Disney World Reopening Update: Hotels Not Opening, Cast Callbacks & Universal Crowds
In this Walt Disney World closure & reopening update, we’ll share the latest news about restaurant, resort, and park operations. This includes details about the NBA & MLS coming to WDW, a surprising potential resort closure, which restaurants are recalling Cast Members, and a preliminary look at crowds from Universal Orlando’s first days of being open.
Let’s start with professional sports at Walt Disney World. Major League Soccer players have approved a revised collective bargaining agreement, clearing the way for MLS to become the first major professional sports league in the United States to return to play. The players agreed to substantial financial concessions, including salary cuts and a reduction in bonuses.
This deal allows the MLS to move forward with its plans for a tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, which will begin in early July. All 26 teams will play three group-stage games, with the top two team in each group advancing to the elimination rounds. Only the group-play games would count in the regular-season standings. As with the NBA, there will be no spectators, but games will be televised…
Walt Disney World will host Major League Soccer players and staff, with roughly 1,000 people housed in a Disney resort (rumored to be Coronado Springs or Animal Kingdom Lodge) for up to 35 days beginning in the final week of June. Plans call for each team to play three games apiece in Orlando, with 16 advancing to knockout stage.
Everyone inside Major League Soccer’s “closed environment” at Walt Disney World will undergo regular testing, paid for by MLS. A wave of new infections would force MLS to end the tournament prematurely. This plan should be officially confirmed and announced sometime next week.
Next up, the NBA. It’s not worth a separate article since the details are exactly the rumors shared in our recent post: Coronado Springs Likely Host Resort for NBA at Disney World Starting in July. This week, the NBPA has now approved the return to play scenario “near Orlando,” with 22 teams resuming the regular season and playoffs beginning July 31, 2020 and concluding, at the latest, on October 12, 2020.
Other details still need to be worked out by the NBA and Players Association before an official announcement comes next week. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA plans to keep 1,600 people in bubble site at any given time. Player families will be allowed to arrive after first-round of playoffs, likely three members at a time, as other players leave the bubble.
NBPA sources also stated that it is mandatory for players to stay on the Walt Disney World campus during play. Additionally, players will not be allowed to visit the theme parks during play, nor will the family members that join them. (In several amusing tongue-in-cheek tweets, Disney super-fan Robin Lopez expressed that he’s not too keen on that.)
As we’ve previously covered, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort & Gran Destino Tower will almost certainly host the NBA. Recent rumors have suggested this is the only resort they’ll need, which is a surprise to us given all of the staff and employees necessary to support operations and broadcast games.
Nevertheless, this rules out Coronado Springs being open to regular guests until at least mid-October 2020. However, we should (once again) reiterate that Coronado Springs probably was not going to reopen to regular guests during that timeframe regardless.
Coronado Springs is Walt Disney World’s primary convention resort, and those have all been cancelled for the fall season. Without that business, it’s simply not practical to reopen the resort–it’s easier to relocate guests booked for Coronado Springs to a different Moderate or Deluxe Resort.
Even though the NBA will only be using Coronado Springs until mid-October, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the resort remain closed to the public until 2021. Perhaps Gran Destino Tower alone will reopen in time for Christmas 2020.
In other posts, we’ve mentioned that other resorts might not reopen, with likely candidates being Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House, the Port Orleans Resorts, and the All Star Resorts. We’ve been speculating about some hotels not reopening right away, which Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed in an interview with CNBC last week.
Our list of possibilities is entirely speculative, based on transportation utilized, lack of Disney Vacation Club villas, special events the resorts host, and past precedent. In the case of past precedent, Port Orleans French Quarter closed entirely for ~6 months after 9/11, and Port Orleans Riverside operated a small fraction of its rooms.
The oddball here is Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House. While this hotel only offers bus transportation to the parks, it’s not a big host of special events. Most importantly, it has ~200 Disney Vacation Club rooms.
This is not a huge inventory of rooms, but it’s more units than the Villas at Grand Floridian (VGF). Plus, as identified in our DVC Point Pool Problem post, Disney Vacation Club is going to need all the capacity it can get for the next couple of years due to the prolonged closure.
Intuitively, it thus does not make sense for Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House to be closed. We’re truly puzzled by this, and as such are still treating this with a good amount of skepticism. However, right now you cannot book any Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House DVC villas between now and the end of December 2020.
By contrast, even resorts that are historically much more popular have a lot of availability in late June and July, plus scattered availability throughout the year. (There are some days when literally all room categories are available for the VGF.)
Originally, it was rumored that Major League Soccer would be using Animal Kingdom Lodge for its accommodations. That’s still a possibility, but a tournament in July wouldn’t explain the lack of availability through December 2020.
