Disney World Resort Reopening Changes & Know Before You Go Info
Walt Disney World has released new “Know Before You Go” temporary policies and operational changes for its resorts reopening in June. In this post, we’ll share the latest news and offer speculation about what this means for other WDW hotels. (Updated June 16, 2020.)
This comes after Walt Disney World allowed guests with reservations between now and June 21, 2020 to modify their reservations, and change their trip with check out dates up until December 31, 2020 (meaning the vacation must be completed by the end of this year). This allows eligible guests to retain their 35% resort discount, but with the colossal catch that they need to opt for either Fort Wilderness or a Deluxe Villa Resort.
Today’s update starts with a list of resorts that are reopening on June 22, 2020. These select Deluxe Villa Resorts include Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort, Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom — Kidani Village, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Villas, Old Key West Resort, Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, Riviera Resort, Saratoga Springs Resort, and the Villas at Grand Floridian Resort.
As expected, Walt Disney World indicates that both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date is required–and confirms that a Disney Resort hotel reservation does not guarantee theme park access.
However, still no info on how park entry reservations will work, when they’ll be released, or if resort guests will have priority access (which is how prior capacity restrictions have worked). This is one of the big question marks about Walt Disney World’s reopening for many readers and, unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little longer for the answers.
We are closely watching for any updates about the park entry reservations, monitoring both the official app and website for the slightest changes and will immediately send our subscribers a heads up when the new theme park reservation system launches. (Sign-up for our free email newsletter here!)
Hotel Cleaning
The resort Know Before You Go page does offer new info about resort cleaning. Walt Disney World indicates that there will be increased cleaning in high-traffic common areas areas such as public elevators and escalators, handrails, benches, tables, handles, restrooms and more.
As for guest rooms, those will undergo thorough pre-arrival cleaning, with special attention paid to high-touch areas, like TV remotes and door handles and floors, which will be steam cleaned and vacuumed between guests.
Inside guest rooms, there will be extra linens and towels wrapped in single-use packaging, individually wrapped glassware, double-cased pillows, and additional items that have been cleaned and wrapped in single-use packaging.
During guest stays, rooms will receive a light cleaning service every other day, which will include removal of trash and used towels, replenishment of towels and amenities throughout the room and bathroom, wiping and cleaning of the vanity and counter surfaces, as well as vacuuming (as necessary).
Hotel Transportation
Transportation has been a common question, and we also have an update on that. First, Disney’s Magical Express service will be available as normal for guests arriving and departing from Orlando International Airport.
Bus transportation to Disney Springs will operate once the hotels open. Transportation to theme parks will operate once those reopen in July. The page does not specify whether the monorails, Skyliner, or boats will run once the parks reopen. (We assume they all will, albeit with reduced capacity.)
Transportation will operate with physical distancing measures in place, which will reduce capacity. As a result, you may experience delays. Minnie Van Service will not be available during the initial reopening period. Self-parking will be available; valet parking won’t be available.
Hotel Pools
Whether hotel pools will reopen has been another common question, and we now have some answers to that. Feature pools may operate with reduced hours; leisure pools will be open 24 hours a day.
Pools will operate with reduced capacity to allow for physical distancing, and select poolside activities may not be available. Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts will not be available during the initial reopening period.
Other Amenities & Entertainment
Some Disney Resort hotel services will be modified or unavailable during the initial reopening period, based on physical distancing and health guidelines.
Changes include:
- Bell Services will deliver luggage to rooms
- Club-level service will be temporarily unavailable
- Deliveries will only be made to occupied rooms
- In-room celebrations will not be available
- Dry-cleaning and valet laundry services will be temporarily unavailable; self-service laundry will remain available
- Shipping services will be temporarily unavailable
- Resort airline check-in service may be temporarily unavailable
- Fitness centers will operate with reduced hours and capacity
The following amenities and experiences will not be available during the initial reopening period:
- Arcades
- Campfires
- Character experiences
- Dog parks
- Electrical Water Pageant
- Marina rentals
- Pin trading
- Playgrounds
- Spas, salons and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Additionally, the following special offerings and childcare services will not be available during the initial reopening:
- Fireworks voyages and tasting cruises, including the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage
- Fun runs
- Wonderland Tea Party at Park Fare
- Hula lessons
- In-room childcare services
- Mermaid school
- Special classes and programs–including culinary, cultural and animal programs
The rest of the “Know Before You Go” page for resorts covers familiar territory. Info about face masks being required everywhere except while swimming or dining, wellness (temperature) screenings, plus a reminder to make sure that you have reviewed any advisories or restrictions that may be in place for travel to Florida. (As far as entry to Florida goes, the tri-state quarantine order expires on July 7, 2020–that’s the only one that would impact arrivals.)
