Disney World News & Rumors: 50th Projection Show, Distancing & Mask Rule Tweaks
We’re back with another weekend Walt Disney World news and rumor roundup. This one covers the a potential projection show at Magic Kingdom for the 50th Anniversary, further tweaks to the physical distancing and face mask rules, a temporary attraction closure, and more park hours for late August 2021.
As always, let’s begin with an update on new hours for the Walt Disney World theme parks. All four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. These hours encompass the week of August 15-21, 2021. This set of dates is what’s typically the first week of off-season as school districts start to go back into session. Despite that, the new hours are identical to the previous weeks of summer season:
- 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)
With that said, note that 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. It’s thus entirely possible that July and early August hours end up being further extended, while these hours will be close-to-final…
Next, we have a couple of “stealth updates” to the language of Walt Disney World’s health safety protocol. We already shared one of these in Disney Park Pass Summer Refill, but have some new details and on the ground experience to share.
Following Orange County ending all face mask and physical distancing updates, Walt Disney World made two tweaks to its rules.
First, Disney further relaxed its face mask policy, changing the rules from requiring masks in “all theaters” to “all indoor theaters.”
In practice, this is a fairly insignificant change right now, as most outdoor stage shows are still on temporary hiatus. However, if you want to enjoy Voices of Liberty, Vintage Vinyl, or whatever that modified bird show is called at Animal Kingdom, you can now do so sans face masks.
Second, physical distancing has been relaxed slightly. Pictured above is the old verbiage from DisneyWorld.com, which stated: “Temporary adjustments are still in place to promote physical distancing. While we will reduce physical distancing measures for Guests across many areas with a gradual, phased approach, six-feet distancing measures will continue in all dining locations, merchandise stores and in areas where Guests can temporarily remove their masks.”
Pictured below is the new physical distancing policy from DisneyWorld.com, which states: “Adjustments are still in place to promote physical distancing for Guests. These measures will be reduced in a gradual, phased approach.”
We speculated that Walt Disney World might start reducing physical distancing in restaurants and stores since they are no longer mentioned specifically as being exceptions. That’s exactly what we experienced today at Geyser Point, with another couple seated at a table directly adjacent to us, no more than a couple of feet away. (While I want to see restaurant capacity increase, I’m not looking forward to Disney returning to uncomfortably close table spacing.)
Obviously, one example is not indicative of a larger trend. Geyser Point is particularly conducive to a rule relaxation since it’s a small outdoor venue, is incredibly popular, and appears to have sufficient staffing to accommodate many more guests. I guess we have no other choice but to make a ton more ADRs for this week to “research” where else there have been policy changes. Next stop, Whispering Canyon Cafe!
In EPCOT news, Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360 will be quietly closing on June 27, 2021.
It’s our understanding that this is not permanent nor is it an actual refurbishment. (Keep in mind, the new film just opened last year.) Instead, the theater will be converted temporarily into EPCOT Food & Wine Festival space, as was the case a couple years ago for Appleseed Orchard.
We haven’t heard definitive confirmation yet, but our belief this is likely happening because World ShowPlace will return to being a private events space. With conventions and Food & Wine special ticketed events both likely to make a return this fall, that seems probable.
Still, a tough break for the Canada pavilion, which is already a veritable ghost town due to its shops still being closed. If World ShowPlace is out of commission, this leaves us wondering whether other unused venues around World Showcase might be temporarily converted to indoor food booths.
Speaking of tough breaks, Disney Vacation Club has once again raised the minimum number of points that must be purchased directly in order to receive and DVC Membership Card and thus qualify for Membership Extras. New Disney Vacation Club Members must now buy at least 150 points directly from DVC in order to access discounts on merchandise, dining, select theme park tickets, Moonlight Magic, and whatever other extras are introduced down the road. (Existing DVC Members are grandfathered in.)
This is the fourth time that Disney Vacation Club has increased the minimum in the last three years or so, during which time the threshold has doubled. This is undoubtedly due to increased competition from, and awareness of, the resale market. As always, we encourage you to read our Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide to determine whether membership is right for you (it’s not for everyone!), if you should buy directly or via resale, the best home resort, etc.
Finally, BlogMickey.com is reporting a rumor that Magic Kingdom will be getting a projection show on Main Street for the World’s Most Magical Celebration of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. While we cannot independently corroborate it, we view BlogMickey–and by extension this rumor–as credible when it comes to Walt Disney World rumors.
