Disney World Theme Park Reopening From Hurricane Milton

Following Hurricane Milton, Walt Disney World has once again updated its weather advisory after assessing storm damage. This covers the latest updates in the aftermath, including the reopening of Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and everything else. (Updated October 11, 2024.)

Walt Disney World is back to scheduled operating hours for October 11, which are as follows:

• Magic Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm; Early Entry at 7:30 am; Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party from 7 pm to midnight
• EPCOT: 9 am to 9 pm; Early Entry at 8:30 am
• Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 9 pm; Early Entry at 8:30 am
• Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 8 pm;  Early Entry at 7:30 am; Extended Evening Hours from 8 pm to 10 pm

Both Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom and Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom are as previously scheduled. Although the latter may stick out as being atypical since the normal cadence for Extended Evening Hours is Monday and Wednesday, this is because of the holiday weekend.

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon is scheduled to reopen to all guests on Saturday, October 12. Fantasia Gardens and Fairways Miniature Golf and Winter Summerland Miniature Golf have now quietly reopened.

Additionally, Disney Park Pass theme park reservations are no longer available for Annual Passholders to any of the four parks today, October 11. Likewise, regular reservations for ticket types that still require them are unavailable for Magic Kingdom. Most regular tickets do not need reservations in the first place, though. The limited reservations likely has more to do with staffing and Walt Disney World attempting to come back online with reduced bandwidth post-storm.

Beyond that, tonight’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party will likely have lower crowds due to cancelled trips, and it’s possible that same-day tickets will be available for those who were impacted by the event cancellation last night. We’d highly recommend visiting City Hall to see if there’s any same-day availability.

Here’s the post-storm statement from Walt Disney World:

“We’re grateful Walt Disney World Resort weathered the storm. Walt Disney World theme parks and Disney Springs will reopen on Friday, October 11 for the scheduled operating hours. Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm.”

Otherwise, it’s business as usual at Walt Disney World today. What follows is the operational impact post-Milton at Walt Disney World via the company’s weather updates as of yesterday. With the exception of the ‘rustic resorts,’ this is no longer applicable.

Walt Disney World Theme Parks & Disney Springs

All theme parks and Disney Springs—including the parking garages—are currently closed and will reopen on Friday, October 11 at the scheduled operating hours. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is cancelled for Thursday, October 10.

For partially used multi-day tickets, ticket expiration dates will be adjusted to expire on October 11, 2025.

Disney Resort Hotel Closures

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa remain temporarily closed. Please continue to check back for updates on the reopening timeline.

Disney Resort Hotels – Food and Dining

We continue to operate select dining locations for Guests currently staying in our Disney Resort hotels. Please check the food and dining pages for Disney Resort hotels on this website or via the My Disney Experience app for the latest details. Please be aware that operating hours and availability may be adjusted as necessary without prior notice.

Additionally, we recommend planning ahead and stopping by any food court or quick-service dining location to pre-purchase breakfast and lunch for Thursday, October 10.

Disney Resort Hotels – Activities

The following activities may be available for you to enjoy at your Disney Resort hotel:

• Free Disney movies in your Resort hotel room
• Visit the lobby for surprise Character visits and more family fun
• Check out the arcade for free play starting at 4:00 PM
• Visit the fitness center during normal operating hours

Operating hours and availability may be adjusted as necessary without prior notice.

Transportation

• Walt Disney World Transportation is temporarily unavailable.
• Minnie Van service is temporarily unavailable.

Recreation

The following locations are closed through Thursday, October 10:

• Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park
• Fantasia Gardens and Fairways Miniature Golf
• Winter Summerland Miniature Golf
• Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park remains closed for planned refurbishment.

Reservations for Dining and Other Experiences

Effective immediately, we will not enforce cancellation policies until further notice for dining and other experiences. Prepaid bookable experiences will be automatically refunded within 7 to 10 business days.

Interestingly, up until Wednesday at 1:15 p.m., Walt Disney World was not so definitive about today’s closures. Prior to then, the weather page indicated that it was “likely” that Walt Disney World’s 4 theme parks would remain closed all day today, and that they would “consider” opening Disney Springs on Thursday in the late afternoon, with limited offerings.

The change likely occurred because Hurricane Milton had slowed down up until that point, and was expected to be delayed in its arrival to Central Florida, such that it was more realistic for all of Walt Disney World to remain closed today. It was the right call at the time–no point to give guests false hope about early reopening prospects. But then Milton sped up, and got through Central Florida much earlier than forecast.

It will be interesting to see whether Walt Disney World reverts that language again, and does attempt to salvage some sort of operations today. That might seem odd and overly aggressive, but there’s past precedent for Walt Disney World reopening areas only to on-site resort guests–and ahead of schedule.

This is exactly what we experienced in the aftermath of Irma, when that hurricane turned out to be not nearly as bad for Walt Disney World as originally forecast. Although we obviously aren’t on the ground at Disney Springs or anywhere else, firsthand reports from around Central Florida suggest that the area was spared from the worst of Hurricane Milton. No two storms are the same, obviously, but this sounds similar to how things unfolded with and after Irma.

Point being, things could reopen ahead of schedule on October 10 even though that’s not yet reflected on the weather page. It wouldn’t surprise us if EPCOT reopens this afternoon for resort guests. Having Disney Springs up and running on Thursday evening would be a good consolation prize–and might be easier from a logistical perspective.

The biggest impediment to this could be staffing. After making the definitive declaration that Disney Springs and the parks will be closed today, it may not be possible for Disney to scramble quickly enough to have Cast Members back on-site. This is also why an early reopening could be limited to on-site guests–Disney may not have the bandwidth to accommodate locals looking to get out of the house after sheltering for the storm.

Having everything back to business as usual on Friday, October 10, 2024 seems like an inevitability at this point. And we wouldn’t be surprised if the parks see a spike in crowds despite all of the cancellations. It still won’t be nearly as busy as a normal holiday weekend, but it’ll probably be worse than the typical aftermath of a hurricane as more locals look to get out and about. That’s just an early guess on our part, though.

When the parks do reopen on Friday, don’t be surprised if certain attractions don’t reopen right away. Anything with a lot of trees is an obvious candidate for a prolonged closure. If I recall correctly, it took Jungle Cruise a couple of days after Hurricane Irma to reopen.

It might be a similar story with trails and attractions in Animal Kingdom, or the park as a whole, if there are staggered reopenings. Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom is another such area, and there won’t be a huge sense of urgency to get that area reopened since it’s less popular.

Outside the parks, there might be resorts that are out of commission entirely or have areas closed off due to downed trees. Fort Wilderness is the most obvious example, but not the only one–many resorts have a lot of trees. It’s a similar story with the Port Orleans Resorts, Wilderness Lodge, etc.

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

Any firsthand accounts of Hurricane Milton from Walt Disney World or around Central Florida? Will you be in the parks when they reopen on Friday or over the course of this weekend? Have you visited during past hurricanes? Any additional info, thoughts, or first-hand experiences to share about riding out a hurricane at Walt Disney World? 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!