Disney World News: OC Cases Surging, Rise of Resistance Access, Park Pass Refill
We’re back with another Walt Disney World news & rumor roundup. This one covers a pricey “pay to play” option for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, concerning case numbers in Orange County, further thoughts on Christmas 2021 at Walt Disney World, and more. (Updated July 14, 2021.)
As always, we’ll start with the latest release of new and extended off-season operating hours. All four theme parks have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. These hours now run through September 25, 2021. Here are the hours for most dates within that week:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 9 pm*
- EPCOT: 11 am to 9 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 8 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm
- Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 11 pm (11:30 pm on Fridays & Saturdays)
*Magic Kingdom closes at 8:30 pm on Disney After Hours Boo Bash nights that are after September 5. That event runs from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am up until that date, and from 9 pm until midnight after that date.
Additionally, the closing time of Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been extended from 8 pm to 9 pm for the month of August, except for August 26 and 29-31. For reasons unknown, Disney’s Hollywood Studios closes at 8 pm between now and the end of July, as well as all dates in September 2021.
There’s no reason to believe that all of August (except those handful of dates) will be busier than this month or September. Not complaining about the extension–just confused as to why it’s happening only in August.
Next, we have refill to Disney Park Pass reservations for the remainder of July 2021. Reservations have been fully replenished for Annual Passholders, on-site resort guests, and regular theme park ticket holders.
Previously, Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios were unavailable through the end of next week. Epcot and Animal Kingdom had scattered availability. Now, everything beyond today is totally green. As a reminder, Walt Disney World has stopped providing park capacity level updates, but our expectation is that this signals another increase to attendance limits.
Expect this trend to continue, with Walt Disney World gradually increasing attendance caps while staffing up. (For those who have asked, we still expect October 1 to be refilled again at some point.)
Going forward, there are minimal remaining ride efficiency improvements to be had. This means that any attendance limit increases, including this one, will almost certainly result in a corresponding increase in wait times and crowd levels. The major ways to offset attendance increases at this point are longer hours and more entertainment.
In case you missed it, Walt Disney World announced Christmas 2021 Dates & Details for Walt Disney World and that Disney Very Merriest After Hours Would Replace Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Those posts have full details and extensive commentary. A couple things stand out as significant surprises to me.
First, the lack of parades or cavalcades. The latter was included for Boo Bash from the get-go, but conspicuously absent from the Very Merriest After Hours event announcement. It’s possible there won’t be Christmas cavalcades or parades at all, but that seems unlikely. Another plausible scenario is that Walt Disney World is holding off on making an specific announcement about all parades once those details are finalized.
Beyond that, another big surprise was the late start date of November 12, 2021 and lack of end date. Beforehand, I drafted up a rough article outline and included that the Christmas season would run from November 5, 2021 until January 9, 2022, figuring those dates were a given.
I still can’t wrap my head around starting the holiday season after Veterans Day. Nothing about that makes sense to me. Decorations will certainly start going up before then, and it’s not like anything else about this Christmas season is labor intensive. Just flip the switch on the projection shows and say the Christmas season is starting November 5. It doesn’t really matter that the resorts and Epcot won’t be fully decorated by then–they never are!
In general, something about the “Halfway to the Holidays” reveal felt a bit off. The release was light on details, but it also didn’t go out of its way to offer reassurances that more announcements would be coming. (It did state this: “We’ll have so much more Walt Disney World Resort holiday fun to share with you in the months to come.”)
We know it’s not an exhaustive look at everything to come, because it didn’t mention Magic Kingdom holiday ride overlays, which are listed on the dedicated After Hours page. This is not to get your hopes up–I’m still expecting this Christmas to be scaled back as compared to normal. Just suggesting that more announcements are likely on the horizon once we’re closer to Christmas and there’s more clarity about staffing and operational realities.
UPDATE: Walt Disney World has walked back this change, stating that guests on VIP tours will still need to score a boarding passes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and will not have access to the attraction otherwise. The previous change, described below, had gone into effect over the week at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
A new policy change now means guests who book a VIP tour will no longer need to score a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group on their own in order to experience the attraction. Prior to this, VIP tour guests had to get up at the crack of dawn and hope for success with the virtual queue just like the rest of us commoners!
Against the backdrop of paid FastPass rumors and increasing animosity about Disney catering to the wealthy, this news seems like a powder keg. And to be sure, we’ve already seen more than a few pieces of cringey clickbait regarding this change. My first take when seeing the news was: they still weren’t giving VIP tour guests access to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?!
To me, this is pretty much a non-story. Both historically and in practical terms of impact on other guests, this is nothing like the other rumored or confirmed changes. VIP tours have been around for decades, giving affluent guests (or those willing to splurge) front of line access for exorbitant sums of money.
I guess my perspective is that it’s crazy to not include Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on guided tours of guests who are paying $4,000 and up for the “ultimate” in Disney white glove treatment. Given the low number of VIP tours–there are maybe 100 guests per day in DHS doing them–this has a negligible negative consequences for everyone else.