If you want to know about dining modifications, consult our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reopening ‘Know Before You Go’ Info post.
Commentary
Unfortunately, we still don’t have info on which regular hotels will reopen, or when reservations will be accepted. A big part of the delay is undoubtedly Walt Disney World’s ongoing negotiations with the NBA. (We now know that Major League Soccer is Coming to Walt Disney World, and they’ll use the Swan & Dolphin Resorts.)
As you’re probably aware, the NBA is coming to Walt Disney World to finish its regular season and playoffs, and will likely be staying at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Gran Destino Tower (for more, see our recent post: Coronado Springs Likely Host Resort for NBA at Disney World Starting in July).
Disney Vacation Club has now confirmed that Animal Kingdom Villas — Jambo House will not reopen immediately (despite being available for booking). Here’s the warning you receive when attempting to book Jambo House on DVCMember.com:
“Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House will not be open during this initial period. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village will initially welcome home Members and Guests. Member Services will contact Members with confirmed reservations at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House to transfer their existing reservations to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village.
Over time, as the volume of reservations increase, inventory will be expanded to include Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House. Upon the reopening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House, some amenities such as restaurants and merchandise locations will likely remain closed until the rest of the Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge opens. However, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village, merchandise locations and restaurants will be available.”
It bears underscoring that not every Walt Disney World resort hotel is going to reopen with the parks. This is even absent the NBA, Major League Soccer, and whichever other professional sports end up coming to the ESPN Wide World of Sports and renting out entire resorts. (We’re hoping for Jelle’s Marble Runs, a competitive marble-racing league.)
Disney CEO Bob Chapek stated that not all resorts would reopen right away. The least likely resorts to remain closed are those within walking, monorail, or Skyliner distance to the parks and Deluxe Resorts with Disney Vacation Club add-ons. The most likely to stay shuttered are resorts that only offer bus transportation to the parks or those that do a lot of special event business.
All of these new Walt Disney World resort hotel policies are a lot to digest, and still leave a lot of unanswered questions. On the plus side, Walt Disney World recognizes this and is waiving change and cancellation fees up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through October 3, 2020.
This makes it more or less risk-free to maintain your reservation until the last possible minute, assessing new info and future policies once they’re released to determine whether it’s the right time for you to visit, or if all of the changes are “too much” (and that might already be the case for a lot of people). Regardless, we’ll keep you posted and share more details on all of this once specifics are confirmed!
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
Will you be booking a resort reservation for Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or are these rules/restrictions/policies going to cause you to postpone? Still waiting until more is known about the theme park entry registration? Surprised that Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House is not going to reopen? 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!
A $900 increase for a 3 night stay in October vs a booked 3 night stay over the 4th of July weekend is just pure Disney greed
Also – just logged into DVCmember.com and there ARE lots of rooms available to book at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Jambo House. I looked starting in June and there’s even Value studios and Value 1 bedrooms available in Jambo House. LOTS of availability from June through December at Jambo House. Please update that in your article.
Also, hasn’t it been announced in many sources that MLS is going to Swan & Dolphin?
If I’m reading comments correctly, it seems like people with value and moderate reservations are complaining that Disney isn’t rebooking you at your original price at Deluxe resorts. And you are mad they expect you to pay more. Why would you think that’s even fair? You booked a cheap resort… they aren’t reopening it and you can reschedule there in the future or get your deposit money back. That seems fair. Putting you in the Contemporary or Poly (or any DVC or Deluxe resort) for the price of an All Star is never going to happen and is totally unfair to those who pay the normal price. Before you go whining about how it’s unfair because you already have plane tickets, etc. think about how it’s not Disney’s fault there’s a pandemic. I have plane tickets to Rome, Italy that my husband and I can’t get our money back from, and have lost a huge majority of our retirement savings because of this. Seems like whining about not getting a free upgrade from Value to Deluxe is petty!
It’s not their fault that their hotels are closed and I get that it’s not Disney’s either but they are favoring the richer people which is not right. Something should be done for them. The DVC people would have booked at the DVC resorts no matter what.
I totally agtee!
I do WISH that if I cancelled I could rebook the same resort and number of days for the same price, but Im not going to rip about it.