On top of the availability issue, Cast Members have not been called back to work at Jambo House restaurants, so there’s no sign they’ll be operating in any capacity (with the odd exception of the Mara at breakfast–that could be kitchen support for Kidani Village, which is opening).
We have no concrete reason to believe that Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House will not reopen–perhaps Disney is waiting to release DVC reservations for some reason? In other words, we’re still highly skeptical about this, but where there’s smoke…
When it comes to resort restaurants reopening, the Local 737 Union for housekeeping and food & beverage Cast Members has shared a list of restaurants & resorts to which Cast Members are being called back.
At these locations, Cast Members will begin working on June 14, 2020. You can see the full list for yourself on that Facebook post, but they’re all locations at Disney Vacation Club resorts and their sister properties (notably, Yacht Club is included) plus Fort Wilderness.
Continuing with news from local union leaders, Unite Here Local 362 revealed that most of its members will report back over the next few weeks, with some being shuffled around and given the option of transferring to help with voids created by the lack of Cultural Representatives at Epcot and College Program participants. (As well as moving from locations that won’t be operating to ones that will.)
Eric Clinton, who leads Local 362, gave an interview to the Orlando Sentinel in which he stated that Walt Disney World doesn’t plan to bring back seasonal workers or resume the Disney College Program immediately. “If anyone thinks that college program workers are coming back anytime soon, they are mistaken,” Clinton said.
Regardless of the park, around 8,000 Cast Members will be called back June 14-21, 2020. Some degree of retraining and pre-opening prep-work will be necessary, including cleaning and installing social distancing markers, signage, and other health safety infrastructure.
Nevertheless, the early callback date range has us wondering how early soft openings will begin at Walt Disney World. The end of June doesn’t seem out of the question, which would be a big win for those with DVC reservations prior to the parks officially opening.
On the topic of soft openings, Universal Orlando held its Annual Passholder previews earlier this week and had its official public reopening yesterday. After seeing photos of congestion and crowds during the AP previews, we opted to stay home yesterday out of an abundance of caution. Instead, we watched from the sidelines, somewhat regretting the decision.
By all accounts, both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure were dead yesterday. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that AP previews would see disproportionate crowds, as the chance at being first plus the perception of exclusivity is a strong draw for theme park fans. Still, it appeared to be a pretty stark contrast.
We’ve been saying for a while that claims of pent-up demand are overblown. Theme parks that cost money to attend and have a reputation for lines/crowds are very different from (free and open-air) beaches or (free and open air) public parks. However, even we didn’t expect pent-up demand to be this low on day one of being open to the general public. The greater test might come this weekend, when most locals are off work. (It’s still early, but thus far things don’t look busy today, either.)
In fairness, some local schools are still in session; crowds could pick up in the coming weeks once all students in Florida are out of session for the summer. Moreover, attendance could increase once Walt Disney World reopens. On the other hand, more competition for the local audience may have the opposite effect, too.
The question really comes down to when tourists will start to return to Orlando. We’ve offered a ton of thoughts and speculation on this (most recently in the Dawn of a New Disney Era). Suffice to say, we don’t think it’s going to be a matter of flipping a switch come July–or even this fall.
The best case scenario is crowds starting to return to some semblance of normal by the holiday season. More likely, it’ll take much longer than that (see our recent Post-Reopening Crowds & Discounts post) for both Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World to see crowds even close to what they were last year.
If you have questions about the closure, including policy changes and what we know thus far, please consult our Walt Disney World Reopening FAQ & Info, which should answer most inquiries. If you’re planning a Walt Disney World trip, 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 about the NBA and MLS playing at Walt Disney World? Thoughts on resorts that might remain closed this summer and fall? Think Jambo House actually will remain closed, or is that some sort of error/oversight? Have you been to Universal Orlando yet? Do you agree or disagree with our speculation? Other thoughts or concerns? 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!
We’re done. Was at the original opening of Epcot and have been countless numbers of times over the years and have no interest in returning to a politically correct, charged atmosphere. There are simply too many beautiful things in this world to waste time on craziness.
I would love to hear your thoughts on club level not being available. When do you speculate it coming back, what changes you think will be permanent, if you think Disney would give up the club level money, etc. We’re staying Kilimanjaro Club in September of 2021 (thanks to your review) and I’m just curious if these changes will last that long. Thanks!
Went to an outdoor petting zoo for Phase 1 opening, masks required. 80 degrees with a 6 year old! Finding shade to cool off, take a sip of water, and remove the mask for a moment– she lasted an hour before refusing to wear the mask anymore! I can’t even begin to think how we would have managed this in June (when we were booked to go) If masks are required, Disney should prepare more cooling areas. Hot summer + masks will = unhappy people in the happiest place on earth!