My perspective here is not skewed by bias, either. While we’ve done a few backstage tours and would like to do more, my interest level in VIP tours is literally less than zero (which is to say, you’d have to pay me a decent amount to do one). To each their own, but the idea of being accompanied by a stranger and having to be “on” all day makes me uncomfortable. I know others speak highly of VIP tours, but they’re absolutely not for me.
Finally, amid a surge in new infections and increased prevalence of the more transmissible delta variant, Mayor Jerry Demings stated the following at Orange County’s weekly health conference: “It is my official recommendation that Orange County return to the status in which it is recommended all residents, vaccinated and unvaccinated, consider wearing facial coverings indoors when in crowded environments.”
Demings language during the press conference was couched, making clear this was a suggestion or recommendation and that he was not issuing a new mandate. (Florida ended all COVID-19 emergency orders earlier this spring and even before that, mask mandates were toothless and voluntary.) Demings also indicated that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shifted Orange County back into its high risk category.
Dr. Raul Pino from the Florida Department of Health in Orange County also spoke at the press conference, offering further insight into the spike in new cases and warned that the current trend will likely further accelerate. Pino said cases have doubled week over week, and will likely continue to do so.
Perhaps most notably, Pino said that “100% of the cases reported yesterday were among unvaccinated individuals [and] 100% of the deaths that we are reporting to you today were among unvaccinated individuals. So we can mask up, we can keep the distance, we can try not to talk about this but the reality is that this is an unvaccinated pandemic. It is fueling right now among unvaccinated people.”
Thus far, neither Walt Disney World nor Universal Orlando have issued statements in response to this recommendation.
We doubt that will occur. We are also not anticipating a change to Disney’s rules (above) at this time. Our expectation is that Walt Disney World will stay the course unless the situation dramatically deteriorates. Nevertheless, we’ll continue monitoring the ‘experience updates’ page on DisneyWorld.com for changes.
The whole Orange County press conference was over 40 minutes long, so there was obviously a lot more to it than that, but I found the above quote to be the most salient point. If you’re interested in more context, Dr. Pino’s remarks pick up here and last for a few minutes. I’ve watched these press conferences almost every week for the last year, and have found Dr. Pino to be a straight-shooter.
I debated whether to share this at all. The last few weeks have felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders not posting on this topic, and I really don’t want to regress to arguing about all things COVID-19. However, this strikes me as relevant local news that many of you out-of-state vacation planners might miss otherwise. It also doesn’t sit right with me to bury my head, so to speak, and pretend this isn’t newsworthy just because it’s unpleasant. As a “compromise,” I’m going to bite my tongue and withhold further commentary on this topic and would request that you do the same in the comments.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
After thinking about it for a day, do you have further thoughts on the Christmas 2021 announcements? Does VIP tour guides having open access to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance bother you, or is it an insignificant/sensible change? What about the latest Park Pass refill? Please keep the comments civil, as this is not the place for politically-charged arguing, antagonism, personal attacks, or cheap shots. We will be heavy-handed in deleting comments that cross the line, even if it’s only a single sentence. You are not going to change anyone’s mind via the comments section on this blog, nor are you going to change Disney’s rules or public policy. If you wish to shout your opinions into the internet abyss, that’s why Facebook was invented.
I really appreciate your updating us on COVID in Orange County. It’s one of several factors we’re considering as we plan our Spring 2022 return to Disney World. As a “planner” and given how much money we invest in DVC and park tickets, I want all the information I can get on anything that affects my vacation planning, and I’d be disappointed if you weren’t reporting on it when there is new news.
August DHS –> 9pm: 1 possibility is night entertainment like Star Wars fireworks, returning to DHS in August.
Another possibility: With MK closing a bit earlier, maybe offsetting that with an extra hour at DHS. Just possibilities.
Thanks for the information. Like everyone else tired of listening about COVID. Planning a trip in October would you mind keeping all updated with the facts as you hear them from Orange County? Thanks
I will not go back to the parks if I or my family have to wear masks. I will cancel my trip.
I’m as surprised as you. A few weeks ago I rode RotR with Colin Hanks and his family, which I didn’t realize until he turned around at the ride exit to speak to one of his kids (or somebody’s kid anyway), but that is neither here nor there. Had I known it was him, it would not have changed my enjoyment of the ride, I would not have been creepy and talked to him in the cell part, but it would’ve made it a little more interesting. I mean what if he turned and asked me, a Disneyland expert, a question and I could be like, “Yeah I know that, and by the way, I like your dad.” At any rate, he met his VIP tour guide at the exit, so I just assumed VIP tours came with boarding groups. I guess he secured groups for his entire family and friends the ol’ peasant way. Wild.
I have never done the VIP tour that you are talking about but I did do the “pre-planned” one they do ( not right now, I guess) at AK. It is not as expensive but it was really awesome. Tour guides were beyond nice, we went to front of the line at Flights of Passage, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, River of Navi, and the Killamanjaro Safari. We also had a great meal
over at Satul’i Canteen and front row seats at the Rivers of Light show.