Of course the pandemic isn’t Disney’s fault. But how they are handling it and treating their customers is. They give us tiny nuggets of information that’s usually unpleasant. Usually on Friday and later at night. They go home and let there employees handle it and they don’t know anymore than we do, sometimes less.
I am getting kicked out of my hotel because of the NBA and that really has me upset. Either Disney or the NBA can pay for my forced upgrade.
Another thing is Disney took away all of the amenities of staying at a Deluxe resort, except for room size. So they shouldn’t charge people for the forced upgrade.
Last thing and it’s the most important. You don’t have the right to tell anyone how they feel and then yell at them for having that feeling. We’re human and the world is pretty sucky right now.
I’m sorry you lost your vacation too. People come on here to vent their frustrations with people that are having similar issues.
I think it is funny that you tell people to stop whining, but you are whining yourself! In addition, you are missing the point to what people are saying. People don’t want to cancel their vacations. They still want to go to Disney but they want to go within their means. If Disney moved people from Deluxe to Value, there would be no financial issue. The price of the package would go down. However, when Disney decided to move people from Value to Deluxe and increased their package price, the trip then became unaffordable for a lot of people. That is not people being petty. If Disney has the extra rooms at another resort, why not accommodate people? If people want to use their 35 percent discount a year from now, why not let them? Yes, Disney has been hurt by the pandemic but so has everyone else.
It does appear greedy when Disney only opens its most expensive hotels and a guest’s choice is to pay their rack rate or cancel. They could open at least one option in each category. Not to mention, value and moderates are not “cheap resorts”. They are significantly overpriced compared to comparable rooms anywhere else. It also appears greedy when they allow those rebooking a free dining package to get a discount on their new booking (which I don’t begrudge at all, they are losing a huge component of their trip) but guests who had booked with a room-only discount get nada. So rebooking my already-previously-rebooked trip which was on an AP discount cost twice as much at the least expensive option. They could at least offer AP discounts on the new booking. And I don’t know if my AP will be extended out in time to make a park reservation. And then they send out an email to Annual Passbolders saying how valued we are???
No I don’t like deluxe resorts they are almost unDisney. and yes I have stayed in all 3 monorail deluxes. They should open some moderates and value also. I.E. The 3 on the Sky Liner route.
The Executive Order the article and some of the comments are referring to was unfortunately extended in Section 3 of the new order–Executive Order 20-139.
I spoke with the Florida Health Dept. yesterday for clarification since we live in upstate NY, are DVC members and have a reservation in July.
The representative there said that July 7th, 2020, WAS the expiration date of the older order but now because the order was extended in the new Exec Order 20-139, there is no expiration date now.
It’s extended until the governor decides otherwise. If you go to floridahealthcovid19.gov/travelers/, you’ll see the update there.
I also called the governor’s office and got the same answer re: no expiration now.
We’re nowhere here near the Tri-State Area, i.e. NYC and its surrounding areas. Regardless, both the health dept. and governor’s office said that the order applied to ALL of NY, NJ and Conn.
I’d love to know if someone else has contacted both or either and received a similar response.
It’s all political. NYC numbers are lower than. Florida’s now. Perhaps Disney will have a word with the governor soon.
I contacted the Fl heath office and the Orange county dept. Pretty similar answers but the Fl health dept after saying several times that we are supposed to self quarantine for 14 days said to be careful and take precautions when going out. I had told them we were coming down with part of the intention to search the Orlando areas for a place to live. We’re pretty much over NY killing us with taxes and the crazy politics (mind you we are both Democrats).
Then I called Universal and they do not check to see if someone self quarantined. Same answer at restaurants. So we’ll be self quarantining at Saratoga Springs (a free upgrade from All Stars Thank You Disney). while taking meals at the various resorts, Disney Springs and looking into moving there.
I am booked for Coronado Springs in five weeks, set to check in on July 19. I have not been able to get any information about whether or not I will be charged for a room change that I did not request. I also can’t get any information about whether or not I will be able to get tickets for any of the parks. I don’t need to go to a park every day, but would like to get a reservation or two. I need to buy my airline tickets, but don’t want to waste the money if I get moved to a resort that I can’t afford.
Hey just FYI I am a DVC member and I was able to book Jambo House yesterday for October 5-9 2020.
Tom, SUPER confused. You frequently write in the posts that if your hotel is closed during the time of your trip, that Disney will move you into a lateral or upgraded resort room. And you reference the years after 9/11 for this case. The comments on this post are full of guests saying they had to pay the difference for the resort costs, or have their trip canceled. Can you make this clearer what Disney is currently doing now??
