Disney World News: 50th Anniversary Ad, More Mask Changes Coming, Added Hours
We’re back with another weekend Walt Disney World news roundup. This one covers the first commercial for the 50th Anniversary, Memorial Day travel stats, the latest–and potential future–face mask rule changes, and more park hours for August 2021.
Let’s start with an update on new and extended park hours as Walt Disney World approaches the busy summer travel season. All four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. Added dates are the week of August 8-14, 2021. Here are that week’s hours:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 9 pm*
- EPCOT: 11 am to 9 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 7 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm
- Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 10 pm (11 pm on weekends)
Walt Disney World’s normal practice is to release boilerplate hours before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections. These are simply placeholder or “lorem ipsum” Walt Disney World hours—the minimum operating hours for those dates. With that said, the latest release marks the typical end of summer travel season, so perhaps these hours will be close-to-final…
We also have a couple of interesting wrinkles here. First, there has been an extension of hours; Disney’s Hollywood Studios will now close at 8 pm instead of 7 pm on June 19 and June 27 through July 31, 2021. Hopefully, this is paired with the return of a show or nighttime spectacular to help justify a full day in the park.
Second, Magic Kingdom is closing at 6 pm on August 14, which is the last day of the schedule. There are a few possibilities for this. It might be an error, perhaps part of an “alternate reality” involving a special event starting that date. It could be the start of shorter off-season hours, oddly happening on a Saturday for some reason. Another possibility is a corporate park buyout or Steve Martin birthday bash.
One thing we can eliminate is it being the start of Disney After Hours Boo Bash. As covered in our preview of that Halloween-inspired event at Magic Kingdom, it begins on August 10 and the big upside to Disney After Hours is that it occurs after normal park hours and doesn’t impact the regular calendar.
One final, very far-fetched possibility is that it could be the beginning of an actual event, with a surprise change of plans and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party making its return. To be clear, I do not think this is the case. Just wildly speculating for fun. However, part of me honestly and sincerely wonders if Disney “regrets” announcing Boo Bash, as circumstances in the United States changed pretty dramatically only a week later. Had they held off on that decision until June, would it have been a different one?
In fun news, Walt Disney World released its first commercial for the 50th Anniversary. This highlights previously-announced new character costumes, Cinderella Castle decor, and lighting effects for the upcoming “World’s Most Magical Celebration” and features 16 hidden Easter egg surprises for eagle-eyed fans.
As should be expected given Walt Disney World’s superlative track record with commercials, it’s excellent. A really good ‘teaser’ that got me even more hyped up for the 50th Anniversary.
When it comes to Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, I’m of two minds. Mainly, I’m excited for the celebration, cautiously optimistic about what it’ll entail, and understanding that real world circumstances have prevented Disney from announcing too many substantive details that might be subject to change.
Through that lens, I understand any concerns would be premature. The celebration is still several months away and will last at least a year and a half. I’m hopeful that we’re on the precipice of a barrage of entertainment and other announcements once there’s greater confidence that normalcy is here to stay and Disney’s staffing woes are in the rearview mirror. There should be clarity on both fronts by July 2021.
Then there’s the emotional side, cognizant of recent precedent with regard to entertainment cuts as well as Walt Disney World’s historic handling of all anniversaries in the last 24 years. On top of that, I see an anniversary aesthetic that revolves around the EARidescent color trend.
All of that makes me mildly worried. Nothing against color trends–while they’re not for me, I recognize that they are valuable in broadening Walt Disney World’s appeal with younger demographics–but anniversaries are inherently nostalgic, which is at odds with trendiness. It’s hard to imagine there being significant overlap between the guests who care about anniversaries and color trends. It’s possible to embrace nostalgia and fads simultaneously–Disneyland does exactly this expertly, but they don’t combine the two contrary concepts.
Ultimately, I’m still overwhelmingly excited and optimistic about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. I still think we’re likely getting announcements about limited engagement entertainment and more of substance. I’m even hopeful that we’ll get great retro-inspired merchandise a la Walt Disney World’s 40th Anniversary.
There’s just a bit of apprehension creeping in, which is hardly unreasonable given the last year-plus. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been anxiously awaiting the 50th Anniversary for the last decade. I still have incredibly fond memories of the 25th Anniversary as a kid, and I want that experience again–both for myself and for newcomers to the fandom since then. The World’s Most Magical Celebration is an opportunity for a new wave of guests to become lifelong fans, and for lifelong fans to fall in love with Walt Disney World all over again. I really hope it isn’t squandered.
In yet another positive sign that travel to Florida is rebounding, Orlando International Airport is forecasting that during the six days surrounding the Memorial Day weekend, from Thursday through Tuesday, more than 350,000 travelers will pass through MCO. That’s roughly 90% of the 2019 volume for the same period.