They offer several other options on these “pre-planned” ones and I would definitely try another one if they bring those back. I will be there in early Dec so I am crossing my fingers……
Honestly if they switch to paid fast pass and there’s no benefit to staying on site, I’ll probably at least price out what the difference would be for my family of 5 to stay off site and do a VIP tour for a day. Get all the headline rides done in one big splurge and then not stress over the blockbusters for the rest of the trip.
Ughhh, thank you for the Covid update. I have been watching it, too, but this stinks. The adults in our party are vaccinated, but we have three kids -12 in our group for the late August/early September trip. I am nervous about cases spiking when we’re down there.
I spoke with a CM who plays an important character role (one of the big 4) who’s going back next month for the roll out of cavalcades. They are definitely in the mix for the summer.
To WIll: You hit the nail on the head about the Christmas after hours event considering the children are 2 and 4. Do the MK on a regular night for the lights and fireworks.
PS Tom has a lot of past blogs that will be great to read up on for Christmas at WDW.
Thanks for letting us know. I feel better about postponing our CA trip to Dec. 2022 and our Orlando trip to next spring. I wish these people would say that bit about the unvaccinated while also acknowledging that children can’t get vaccinated…I’ve listened to some of the press conferences and the attitude feels like it’s “so it’s your fault if you get sick” and it just drives me craaaaazy because my kid is too young!
The day our 2-year-old fell asleep for hours while we strolled Epcot was one of the best parts of our trip! I’d give it a try. But consider: if you’re doing the party to ride the rides, you’ll have to ride separately. Might ruin it a little.
Your reporting is so important and thoughtful. No one likes to talk about Covid. We’re all tired of it but you’re right to let all those who read and rely on your blog know what’s going on in FL. You don’t push an agenda you just give us the important info and let the grownups decide. Thank you.
We love, Love, LOVE the backstage tours!!!
Backstage tours are for people who want to learn about WDW. They are more info intensive.
VIP tours are for riding rides, though your guide will clue you in on some cool inside info.
VIP tours are also insane unless you’re a celebrity who would be hounded waiting in line and/or whose presence would create an unmanageable problem. First of all people like that don’t have to pay for the VIP tour. The VIP tour is for those with unusual amounts of disposable money who want to skip the lines.
Here’s the deal from Disney itself: Pricing: Ranging from $425 to $750 per hour, depending on the season (valid park admission is required for each park visited on tour and is not included in the price of the tour).
Yeah you still need to pay park admission.
To be fair that’s for a group of up to 10 people. I guess if you go with 9 friends during the slow season paying $42.50 an hour for say 5 or 6 hours isn’t terrible. That’s roughly the same amount for a few of the more expensive backstage tours.
Anyway this is why I think it’s wrong to take away free Fast Passes altogether for people staying in the bubble. Disney already offers wealthier visitors plenty of opportunities for pay to play. I’m not against Disney offering another Buy your way past the lines deal but not if they take away free FP+.
I appreciate the COVID update. Nothing wrong with reporting the facts. Thanks for your continued good work!
We are at Disney right now (7/13) and everyone in my family is fully vaccinated and we are unmasked. That said – it’s slightly unnerving being in the indoor queues- 95% of people are not wearing masks. There is no way they are all vaccinated, especially the under 12 year olds. Also, a surprising amount of consistent coughing going on by some individuals (please stay home if your sick!) I’m not worried for myself or family, but if we weren’t vaccinated, I’d definitely be masking up and would probably consider cutting the trip short. Everyone told us Disney was the cleanest place to be during this pandemic…. But those days are gone.
Ditto!
Thanks so much for the updates and commentary.
I’m conflicted with the Christmas changes as my wife and 2 kids (Ages 4 and 2) are visiting WDW Dec 15 – Dec 19th to specifically experience Christmas in Disney for the first time.
I was originally excited to book the Christmas party, but now that it is an after-hours event I think it phased out my young kids. I think it gets dark around 5:30pm in OC in December, so are we better off seeing the lights and fireworks on a normal day at the parks and leave at closing, knowing in future years our kids will be old enough to stay up for an after-hours event? Or the other option is my kids fall asleep in the stroller and my wife and I enjoy the after-hours event, ha! Either way I’m sure it will be a magical time of year to visit regardless if we do the after-hours party, but I’m open to anyone’s thoughts or opinions!
One of the reasons I come to this blog and always recommend it to others is your balanced and no-nonsense look at things. That and your phenomenal photos. 😀 Please don’t change anything.
Thanks Tom for the info. It is important for all of use that are travelling to know what is going on in Orange County. I know I don’t make is a habit of pulling up Orlando news. We have our trip planned for September. This is our scheduled trip from 2019. We had to push it back once because the airport closed in 2019 and then Covid. So we are looking forward to this trip. I will say it. YES, we got vaccinated. I know everyone has their own opinions on that but to us it is safer. I have a mother that is ill and we do not want to cause any other health issues for her.
Could the HS extended hours be due to adding night time entertainment and they don’t want to tip their hand yet by extending all the September hours as well? Maybe just wishful thinking.
Two words: You’re awesome.
Okay that may be two to five words, but you catch my drift.
Thank you again for your incredibly balanced blogging.
You continue to be a bright light, in this world. Thank you so much!