We have a booking in November at All Stars. You said there’s a good chance this will be closed. Is it likely Disney will either tell us cancel or pay the difference for a deluxe resort? Would rather not book flights and wait until 2 weeks before to find out this vacation isn’t happening. Appreciate all you do, but if I’m confused I imagine some others might. Trying to be patient though!
Brighter. We agree on something. Unemployment is a massive concern/ problem in the US. States like Florida are particularly dependent on tourism. So don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Hugely reduced numbers WILL impact jobs, not just at Disney but in Orlando generally. Jobs will disappear if the visitors disappear. Disney needs to do everything it can to treat its customers as kings at the moment and keep them loyal.
Opinions don’t matter. Facts do. If you wear a mask, you decrease your chance of getting infected by 75%. If everyone wears a mask, disease transmission is cut by 94%.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2567
If you won’t wear a mask for your health, and you won’t wear it for the health of others, wear it so we don’t have to go through this again. Social distancing, masks, and quarantine saved 60 million Infections in the US alone.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/08/shutdowns-prevented-60-million-coronavirus-infections-us-study-finds/%3foutputType=amp
The virus has a 5.9% fatality rate
https://covid19.who.int/
That means 3.5 million American are alive today because if this. Repeatedly posting your dissatisfaction with mask does not change these facts. There are people who think that if they complain loud enough and often enough that they will get their way. I hope that, in this instance, that does not occur.
It would be great if this forum would focus on news on reopening and less on listing grievances that are beyond the control of Disney to resolve.
@Dr.K agree 100%. And yes it would be great if
this forum could move beyond this endless debate now.
When you say, don’t bite the hand that feeds you, you’re saying, essentially, your money or our lives. Please do stay home, if that’s how you feel.
Brighter. My opinion on the efficiency of masks and the enforced wearing of them jolly well does matter. Just because the unions insist doesn’t make it a sensible decision. Surely you have read other posts, not just mine that mask wearing is a deterrent to people visiting. Disney needs visitors as does Orlando’s restaurants. Jobs are dependent on visitors, Disney’s shareholders depend on visitors. So don’t pooh pooh their views. I have cancelled my trip and am taking my family to mauritiis now instead. My neighbour has cancelled her trip with a group of 10 too. This is money your economy needs. So bleat on about unions all you like, it doesn’t mean they are right.
It is immaterial if they are right or wrong; Disney can’t drop the mask requirement without CMs walking off the job. I honestly don’t think that a few people postponing or cancelling their trips is going to hurt nearly as much as massive unemployment and global travel restrictions.
I have a question for people that have had to reschedule or cancel their vacation. Did any of you get the travel insurance through Disney?
Me and my mom got the whole deal flight, hotel, and park tickets. Plus the insurance. And we already bought our plane tickets.
Our travel agent told us because of the purchased plane tickets and insurance it make things sticky if we want to reschedule because there is more involved.
Anyone else have this issue?
Do you know if Disney will contact me if my resort that I booked will not open? We have a trip scheduled for end of August and the resort is a Port Orleans. If it doesn’t open, will they try to move us to a resort (Equal value) or just cancel my booking? Thanks.
They are going week by week. They are up to July 4 arrivals. All the blogs are posting updates. Just keep a look out. I have met been contacted yet and my arrival is for July 7 at pop century which obviously is not going to be open.
Yes to Jelle’s Marble racing league!!! That stuff is awesome!
Just a head’s up, Kate– some are slipping through the cracks and not getting alerted (no phone call/email other than a dining res canceled– and “My Plans” showed no issue, just the confirmed trip as planned), so be proactive when the time draws near.
In my opinion Disney learned nothing. They open up all the Luxury resorts and DVC only and now they’re catering to the NBA and MLS too. Sounds like they don’t want the “Value” type people there. They just want the “Deluxe” people there. We had reservations July 4-8 and we wanted to modify them for Dec. And the girl at Disney reservations said we couldn’t because All Star Movies was not going to be open in Dec. And only the “Deluxe” resorts and DVC were going to be open and if we don’t “UPGRADE” our reservation will be cancelled and our deposit will be credited back to our card. Same old Disney!
“Magic” is an illusion which requires the audience to suspend disbelief. Current conditions and reactions to them is making this harder to do at WDW. “It all started with a mouse.” How will it end?
Tried to change our 7/3-7/6 stay at Pop Century today booked at appx $550. Wanted to change to 10/5 -10/8 the least expensive “room” available was a cabin at For Wilderness for over $1400
Okay I thought about this last night (I am an insomniac with tinnitus so I never sleep) and I know how Disney could have handled this better. Just curious if anyone else think this would work.