One year ago, MCO officials predicted that it would take five years before its passenger count fully recovered. That should really underscore the resilience of travel and pent-up demand, while also helping to explain the how and why of Walt Disney World and other businesses being caught flatfooted by the rebound.
Earlier this week in What’s Up with Sold Out Disney World Hotels?, we encouraged readers to lock-in refundable hotel reservations as soon as possible. We’ll extend that same advice to airfare, rental cars, and anything else. To the extent possible, we’re booking earlier than usual this year, wanting to secure everything at current prices rather than waiting for last-minute deals.
Finally, you might’ve seen the news yesterday that Universal Orlando is effectively dropping its face mask rule. As we head into Memorial Day weekend, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure join SeaWorld Orlando in allowing fully vaccinated visitors to take off their masks indoors and outdoors, and doing so without checking for proof on an honor system basis.
Following that, a trio of the largest movie theater chains in the United States–AMC, Regal and Cinemark–also announced yesterday that they will no longer require fully vaccinated guests to wear face masks. All three will “strongly encourage,” “request,” or “ask” that unvaccinated guests wear masks. However, there will be no enforcement and masks will not be required unless mandated by state and local guidelines. These are just the latest of dozens of major businesses that have shifted the onus for health safety and mask wearing to individuals.
At some point in the not too distant future, Walt Disney World will follow suit. We’ve been trying to prepare readers for this inevitability for (literally) months. As has been reiterated repeatedly, Walt Disney World’s health rules from the outset were as much about guest and Cast Member safety as they were a calculated business decision.
Disney needed enhanced protocol to help assuage fears and attract guests at a time when public sentiment overwhelmingly viewed theme parks as unsafe and polling demonstrated the vast majority of people were not comfortable visiting.
Now, Americans are increasingly willing to visit theme parks and travel (see above MCO stats), with surveys hitting one-year highs after bottoming out around 15%. With comfort levels continuing to increase and other businesses dropping their rules en masse, it would be untenable for Walt Disney World to maintain its rules.
It would be even more unrealistic to expect already over-burdened frontline workers to enforce rules that do not comport with guest expectations (among other things). It would amount to swimming upstream against the flow of health guidance, plus corporate and public behavior.
As for when Walt Disney World will follow Universal Orlando’s lead, it’s difficult to say. Up until yesterday, my best guess would’ve been “shortly after Independence Day.” However, the return to normalcy in the United States has accelerated to a greater degree than I anticipated.
Even with Disney’s reputation for cautiousness and being a family-friendly brand, an imminent change–or at least one before July 2021–now feels likely. Not only would enforcing rules in place nowhere else cause more friction between guests and Cast Members, but lifting the rule would free up workers at already short-staffed parks to be relocated to other positions. Accordingly, our expectation is that Walt Disney World follows Universal’s lead sometime after Memorial Day weekend–probably within the next two weeks.
As a community, let’s build immunity against COVID-19: https://t.co/luD7g03a0n
As of May 26, 2021:
✅ 54.43% of Orange County residents 16+ have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine
✅ Two-week rolling positivity rate: 4.8%
🍊 Let’s fill that orange! #IGotMyShot pic.twitter.com/6wqSh2uYx1– Orange County FL (@OrangeCoFL) May 27, 2021
Paving the way for this is Orange County, Florida qualifying for the third phase of its reopening plan, which would end all physical distancing and mask mandates. The county’s rolling, 14-day rate of positive tests fell under 5% (it presently stands at 4.7%), which is one metric to hitting the third and final phase.
This actually happened last Saturday, but Orange County cancelled its weekly health briefing this week–a first over the last 64 weeks–so the change has not yet been announced. (Hence the embedded Tweet rather than something more “official.”)
If I were cynical, I’d speculate that the briefing cancellation and lack of a phase 3 announcement were a deliberate dodge. Motivations might’ve been bumping up that vaccination rate just a tad higher and/or getting through the Memorial Day weekend, which spiked Florida’s first wave of cases last year. To that point, Mayor Demings issued a statement Friday praising the region’s health numbers and urging residents to get vaccinated.
Nevertheless, the next briefing will be held on June 2, 2021 and an announcement can be expected then. This is significant because after the last briefing, during which Orange County lifted its outdoor mask mandate, both Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World made masks optional outdoors. If Disney is predicating its policy changes on Orange County, on that date Walt Disney World’s face mask rule could turn into a recommendation, for all intents and purposes.
