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!
I’m Not Trying To Troll or Create Fear, But Why Would Anyone Think That With Likely Thousands of Deaths In Florida………Yes……Deaths……..That the State Would Allow the Mass OverCrowding that is Disney When Faced With Communicable Desease Transmission??? We All Need To Realize The Seriousness Of This Devil!
Any likelihood of decreased crowd levels and social distancing on Disneys part is a Fantasy, the Corpotation is Far toConsumed by Greed to Allow any such Nonsense!
With Dr Fauci stating the Covid-19 Death Toll may Top 100,000, does anyone think Disney will reopen in Two Months ??? I’ve posted previously, Disney 2020 Looks Unlikely !
Yeah I hear you. I’ve speculated that July they “might” open. We will see. Dr Fauci (sp?) and Dr. Brixe seem to be smart and knowledgeable and crazily apolitical so I trust their judgment.
My David’s vacation rental got rebooked and upgraded because the time of year was less expensive. It’s true that it’s a gamble renting points, I lost a lot of sleep until it was rebooked.
Even though my situation worked out well, I’ll never do it again. It’s too much risk…
When did you get re-booked to? Other than a pandemic the world has never seen, the risk ain’t that bad.
I’d Say U Need A Wakeup Call !!!
Interesting point about WDW not wanting to open back up without adequate hotel occupancy. I would think Disneyland would be different–more likely to open up whether or not hotels are full because such a big local population. I’ve got fingers crossed for our end-of-May trip to Disneyland but also reserved for June and August in case May doesn’t happen (which seems a very real possibility).
Tom – we have reservations for the first week of August with our son as well as our daughter and her family. Her My Magic just updated to show it opening April 19th. Any official word on this?
Have trip planned for first week in November. Already purchased Mickry’’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Tickets for November 1st. We have 4 of us going in this trip, one is the first time to Disney World. Purchased the memory maker for this trip also. Hope this still go as planned.
Will depend really on how seriously people take this in this country and the rest of the world.
Anyone with a May trip have trouble booking fast passes? We rescheduled our spring break trip to late May/early June (and looking like we may very well be rescheduling a second time). My 60 days for the first half of the trip opened up over the weekend. When I try to book our fast passes- almost everything is gone. Even when I was there for NYE there was significantly more selection available? If this was due to expected closure- why would ANYTHING be open? I can’t see the June fast pass options yet because we have a split stay. Just wondering if anyone else has any insight.
That’s strange. Not on point, but similarly, I tried to book dining reservations at Disneyland for end of May and nothing at all is available (including things that *always* have availability). It looks like they just aren’t allowing any booking but it doesn’t make sense that some would be available.
I made my fastpasses Saturday morning. Everything was fine. By that afternoon I couldn’t find anything when trying to modify the bigger attractions. I think they greatly reduced the fastpasses available so that now only the least popular options have availability.
Thanks y’all! I was at sixty days Sunday and got on at 7:30 am. Some parks had nothing – and some had a very small number of passes. Maybe it is just reduced availability but seems weird i could not get anything at all in some parks. I’ll keep checking.
I made mine last weekend for the 21st of May with no issues- we have a split stay and were able to make FPs for the entirety of our trip.
We’ve already purchased our theme park tickets (9 days for our family of 5 and 7 for my mom). Part of me wants to try to reschedule for September (Mom doesn’t want to go then). Part of me wants to just wait it out and hope things are up and going by mid June. And part of me wants to push the trip all the way out to next late April and drive down to Disneyland for a few days this fall. So many things up in the air. We’re staying at two time shares through RCI exchange and I know that rebooking with them will be difficult if things are technically reopened by then. But I worry that traveling in June may not be a good idea and that the parks will not be a full experience.
They’ll reopen as close to June 1 as possible. Frankly if we’re not headed back towards a resemblance of normalcy by June 1 we’ve already passed a point of no return economically. Lives first, yes. The uncomfortable truth is that governments have to keep in mind the economic, societal, psychological, and emotional impacts of restrictions. Life will be different but it will probably be like differences between apples and pears, not apples and pizza. Social distancing means being mindful of not coughing on people. It does not – not – mean everybody stay in your houses and never do anything. Stay-at-home orders seem to get confused with social distancing.
Sure. How can social distancing possibly work in an environment that was designed for crowds? We are talking hundreds of thousands of people down to thousands or less, restricting movements across the parks, hotels, common areas, shops, etc. It is like war time and that is the uncomfortable truth. We will survive and start it all up again. I don’t think Disney wants truckloads of body bags being loaded and unloaded on its properties.
Thank you Tom for your valuable insight into Disney. I was wondering what the likelihood is that when Disney reopens all their parks if they will have a health line similar to the security line. Where your health is quickly assessed before you are allowed in. Do you think that is possible?
Thanks for this update. Hopeful for May 16th, but also being realistic at this point.. Now when to reschedule is the question. Was thinking late August/early Sept. – sucks it will probably be more expensive and maybe more crowded (maybe not though), and maybe with the dining deal that will eliminate the money I would have spent on food. Who knows. Hope this virus slows and stops soon for all of us!
As a local and passholder, we will likely take advantage of the smaller crowds and great Resort discounts this summer. Of course all that will depend on the virus. Looking forward to the parks reopening when it is safe and enjoying lighter crowds and more emphasis on locals and passhodlers.
So bummed, saved forever to take my family of 4, my parents and my neice to Disney, booked 10 months ago, it was their Xmas present and now it’s looking like 99% is not gonna happen in May. This the type of luck I have… Stay safe guys….
Don’t give up! Reschedule! The Magic will still be magical!!
