recover from trepidation about travel and large groups. I hope everyone is staying home and staying safe.
That photo from Peter Pan’s flight is amazing. The Tower Bridge almost looks like it’s got some Soarin’ bend to it, but in a good way.
Really appreciate the reasoned analysis, and insight.
As die hard realist (the glass is neither half full nor half empty; there are 4 ounces in it) I feel you are spot on. I’m of the opinion we (like all of us) are still in a bit of denial/shock how disruptive this will all be when things are all said and done. I’d bet something of value that Disney does a phased re-open (maybe targeting locals/annual passholders first?) as they slowly ramp up hotel operations. There is zero chance this flips back on quickly.
Knowing how much goes into planning these trips I feel terrible for those impacted, even if it’s a “first world” problem. It also solidifies our approach to never telling our kids about a Disney trip until the morning we are leaving for the airport :-). Can’t be disappointed if they didn’t know…
For all those that are being impacted or have friends/loved ones that are, all the best.
Hi everyone, I hope you are managing to stay indoors and stay safe and well.
Well Disney have not yet cancelled our trip from the UK due to fly out 24th April, cruise for seven nights and then six nights at AOA.
It is a waiting game but I guess we shall hear from them soon.
We are of course disappointed as it was a special for my 65 birthday and to celebrate my hubbys back operation going well. (Excellent NHS)
But, given the scheme of things in the world we are ok, got Disney Plus now and got our memories and photos of previous trips and cruises.
Thank you Tom, I love your updates and websites. Chrissy
Thank you Tom for your valuable advice. I have a reservation for a Disney Cruise that sails June 21st. What is the likelihood that it will sail if the parks open June1st? I love this blog. It is my go to for all things Disney.