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
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Optimistic or pessimistic about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary? Are you traveling this Memorial Day weekend? Planning on visiting Florida later this summer? Thoughts on Universal Orlando effectively dropping its mask rule? When do you think Walt Disney World will do the same? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? 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 wouldn’t say the majority prefer no masks. I’d say the people who don’t want them are the most vocal about it. People that are happy with the current situation have no need to complain on social media.
In regards to the iridescent colour trend “but anniversaries are inherently nostalgic, which is at odds with trendiness”
Tom the castle was a cake for the 25th anniversary that you remember so nostalgically.
You’re totally right. While I’d like to think there’s a difference between tackiness (arguable) and trendiness, but Cake Castle took Walt Disney World’s single most nostalgic icon and made it something new and different.
I’m probably just unnecessarily and prematurely worried about this.
What a bummer with the 6 pm closing time at the MK on the 14th. That happens to be the day our whole family is going. That is a ridiculous time to close on a Saturday night in the summer. Ugh!
I’m afraid the WDW anniversaries we’re nostalgic for from our childhoods (the 15th for me and the 25th for you) were designed around the color trends of their times. The birthday cake castle accurately captured the pastels of the 1990s (same colors used at the Electric Umbrella!) while the neon visors that my family won during the 15 Years celebration could only have been from the Eighties.
Like the hotels, entertainment is dependent on bringing employees back. I agree with your optimism that Disney is waiting to make announcements in the future, as they simply don’t know how many people they can hire by July, let alone October.
Another fair and accurate point. The two of you have convinced me that I’m probably off-base.
I would like to remind all of the people celebrating the possibility of lifting mask mandates indoors about the science of masks. The mask I wear protects you from my germs and the mask YOU wear protects me from your germs. The vaccination numbers are not on the side of vaccinated people. With a barely 50% US vaccination rate at the moment, the odds are that while indoors half of the people surrounding you are unvaccinated. Throw in the fact that Disney is full of children who CAN’T get vaccinated and that number is going to get higher. How many unvaccinated people are going to honorably continue to wear a mask indoors? I believe in science, but I’m not sure the CDC has studied the efficacy of the vaccine against those numbers yet. Make wise choices everyone.
A number of people mentioned getting into magic kingdom quite early. Was this only for people staying on site? Have magic kingdom reservations for July 1.
Right now, it’s everyone and it’s variable. There’s no set time when the park will open and allow guests to enter. Whenever the new early entry program officially starts, it’ll be 30 minutes.
This is a case of if you feel comfortable having you or your kids wearing a mask, you don’t have to follow the rule. There is no rule against wearing a mask when it’s not mandated.
If you don’t want to be around people that aren’t masked in crowded areas, don’t go places that are crowded.
No reason to be hard on each other for your own personal choices. This has always been my issue. Accept that everyone is not going to be the same as you. Your comfort level is not the same as your neighbor. For us, the benefit of getting back out there outweighs the risk of COVID. (My husband and I are both vaccinated.)
I’m really hoping that the vaccine is available to younger kiddos soon. But even if it’s not before our trip in November, I’ll let my kids go mask free. The majority of Disney is outside and it’s ridiculous that people think that wearing a mask into a crowded restaurant then taking it off keeps you safe from COVID. If you feel comfortable eating in a restaurant, you should feel comfortable waiting in line, being outside, and riding rides with others. Just my own personal opinion.
We went back in November 2020, there was not rope drops. We made sure we arrived for buses as early as you could. We go to ride several rides before park even opened. They let us in early! We rode space mountain 3 times before actual park open! Not sure if this is the case anymore, but I would arrive early to get in line for buses
California with 40 million residents has less than a 1% positivity rate for Covid. Florida has half the amount of people and a 4.7% positivity rate in Orange County alone. To put another perspective on this important difference: California had 233 new cases of Covid statewide on May 27 (according to govt figures) while Florida with half the population of California had nearly 2400 new cases. Let the traveler beware.
@Karen As a pediatrician who has been on the front lines of this for the last year plus I can most assuredly tell you “This is not a disease that affects kids.” is incorrect. I have had multiple kids in my practice with long COVID and 3 with cardiac inflammation and dysfunction. One is still affected 6 months later. Certainly not as many as my adult colleagues, but enough for me to be absolutely certain I don’t want my own kids getting this before they are vaccinated.
I can also tell you that the MAJORITY of kids I see ages 2 and up do better in masks all day than many adults. Kids are amazingly adaptable and resilient.
Otherwise I completely agree with you and Tom. There is no way Disney can keep an indoor mask mandate when every other business is going to the “honor” system. I was hoping as a community the US would wait until cases were a little lower and at least the 12 and ups had full opportunity to be vaccinated. But with the most recent CDC guidelines there is no going back.