We had recently received word about a new Magic Kingdom projection show for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, but not on Main Street. As I understood it, the rumored new offering would be more akin to Once Upon a Time; effectively a pre or post-show for Happily Ever After. There have also been rumors of a 50th Anniversary tag and a fully-fledged limited run fireworks show a la Disneyland Forever or Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland.
Fear not, Happily Ever After fans; in every (recent) incarnation of this rumor, that massively popular nighttime spectacular either runs during or returns after Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
It’s hard to assess the veracity of these rumors. There are a lot of people, departments, and external contractors involved with the production of nighttime spectaculars at Walt Disney World. It’s entirely possible that there are competing concepts or incomplete morsels of accurate info floating around.
It’s also possible October 1 will roll around and the only nighttime entertainment in Magic Kingdom will be Happily Ever After. Nothing is official until Walt Disney World announces it, and there’s understandably more fluidity to plans than normal right now. (But less so than only a few months ago–things are starting to firm up.)
Regardless, the Main Street projections make a lot of sense. It’s also something that could happen without regard for the “status” of the nighttime spectacular, be it Happily Ever After or a limited engagement 50th Anniversary show. (It should go without saying, but there will be nightly fireworks by October–likely well before then.)
Personally, I think a Main Street projections “show” is a brilliant idea. It’s also not a new one. Disneyland has been doing this since that park’s 60th Anniversary, with the Diamond Celebration fireworks having projections up and down Main Street. More recently, Mickey’s Mix Magic carried forward the legacy, often times minus pyro. Disneyland Forever and other fireworks have also since been modified to have a “B-mode” with projections and other effects only when it’s too windy for pyro, and this is pretty well received among California’s guests.
It’s a similar story at both Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
At the latter, projections in World Bazaar have become standard beginning with the 35th Anniversary. Following that, seasonal shows were created for seasonal events, like Halloween and Christmas. In Japan, the projection mapping is more like a “magical moment,” a brief vignette that happens every so often throughout the night.
One unquestionable upside of the Main Street projection mapping is that it spreads out crowds during fireworks. This is hugely advantageous at Disneyland, where congestion in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle began hours before fireworks time.
The introduction of projections up and down Main Street helped spread guests out more, as there were many more interesting viewpoints and visuals. (Not relevant to Walt Disney World, but projections were also added to water screens on the Rivers of America and the facade of “it’s a small world” that helped tremendously.)
A more unsupported upside–my personal theory that I’ll share with you–is that projection mapping vignettes on Main Street throughout the night could increase per guest spending. (A metric over which Disney obsesses.)
One thing we noticed at Tokyo Disneyland after the introduction of the “Celebration Street” projection show was that a lot more guests congregated in World Bazaar throughout the night, as opposed to at the end of the evening. More guests in World Bazaar meant a steady flow of guests in and out of shops. It’s safe to assume that meant more merchandise sales. I’d be willing to bet that, whatever the cost of projection mapping on Main Street, it would more than pay for itself via Emporium receipts.
Ultimately, I’m just ready for something official about nighttime entertainment for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. As you can probably tell, the rumors have been a particular fixation of mine–but I’m not alone on that. “When will Fantasmic/Happily Ever After/fireworks at EPCOT return?” is an incredibly common reader question.
While that wasn’t the point of all the above commentary, signs continue to point to the next month or so for 2-3 of those nighttime offerings. Everything I’ve personally heard has put the return date shortly after July 4, but I’ve seen more recent rumblings elsewhere suggesting late June as a possibility. This is one time when I’d absolutely love to be wrong, as I’m personally very eager to see the return of fireworks at Walt Disney World. Just the fleeting glimpses of tests from our house in the last week have been fantastic. A whole show from inside the park is going to, as the kids say, “melt my mind.”
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this latest roundup of Walt Disney World news & rumors? Optimistic or pessimistic about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary? Thoughts on the rumored Main Street projections? What about nighttime spectaculars returning and/or debuting for the World’s Most Magical Celebration? Feedback or opinions on anything else covered here? 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!
Speaking of other rumors, I read that some people were seeing the FP+ icon on their my Disney experience page. A few days last week, I could see it on my screen too and it had a”make a selection” option. When you clicked on it, it would just spin and the screen would have an error saying we are working on it after about 30 seconds. Now a few days later, it is gone from my page and I’m so disappointed. I read on another blog that they thought FP+ would return this past weekend. And they showed pictures of covered machines in Epcot. Do you know anything about this or have you seen this glitch on your MDE?