Fyi I have a week stay in September at Animal Kingdom lodge jumbo house dvc room.
Mike
I am wondering if AKL closure is because it’s so indoors for hallways/room access. Strategically opening hotels with more outdoor walkways between rooms like Pop, All Stars, Port Orleans, even Floridian, etc. makes sense from a health concern perspective given what we know about it being more likely to spread indoors in closer quarters. I was thinking AKL would be a tough sell with inside walkways for all of Jambo House. If the parks stay not busy, I could imagine a trip (which I did not think I would say), and I could imagine going to many of the hotels with outdoor “motel” entrances, but I would likely not stay at AKL (though I love it normally) for this reason). I know Boardwalk, Beach Club, and Yacht Club are in a similar bind though, so I’m not sure if that’s it of course.
We’ve been going to WDW every 2 to 3 years for the past 25 – 30 years and right now we’re looking for any and all good reasons to go this year. We have September reservations.
We rescheduled 3 times and said screw it.
We’ve been for last 6 consecutive years.
We’re fed up and probably won’t attempt to go back until next year.
Florida just recently lifted the travel ban on Louisiana travelers.
Screw Florida.
We had our April PO stay for my wife’s 60th birthday cancelled so now have decided to take our nieces 8&9 and our new grandson and family to Disney in 2022.
Memories of our last holiday was getting the characters autographs, parades, fireworks of course the rides and shows but for my youngest niece being so upset after being too small to join her sister on the Rock’n’Rollercoaster, but so happy when the cast members in the shop made me try on the wigs. Even now if you ask her what her favorite memory was that was it along with the photo of me with Pascal on my head in an AK photo shot.
I don’t think Disney will be the same Magic place until this virus is fully under control.
What actually will the memories for young children after seeing Mickey or their favorite princess or other character but not being able to meet and have a hug or chat?
Character interactions are absolutely priceless, “The Magic of Disney”
The loss of the free DDP will be a killer for us as the character dining, Rainforest, T-Rex and Planet Hollywood are a must do without the worry of cost is essential.
This will make flying from the UK for our 8th Disney holiday way too expensive until things get back to as near to normal with safety for the visitors, cast members and everyone else involved in the travel industry coming first.
Everyone keep safe and return when you feel it is safe and right for you and you families and friends.
Why go on vacation to WDW? With everything not being open, or select hotels that is, why not just keep WDW closed until science declares no more covid.
Had a September 25th arrival date, staying at Coronado Springs . Looks like the NBA is taking that resort. Where does that put me and my family. We had rescheduled from a trip planned in May. This really sucks. Being an annual passholder, really second guessing renewing
Same here. Coronado in September. Still waiting and wondering.
Me too. Had to reschedule our May trip to the beginning of September. Now I am wondering what they’ll do with guest staying at Coronado. I’m not cancelling, I’m hoping for an upgrade to a deluxe resort. That’ll hopefully make up for the cancellation of the free dining.
Tom,
Did you mean schools elsewhere are still open? Central Florida schools ended on May 27, at least Orange County did.
Have fun, you adventurous souls. I’ll see you back there in November 2021. If we’re not living in trees and wearing loin cloths by then…
The Disney trees will be too expensive for the average family.
like the comment
I can only speak as a non local, but am not second guessing canceling our planned mid August Universal vacation back in April.
I can totally see the need to mask people (health care worker here), but masks in August would be brutal. Toss in no parades, meet and greets, or shows, and I see no reason to pay a premium price for a watered down Universal experience.
I don’t necessarily believe that there isn’t pent up demand for either WDW, where we’ve stayed several times in the last decade, or our much anticipated first stay at Universal (with our soon to be 11 year old) to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but I personally am taking a wait and see approach with how things will go at the parks. It would be really sad that I managed to avoid contracting Covid (or being a carrier and infecting others) despite living in one of the hardest hit states in the US, only to contract it on vacation because not everybody feels it necessary to follow proper precautions.
Disney is taking the mickey at the moment. Anyone still thinking of going are suckers. Full stop.
As a family of 6 from the upper midwest, it’s not cheap to go to Disney. We won’t be visiting until we don’t have to wear masks and they have character dining, parades, fireworks, etc. Until then, it’s not worth our money.
Totally agree!