I won’t take my under 12 unvaccinated kids to Disney, but there are more than enough people who are comfortable going without the mask mandate to keep Disney as full as they can handle. I don’t feel any personal affront about this. Others who are comfortable can go now. We will wait until we are comfortable. Disney probably isn’t going anywhere.
@jen kloss
We stayed at Pop Century last week. Luckily we had booked a rental car. The bus lines were long at the hotel. The only transport we used was Sky liner from Pop to EPCOT. Long lines but they did move, so plan on an hour to get to the parks on Disney transportation. Go early as the parks open up before posted times. Then you can get on the popular attractions with little to no wait. We were inside MK by 7:40.
Have a magical vacation!
When will typhoon lagoon open?
I’m a little surprised to see some comments on here saying that the mask rule should stay in place until kids are vaccinated. I am not trying to be argumentative or rude. However, I think that is both unnecessary and impractical.
First off, this is not a disease that affects kids. Even on the slim chance that they carry it asymptotically, they would not be a risk to adults, all of whom are vaccinated at this point if they want to be. And adults are the ones with bad outcomes with this virus.
Secondly, children under 12 may not be able to be vaccinated until next year. It is impractical to keep requiring masks indoors until then, given how many businesses, including Universal which is a direct competitor, are dropping rules. It will lose WDW business. Also, infection rates are dropping and it’s simply unnecessary.
Also, if you want to wear a mask, no one is stopping you. But I think it’s not necessary and not practical to keep the rule any longer once Orange County officially drops it.
Finally, it’s very difficult for many people to tolerate a mask for a long period of time, particularly young children. Again, if you want to wear one no one is stopping you, but requiring them is too much at this point I think.
We’ve been a few times during the past few years. Buses are hit or miss, and they keep changing to group drop off locations. You can wait for a LONG time or have no wait. Also, with the limited spacing you can be first in line and be bumped by people in the scooters who just show up (happened to us 2-3 buses in a row) if the bus makes multiple stops and people stay on between stops. I know, 1st world problems, but it annoyed us enough to start ubering for most of our travel.
I am as excited as the next person to get rid of these masks. However, this concerns me bc I have a trip planned with my family at the end of June. All the adults in my party are vaccinated but the kids can’t be – they are all under 12. I think this past year has proven that some people will choose the selfish option over safety. It feels very uncomfortable that I have to put my trust in strangers to keep my kids healthy. You know – the same people who earlier figured out that if they walked around the parks constantly eating they didn’t have to wear their mask. My kids are at risk then and so is a huge percentage of the population that visits Disney. I find it hard to believe Disney would be willing to put those kids at risk so soon, when we don’t have a choice whether or not to vaccinate them.
We leave in two weeks and I can not wait. Masks or no masks I don’t care I’m just happy to be back to the place we love so much. I do have a question for those that have been back this year already. How is the bus situation from park to park…I’m worried about being able to arrive at the parks with time to spare before rope drop. Never had to worry about it before but now I’m a little concerned. Does anyone have any input?
Unless the TSA bans them, the next time I go to Orlando, I might bring a mask just for that one line at the airport…
As far as the parks go…I think the main reason for masks now is to prevent unvaccinated people from speading the virus to each other. So I really hope people are being honest with themselves when they decide.
Thank you for all the updates,guess work and possibilities, the information is great me myself and I have been hoping for the best and planning with our mask packed.to hear that outdoor mask are now no longer a mandatory requirement to be at the parks are very good news and we are fine to still wear them indoors ,but I do think it should be up to each family that’s planning on visiting ,being vaccinated makes it feel worth wild to getting my shots ,I’m a grandma and I felt like a kid getting a threat for being good for doing my part ,not saying that those people that can’t get a vaccine for health reasons aren’t doing their part I’m only speaking for my experience and my family we are looking forward to our October 50th celebration visit.
Before @Patrick gave reasonable explanation of park being used for corporate event I was really hoping for a possible Halloween event at animal kingdom. Anything that would allow multiple avatar rides works for me. And more kids getting to do the dress up and evening trick or treat in a probably much less crowded park. Just a dream I guess.
I think masks will be gone pretty quick after Orange County makes their announcement if not before then. I know some people aren’t happy about that but based on comments, most seem overwhelmingly for getting rid of masks and ultimately Disney needs to appease as many people as they can to make money. The nice thing is they aren’t banning masks so those who aren’t comfortable without them can still wear them. I’ve got kids too young to be vaccinated and we’re completely fine ditching masks, but then we all had covid so that likely helps our comfort level. As always people can do what feels right for their families. As for 50th, I think they’ll do lots of last minute surprise announcements if things continue to improve and stay normal. As you’ve said Tom, better to under promise and over deliver!! I’m hoping Tron makes a surprise debut while we’re there 😉