There have been similar glitches a few times in the last ~6 months, and whenever it happens, people look for “clues” to support their theory/rumor that FP+ is returning ASAP.
I haven’t heard/don’t know anything. In talking to some people privately, I don’t believe any credible insiders actually know at this point. I suspect the timeline has been or will be accelerated…but what (if anything) that means is unclear right now.
Are you better off changing resorts voluntarily if it seems like the Poly won’t open on time or wait until they move you? Just don’t want to get thrown into whatever is left over somewhere. Thanks
Hi Tom!
Any idea when Epcot might start opening at 9am once again? Love your blog!
Thanks!
Christie
Hi Tom,
I absolutely love your blog. I was wondering if you could share your continued thoughts in whether we can expect hotel promotions during the November/December season this year and if, the dinning plan will be offered again this year. I understand everything is still speculative but I would love to know your thoughts and what month do you think the promotion may be released. Thank you so much.
Being in the parks since June 2nd, the biggest issue is that masks are not required in the overflow queues so when you transition to the “queue”(which is still outside, often not covered, and very hot right now) you have to mask up. There is no difference in distance between parties. This also keeps you from being able to drink water in the hot afternoon sun! It doesn’t make sense that you need to wear a mask in an outdoor line, but not in an outdoor show. They were not required in the bird show yesterday and we could eat and drink in the pavillon. They really should go to indoor mask usage only. I suspect this may be a staffing issue, as cast is typically at the queue entrance and it makes sense to have them enforce masks at that point. However, line compliance is dropping daily! I would say at least 30% not wearing masks at all or having them pulled down below nose and/or even mouth in line once you get past the cast member.
Hi Tom!
Love your blog so much. Was wondering if you could answer a question for me please. We are going to Disney November 13-21. Will we get to see things decked out for the 50th Anniversary, or will everything be decked out for Christmas? Thanks!
Tom and Marisa: There probably is already a post on Trip Advisor from a guest who is complaining the French Quarter was too quiet and they couldn’t find any cast members to help them with their luggage. Plus none of the dining places were even open.
Tom and Sarah: We have been max house cleaning lately and I ran across some 1999 dvc and 1999 and 2000 wdw promo vhs tapes. Fun watching but was a little struck with how it seemed a little more fun and a little less IP hard edged than now. Remember, this is Eisner, so they weren’t exactly forgetting the old P & L statement. 🙂 However, in defense of the run up to the 50th, by comparison, some of the run up for 2000 was L. A. M. E. Wonder what your SLR photos from 1999 would have looked like.
Thanks Tom.
I had no details about the survey. Is there any Disney thing you don’t know?
It’s funny but for the last few years thanks to your blog, which is the best thing out there and my studying The Unofficial Guide and even Birnbaums as if I was preparing for the SAT’s I can show families how they can do Disney for half that or less and have a great time. In fact I’ve already helped a few family friends out with their planning. Unfortunately when the media, which controls the narrative and drives whatever message they choose to, tells people that Disney is no longer affordable that can’t be helpful.
Haha, there’s a lot I don’t know. Even more that I forget and have to look up. In some cases, people bring things like this to my attention (as you did). In this particular case, I got a news alert for it.
I don’t really blame the media for this. It’s true that Disney is no longer affordable for many, many Americans. It’s just not really a new development, and some coverage is treating it as if that’s the case.
Separate from this, there’s a story to be written about how travel costs to a multitude of destinations have exploded this summer, for a variety of reasons.
Hi Tom,
Thank you so much for all the updates. My family and I will be in Disney the week of November 12th-18th, was wondering if you have heard any rumors about Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party?
to MomOTwins You’re reasoning is not wrong. As to the question of everyone hopping to MK for fireworks you’d be right if there were no other night time spectaculars. But if one Park does something special the other parks can too.
Of course MK can always have a cap they are comfortable with and not allow anyone in when that is reached.
This may not be the place but Tom I just heard on the radio that the average WDW /DL vacation now costs $6,000 (that was including air fare) and the average American family can no longer afford to go. I don’t know if they were referring to family of 4 or more.
Have you heard this latest stat?
“This may not be the place but Tom I just heard on the radio that the average WDW /DL vacation now costs $6,000 (that was including air fare) and the average American family can no longer afford to go. I don’t know if they were referring to family of 4 or more.
Have you heard this latest stat?”