People aren’t going to return until the extreme restrictions are lifted. It is beyond me how anyone doesn’t see that or thinks otherwise. Sure you will have some who go back but these theme parks will be dead. If they actually lifted some of them or would just institute common sense guidelines…more hand washing, more sanitation stations, etc, and opened up people would come back. I’d go in a second and would have been in July. If they actually lifted many of them I promise you they would see a lot more demand than with them.
aside from the fact that these are the recommended guidelines for, you know, public health, part of the whole point is NOT packing people in like sardines, lest they become the next host of a super spreader event. it blows my mind people still think these precautions are not necessary. there cannot be the demand right now…
I agree 100%. I question anyone’s sanity who is ok going to WDW with the mask requirements, along with no parades, fireworks, or character meet-and-greets- basically everything that makes Disney the most magical place on earth for so many of us!
I actually don’t care about character meet and greets, parades or fireworks at all. My kid is now 13, so way too cool for characters, but even when she was little she still didn’t care. I live locally, but we’ll be going just to get a taste of a park at low capacity.
Agree 100%! We have a late November trip planned and will be cancelling since I doubt these ridiculous restrictions will even begin to be lifted by then. Who wants to go on vacation to the “Most magical place on Earth” wearing a mask and not even getting to see 1/3 of the normal experiences. We’ll spend our hard earned money somewhere else for now.
I wouldn’t go without the “ridiculous” restrictions.
For everyone saying masks are “ridiculous restrictions” – please note:
1. There is a world wide pandemic
2. Disney is a corporation who can impose any restrictions they want – and these would seem reasonable (see item 1)
3. I am sure you would have been the same people in the 80s against the “ridiculous restrictions” on having to wear seatbelts and not drink when driving. Government has thousands of laws to stop the public from hurting themselves or others – this is just a new one you need to get used to.
Our numbers here are going up and we’ve barely opened anything back up yet, plus it’s summer. Any notion that the climate will help is false, any guess that masks will be dropped in the fall aren’t based in reality. We have a long way to go before Disney even resembles normal. I hope Disney isn’t using bookings to gauge demand. I think there will be a lot of cancellations. It’s going to be a ghost town for awhile but if the virtual queue is anything like Universals it will still be tough to get on the most popular rides. Remember Banksy’s art Instillation? Dismal land? Sounds a bit more like that.
We cancelled two November reservations at home ownership at the Boardwalk. Reasons for doing this is limited direct air flights, allDisney restrictions, Florida’s increasing virus rates, 14 day quarantine for NY residents, limited Epcot experience with all construction projects restarting, no park hopping and finally having to make reservations to get into park. Too much to contend with. We are working on getting a refund on our expensive park hopper tickets.
@Joann 14 day quarantine set to expire with the state’s emergency order July 7.
One thing for sure it will not be the same . You are going to pay the same amount of money and get less. I live right here and we sure don’t need more people coming down here. The number of cases are going up. And the face masks in 90 degrees is not going to work. And I want to see the little kids keep them on. Not going to be easy. Downtown Disney is a different story all you do is walk around there not spend the whole day. And even if you buy tickets or annual pass holder with no blackout day you still are not guaranteed to get into the parks.
All valid points.
We are booked at all star movies July 18-30 and all star music sept 6-18. When will they let us know where they will move us to? I still want to know if masks will be required lying by the pool. Will the calypso pool at music still be closed starting mid September? So many questions! Lol but if we take the July trip we will need to book flights soon.
Disney is only booking in DVC resorts currently. I am one of the ones who had to reschedule a June 16th trip start date. They only allowed me to rebook in one of the DVC villas.
This is an excerpt from an email from DVC Member relations yesterday. It spells out the mask requirement. I appears that it will be nearly impossible to get your cheeks sunburned poolside. I am planning a trip July 9 – 13, and very much looking forward to it. First time at the Grand Floridian since 1989!
“With so much uncertainty due to the current climate, there is nothing normal about this time in our lives. At this time, we’re focused on consistent health and safety measures. All Guests ages two and above and Cast Members at Walt Disney World Theme Parks, Resort hotels, and Disney Spring are required to wear an appropriate face covering over both their nose and mouth at all times, except when dining or swimming, and except when Resort Guests are in their rooms. “
Thanks for the replies. This part: “except when dining or swimming”. I would think your not wearing the mask at the table in the restaurant and taking it off every time you take a bite and putting it back on numerous times throughout the meal. So I’m picturing the same thing at the pools. Provided your loungers are 6 ft apart from other parties I can’t imagine going in the pool coming out sopping wet and putting the mask on getting it soaked. At what point is it determined you’re dried out enough to put it back on? And by then you want to jump in the pool again. I would think you would have them on when you arrive in the area and put them back on when you leave the pool area. Your going to have a lot of people just sitting on the side of the pool with their legs in the pool! Lol.
Just received confirmation from Disney regarding my reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge in November 2020. Looks like it will be open!!!
That is great! Very happy to hear it.