– You will need to wear a mask when entering the park. Masks are optional while walking outside. When in a line, or inside a building including ride pre shows, shops, or waiting to be seated in a table service restaurant we will ask you to wear a mask. If you don’t you will not be permitted in.
– Fireworks will still be free but will be similar to a hard ticket event. No rides, shops, or dinning will be available. A few kioks will be open. Park capacity for this will be at 15%. A separate ticket will be needed.
– Before you get on a ride there will be wipes available to clean high touch areas very similar to what stores offer to clean carts
– All dinning plans will be downgraded to quick service and snacks. People who purchased a bigger dinning plan will be refunded their money
– costumers who are staying at a resort that is not yet open people will give their top 3 choices of their new resort and will be able to go to one of those.
– Club level will be scaled down. No hot food. All food will be prepackaged. If you want drinks ask the concierge on duty and they will get them for you
– in room celebrations will have to be done on day of arrival and before guests enter their room
If Disney did something like that I think people would settle down some or am I completely off the mark?
Off the mark because part of the problem in my opinion is that they don’t have enough people to handle everything. They need to train. That’s why I think we have so many closures.
I agree with a LOT of what you are saying… I personally am SO disappointed in how Disney is handling all of this. They really should have thought through so much more of this before just going with it… it feels VERY unplanned and sloppy. I think masks inside etc. Is BRILLIANT and I’ve been saying that ALL ALONG. Especially since risk of catching/spreading Covid-19 outside is beyond super low given social distancing guidelines. I think ALL resort guests should be given and guaranteed to have a reservation at any park for each day of their ticket. So if you have a 6 day ticket you are guaranteed entry to each park at least once, but for sure you’ll get all six days of your ticket a reservation so that you aren’t guessing about if you should even take the trip. I think that cancelling everything adr’s fastpasses etc at first makes sense. BUT NOT CLOSE THEM COMPLETELY. Give people their dining plans and just limit capacity! If they can’t get the reservations they want they will cancel their dining plans anyway. Also, no fastpasses literally makes no sense to me. At first yes, cancel them to start fresh, but if they are limiting capacity to each park why can’t people with a park reservation make fastpasses? In fact if they ONLY went to fastpasses they would assure people stay spread out–sort of the idea of virtual queues but you’d know ahead of time how your day would work. Sigh. So many things Disney has not done well. I can only hope it gets better from here. Our trip isn’t until Dec. so I’m crossing my fingers!
100% they should have just downgraded all existing DDP to Quick Service, and given those who paid or had been promised a higher level the difference ($78-$55=$23pp/pd) as a credit to be used during the trip as they wished. They wouldn’t have had to refund a dime.
Also 100% they should have started with Value and just shifted all existing confirmed resort res to parallel resorts, and if those were not available to next tier. Asking people to pay more is not how it should work. I wouldn’t have even minded not having a choice of resort if it was same or better, considering the situation. But jumping from lowest $ (bc we don’t spend time in rooms) to highest $ and demanding to be paid the difference for the involuntary move is offensive.
And existing resort guests should be guaranteed to have their prepaid tickets honored during their stay. That would take away a lot of stress. I think it’s a fair compromise. Can’t parkhop, but times are what they are. Credit the different for that back to reservation folio, too.
Anyone coming to Disney during a pandemic is a serious fan. Alienating longtime Disney family is shortsighted. They not only return frequently, but spread the positive word. A very different word is being spread at the moment.
I… love… this! Thank you!! So right!
I 100% agree with you! Esp. on the masks when you’re walking around outside! Everybody has already been screened prior to entrance in the park! Also, with the Fireworks, why not even do the Fireworks an hour after the park closes? You can pretty much see them from several points. it doesn’t require you to be in the park! Great ideas!!
Are they forcing people to pay extra if they have a confirmed reservation that they are keeping or just if they are trying to change the date of a reservation? If trying to change the date of a reservation that they have made for a date after park and hotel opening I understand the need to pay for the upgrade you are changing the reservation but if keeping same dates just upgrade people.
Same exact dates, they decided not to open the Value Resort I had paid for and reserved, only Deluxe resorts or campground, so they made me pay the extra to cover the difference or they would just cancel the trip. Already had nonrefundable plane tickets, so coughed up the extra $800+.
Just a way of handling guests I never thought I would see from Disney.
have y’all heard anything about the Droid Depot being operational when WDW opens back up?