There was a survey with an extremely limited sample size, and a lot (way too much, if you ask me) has been extrapolated from that. I agree with some of the general premises that are being discussed as a result of this survey, but honestly, none of this is anything new to anyone who has read our (extensive) commentary about pricing, increases, goodwill, etc. over the last several years.
I’m worried about Disney causing long-term brand damage for short term gain, but that’s nothing new. I still do not believe Disney is “pivoting” towards the upper class. There aren’t enough affluent guests to fill the many hotels and they don’t want to stay in motel rooms. Perhaps worthy of revisiting in a full blog post.
@MomofTwins I don’t think Boo Bash means no fireworks for the 50th Anniversary. While Boo Bash is Halloween themed it starts in early August, which is almost 2 months before the 50th anniversary. Given how much CDC guidance has changed from the announcement of Boo Bash to now, I feel like there’s a decent chance Disney makes a very different decision for something starting in October.
I think this IS the answer to the question of when will Happily Ever After return. Seems like the answer is not in time for the 50th anniversary, hope you enjoy some projections instead.
Just like Boo Bash was a “no” answer to the question of when will Halloween Party return. If Disney was not comfortable with the kind of crowds that a Halloween Party would draw in the hub, they are not going to be okay with the kind of crowds that Happily Ever After would draw, since those would be even larger as guests from all four parks would “hop” to see it.
I totally get keeping expectations low so you’re not disappointed, so this is a healthy attitude to have from that perspective.
With that said, there will be pyro at Walt Disney World in multiple parks by October. No equivocation on my part there–it WILL happen. It’s not just going to be projection shows.
So animal kingdom has not been open after dark for over a year? Am I wrong? I hope o am wrong.
I can’t wait for the nighttime shows to come back. My personal hope would be that Happily Ever After returns and gets tagged for the 50th anniversary, not that it’s a new show entirely. I’m sure whatever they do will be good, but I LOVE Happily Ever After and would be very excited to see it on our next trip (ten months and counting).
Very interested to see what happens with the projection show.
Do you have any information on the status of fastpass? I saw there was a rumor flying around recently about a paid system called Lightning Pass. It seems unlikely to me that Disney would eliminate the last remaining perk of staying onsite, but who really knows?
I saw that rumor, and I would not rule that out–it’s likely WDW will want to monetize its line-skipping option in some way. We speculate about that and more here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/fastpass-plus-replacement-disney-world/
Tom,
I was wondering if you had any further info on the Poly. I have been becoming very skeptical of the July opening, as it is June and no hard opening date has been given. I was looking up refurbishment progress on the internet tonight and somehow ended up on Trip Advisor. Just to see what happens, I typed in my August dates and a message popped up that the resort is closed and not reopening until 12/29/21. Do you know if there is any truth to this? My trip is scheduled for August. Thank you. By the way.. love you blog. It is the most informative and fair balanced out there.
I’m somewhat skeptical as well, but TripAdvisor is absolutely useless when it comes to this type of thing. If TripAdvisor dates were accurate, French Quarter would’ve reopened 4 times by now.
Of course you’re assessments are spot on.
How could anyone be pessimistic about the 50th anniversary at this point? If they’re willing to do projections than fireworks can’t be far behind. Here in NY the first indoor bdwy play starts up in August. Indiana Jones and Beauty should start before then. No reason to keep Nighttime spectaculars shelved. It’s all about hiring now. Clearly demand is there. Going forward if the Parks lose money starting with the October quarter it’s their own fault. I’d like to hear how you think inflation will affect WDW come 2022.
“I’d like to hear how you think inflation will affect WDW come 2022.”
That presupposes that what’s happening right now as permanent rather than transitory. It’s possible we’re seeing some degree of inflation, but it’s also possible that our system has seen unprecedented shocks to the supply chains, labor markets, looser monetary policy, etc.
At this point, such commentary would be premature. We should have a better idea by mid-September, if not earlier.
I appreciate reading these roundups in a single place – it makes following them easier. The Canada movie isn’t WDW’s most exciting attraction, but I enjoy it. And losing *any* attraction for yet one more place to eat makes me fairly angry.
The whole Canada pavilion is sad right now. As cringe-inducing and unnecessary as it might sound, Canada should add a specialty bar to the upper level of the pavilion to help draw guests back there. It’s like the back of Morocco–no one ever ventures there, and weak foot traffic is killing it.
It seems like it won’t be too long before DVC gets to the minimum of 160 points direct for a first purchase (get the blue card) like they had when we bought our first points in 1997. We bought a few more than that so we could stay a week in a one bedroom.