Hi Tom, I have photo questions that have nothing to do with the topic of this article:
The 10th photo above, of the other theme park, is that Knott’s Berry Farm?
And the photo right below, what resort is that?
Always appreciate your work and info! Hope you guys are staying safe!
Yes and Disney’s Riviera Resort.
Our annual spring break trip was cancelled due to the closure. I had already guessed that the parks would close, and so I had put a deposit down on the same trip details for August. Never been to FL in August, knew it would be super hot and humid, but willing to try it so as not to sacrifice this year’s trip! Now, when all these dates for social distancing kept getting expanded, I ended up putting a deposit down for October because even August now seems questionable. Sigh…
I’ve got a trip planned for end of September/ beginning October this year so playing the waiting game and see what happens.
So stressed out about all of this! We are set to go May 23rd-28th. Not looking like that will happen. To top if off we rented DVC points and I have yet to figure out what that will mean. Our final payment is due April 8th, but we really don’t want to sink more money into the vacation. I also bought tickets from a third party retailer. No idea what we can do with those if they can be extended or what. This was a trip for 11 people. Needless to say I will likely never rent DVC points again and will always be going through Disney! They are making it right for everyone impacted and I feel like right now my family is going to be out thousands because we tried to go a more economical route. 🙁
Erin, not sure why you are so down on the rental. It’s a gamble. If you have the means, which it sounds like you do, then why bother renting in the first place? To save money, right? The contracts are pretty clear on all of the ins and outs. It is like deciding whether to take travel insurance or not to. Roll the dice.
Anyhow, which company did you rent with? I know Davd’s Rentals are handling it the best they can. We are DVC owners and have rented out for a reservation at the beginning of May, which is clearly not going to happen. While there is no full refund option, I will be offering the family to re-book at a different time. If they do not want to, then I will rent my points to someone else and give that money back to the first renters. I just need to ensure that David’s Rentals handles this without any funny business. I could be a douche and just rent out points and double the profits. That is not me. What comes around, goes around. I would hope most DVC owners renting will do this. The only caveat is currently some of the DVC policies around points have not been altered. Our use year starts in February, and therefore if I want to bank points, they must be banked in September. Now if I re-book someone past September and it falls through, then the points cannot be banked and mus be used by February 1st, 2021. If I cannot rent those points by that time, they are lost. So unless DVC alters their policy, which right now they suggest if they do it will cause issues in the inventory system, I would be best to bank the points into 2021 and re-book for someone post February 1st, 2021.
Mike that was really helpful information! We rented so we could have the larger villa style places as we are travelling with three 5 year olds and a 7 year old and wanted the space plus a kitchen. Allows flexibility for meals and potential naps for the kids without the parents being stuck inside the same room as them. I didn’t gamble on disney shutting down completely. I am glad that you are working with your family that you rented to and I can only hope the same will happen for us when it comes to it. Since we are the last week impacted I know we are the last to get rescheduled so there is a chance that we will have a flexible owner as well that might offer a different time. I know that it will all depend on what flexibility Disney provides to the owner and when those points he rented to us expired. Unfortunately not sure how much flexibility my group will have as we have a pregnant woman due in the fall and kids in school. But we will see!
Hi Tom and everyone.
We are DVC members and currently we have trip booked for last week in June.
I know the situation is fluid but since we are coming from NJ do you think Governor DeSantis will lift his 14 day quarantine order by then? Should all Hotspot areas be canceling their trips for june?..we are under a temporary travel advisory for the trip state but I wonder if Florida will keep their quarantine order all summer?
Any thoughts?
“do you think Governor DeSantis will lift his 14 day quarantine order by then?”
It’s hard to say. I think his primary concern is Florida’s economy, which is driven in large part by tourism. Hard to have that if you’re blocking states from which many tourists come. As such, I’d expect him to lift those orders as soon as practical. Whether that’s in one month or several remains to be seen.
(Personally, I think Florida likely to be a hotspot even after things are under control in the Northeast.)
Yes, that is a concern also- even when a hotspot like New York State has its quarantine orders lifted, YOUR state may then be under the next wave of the virus and YOU may be under quarantine (thinking of us in South/Midwest who will be farther down the spread). You will not be allowed to leave and travel to prevent spread to other states, even those who have experienced their peak growth and reduction in infection rates already. I’m guessing with Florida’s massive out of state visitors and population, they are going to have a hard time getting things under control when it’s their turn under virus growth. They’re going to have to take drastic measures, which may say: you ‘out of staters’ can’t come.
We have a trip scheduled the week of Memorial day. I keep going back and forth do I cancel and re-schedule or wait it out…..
We are in the same boat!! We have a trip booked Memorial Day week as well for my husband and I and all our kids and grandkids. I really don’t know what to do because with everyone’s different schedules, if we reschedule, we won’t be able to come until at least a year later, and that will be too far out to use our flight credits. We’ve been trying to wait it out, but this makes me worry that it won’t be open by then 🙁
Since they aren’t cancelling resort reservations for people who already have them booked for end of May, and are allowing people to rebook up until the day before with no penalty, I expect they will still have enough resort guests to meet minimum occupancy requirements at many resorts if they do decide on a soft open in late May. I guess we will see.
I have a trip scheduled for the 3rd week in November I was going to cancel because I work @a small amusement park in New Jersey and We were supposed to open for class trips that will probably be canceled as most schools are closed and have alteady said no trips for rest of year… so our opening day will be moved out… I work 6 days a week over summer just to afford going to Disney and I have had to use some of my savings already.. Unless its a great discount I will Have to postpone until November 2021 or further.