I have my fingers crossed for that. And building your own lightsaber too. Me and my mom are hopefully going in September and are huge Star Wars fans.
We wanted to spend our money we saved up on experiences instead of stuff. Except for the droid and lightsabers!
We have a trip scheduled for November and if they are still mandating masks in October, we will be canceling our trip.
That goes for us as well.
Me too. I hope they trash the mask requirement or allow a no cost cancellation
We just got our trip modified. We are still going the end of June, but of course we lost our park tickets and ‘ free recovery’ meal plan. We didn’t receive the 35% off even though I’ve spoken with more cast members and they swear we did. I did the math and an we only got our tickets refunded and They moved our reservation to another open dvc resort but claimed they kept the current rate of our previous, moderate resort stay. Sad to say the room were moved to us very small and downgraded in the DVC resort vs. our room with upgrades in the moderate. We are on the fence about keeping it due to the fact that we are being told we got a discount that we didn’t ( believe me, I ran it many times and each cast member is caught off guard when I give the accurate numbers . They just stutter that we got it, but then change their wording to something off topic… they’re just as stuck as we are!)
Be cautious with modifying. Do what’s best for you and your family. Nothing is ‘free’!
Same story here. My trip for same dates doubled in cost. For family of four w/kids over 10yo, you would have to have a room rate of $680nt to equal the lost free dining for quick service or $880nt for lost free regular DDP. Don’t even want to be where they ‘upgraded’ us to, which we had to pay extra for even though other people are saying they got moved free. I asked if I didn’t move it with them now would they just shift us wherever for free on arrival (like normal hotels do) and they said no, the computer would cancel the reservation completely within a week of the start of the res and we would have to try and rebook from ground zero with whatever happened to be left if anything and at whatever rates they happened to have. And no guaranteed entrance into parks. Really at a lost.
Dr.k unfortunately you are the one clagging up the site. My original post stated that we had decided to cancel our vacation at Disney, for various reasons. Masks being one of them. I stated that for us there is too much uncertainty regarding plans for end September and whether even getting parks of our choice,considering even getting fast passes is difficult would be possible. If someone chooses to highlight my mask comment and feature it I am entitled to respond. But it was not the main drift of my comment.
We had a trip booked in September with dining plan, park hopper, etc and decided to cancel. There are too many restrictions. If and when things settle down we will rebook but not until then.
With all due respect you need to do your own independent research on the efficacy of masks. The benfits are negligable unless of high clinical grade and therefore should be kept for our clinicians. The enforced mask wearing is obviously a bone of contention. Orlando needs spenders to come and boost the economy, so serious thought should be given to enforced mask wearing which is obvioulsy a deterrent for many.
Tabitha – Could not agree more. Masks are a hot flash topic and their effectiveness or lack thereof can be debated by reputable members of the medical community around the world.
Personally we are not wearing masks. We had left our trip previously scheduled for August let stand til yesterday hoping the mask issue would be resolved by then. But each update from Disney seems to reinforce that they are in a great state of confusion and leadership seems to be flying by the seat of its pants.
As we all know a vacation in the bubble is not cheap and right now we’re not willing to take a chance that Disney can figure things out in time for our trip. Maybe next year? Maybe the parks as we knew them are gone for good. For now we’ll watch and see and start exploring where to take our annual vacation dollars, after 34 years, somewhere else.
With all due respect the non-medical masks are to protect others from your germs, not to protect you from others. Research shows wearing masks or face coverings does help reduce spread.
Yes to Jelle’s Marble racing league!!! That stuff is awesome!
Sorry my other post was meant to be a general response. On masks, as Brklyn said, the science has clearly shown if the majority of people wear a face covering–Even a simple cloth mask, transmission of the virus slows dramatically. You can’t protect yourself if you don’t have most people’s cooperation which is why Disney knows it has to be mandated for everyone. Hopefully they do what stores haven’t done well in states where it’s mandated–which is ensure the masks cover nose and mouth at all times, not this loosely hanging or nose sticking out which is useless.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sciencetimes.com/amp/articles/25410/20200421/austria-90-drop-coronavirus-cases-requiring-people-wear-face-masks.htm
Look, it doesn’t matter what your opinion about masking is. Disney agreed with the unions that represent CMs that employees and guests must wear masks as much as is practical as a condition of CMs coming back to work. Disney can have CMs on the job or they can have the people who refuse to wear masks. They can’t have both. So get used to masks or don’t go; your opinions about efficacy, etc, are irrelevant.