When Will Disney World Reopen?
“When will Walt Disney World really reopen?” and “will the parks stay closed until [insert date/season]?” have become frequently asked questions. This is due to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and the resort hotels all currently closed. (Updated June 1, 2020.)
With so much uncertainty in the air and people wanting to plan vacations or cancel trips, these questions are unsurprising. Accordingly, we’ve been doing an ongoing series that attempts to offer balance, nuance, and our best guesses with all things considered. To recap, here are questions what we’ve addressed:
- Will Walt Disney World Offer Huge Discounts Once It Opens?
- How Bad Will Crowds Be at Walt Disney World After Reopening?
- What Operational & Health Safety Changes Will Disney Make?
Likewise, you can find regular updates in our Disney Closure & Reopening News & Rumors. In this post, we’ll share official reopening dates for Walt Disney World’s four theme parks, plus the future of the resort hotels, and what operations will look like when they resume. If you want further updates when Disney makes official announcements, sign up for our free email newsletter and we’ll send you notifications ASAP when important new info is released…
The good news is that we have a few pieces of official news in terms of when Florida’s theme parks will begin reopening. First, Universal Orlando that Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay, and Universal Studios Florida will reopen in early June 2020.
Next, SeaWorld Orlando will reopen on June 11, 2020, as will Busch Gardens Tampa. Legoland Florida has already reopened, as have the majority of smaller regional amusement parks and roadside attractions in the Orlando area and throughout Central Florida. That leaves Walt Disney World as the final park operator to reopen…
For its part, Walt Disney World has already begun to reopen its Disney Springs shopping and dining district.
We shared thoughts and photos from a recent visit there in “Our ‘Ghost Town’ Experience at Disney Springs.” As the title suggests, Disney Springs has not been particularly busy since reopening. To the contrary, it’s been dead most of the time.
When it comes to WDW’s theme parks, fans will have to wait a little longer. Walt Disney World will begin a slow, multi-phase reopening beginning on July 11, 2020.
On this date, Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will officially reopen to the general public.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot will officially open on July 15, 2020.
Prior to these dates, Walt Disney World will host a series of Cast Member previews and soft opening days for affinity groups (such as Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members, Florida Residents, Club 33, Golden Oak, etc). The details of these preview days will be announced at a later time.
It’s unclear when these soft openings will begin, but we believe it could happen as early as late June 2020. Walt Disney World could attempt to scale up park operations with the lower stakes, less-demanding local audience.
Disney has also announced that once the parks reopen, advance reservations will be required. It’s likely this will also hold true for the soft opening preview days–we’d expect email invitations with a registration link to go out to affinity group members within the next week or two.
Walt Disney World’s two-dozen resorts will likely open in phases.
It has already been announced that all Disney Vacation Club properties at Walt Disney World will reopen on June 22, 2020. When the other hotels will reopen has not yet been announced. Disney initially released a statement suggesting some would reopen on July 11, 2020, but that has since been retracted.
Our expectation is that the first hotels to reopen will be those with DVC add-ons. The hotel side and Disney Vacation Club villas side share infrastructure, staffing, and other resources with one another. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to reopen only the Disney Vacation Club side of the property.
Following the hotels with Disney Vacation Club wings, we’d expect the next phase of resort openings to include those connected to the parks by non-bus transportation (Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Yacht Club), followed by the remaining resorts.
There might even be some Walt Disney World hotels that don’t reopen this year at all if there’s a lack of demand or if they’re being utilized for events or other purposes, such as the NBA or MLS finishing their seasons (think Coronado Springs, the All Stars, both of the Port Orleans Resorts).
If that does happen, guests with existing bookings at those properties would be relocated elsewhere. This already happens now when resorts are overbooked, and frequently entails an upgrade.
It’s also worth noting that there is still an executive order requiring residents of Louisiana and the New York Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York) arriving in Florida to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days after arrival.
This does not expire until July 7, 2020–it’s unclear whether it will be extended (we doubt it). Plus, most international tourists still cannot enter the United States. This brings up the issue of demand, which will be an obstacle to Walt Disney World getting back to normal.
The complexity of Walt Disney World is another huge variable, and it’ll undoubtedly take the sprawling Florida resort much more time to ramp up operations than it did to wind them down. There are literally dozens of hotels, hundreds of restaurants, and myriad other components–in addition to the four theme parks. This machine will require a slow restart that’ll take more than a week to initiate.
It’s also problematic that Disney terminated its College Program, clearing out the housing, and sending those students home. The argument could be made that these are moves made to limit liability or cut surplus labor that won’t be necessary when the parks reopen. However, the reality is that they’ve cut or furloughed a lot of labor, and it’ll take some time to get that back.
Demand is another hurdle. Over 30 million Americans have now filed for unemployment in the last two months, and millions of employers have closed their businesses and slashed their workforces. It’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record, adding up to more than one in six American workers. Economists have forecast that the unemployment rate could go as high as 20% in the near-term, and possibly surpass the 25% rate reached during the Great Depression. Consumer confidence is likewise plummeting.
While some of this will bounce back when the economy reopens, some of the damage will be lasting. Americans have already expressed an overwhelming reticence to travel on airplanes and be in large venues right now. Between that and economic anxiety, a majority of Americans may be unable or unwilling to take a Walt Disney World trip right now. That too will likely impact Disney’s reopening plans.
All of this is a very long-winded way of saying (and explaining) that a lot still remains up in the air when it comes to Walt Disney World’s reopening. Even now that we have official reopening dates for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom plus Epcot and Hollywood Studios, there are still many unknowns.
In the last week, we’ve seen Walt Disney World Cancel All Reservations–Free Dining, Restaurants, FastPass+ & Dining Plan. We’ve also seen Park Hours Cut Significantly for Reopening. Additionally, Character Dining Has Been Cancelled. These are just a handful of changes–with many more likely to come. This might leave you wondering what you should do if you have a Walt Disney World vacation planned for July 2020 and beyond.
Ultimately, that’s a personal decision. If the lack of parades, fireworks, character meet & greets, playgrounds, nighttime spectaculars, and other entertainment are important to you, waiting is recommended. If the health safety protocol and requirements are too burdensome or sound like they’ll ruin the magic for you, waiting is also recommended. However, if you want to experience the parks with significantly limited attendance and other advantages, now might be a good time to visit. We cover all of the upsides in our new post, “The Dawn of a Temporary Disney Era.”
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you plan on visiting Walt Disney World in July 2020 when the parks reopen? Hoping to visit earlier for soft openings? Or will you wait until modified operations and restrictions end, and the experience is closer to “normal” again? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and assessment? 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!
You didnt happen to be in clear water or fort Meyers last week did you
What I can see happening is when Disney get the greenlight to open with restrictions still in place they will not allow people free roaming the parks but have them in tour group settings since they can regulate how many people are at any 1 place in the park and charge a premium to boot since that will keep the crowds away and reduce the need to have each attraction have more than a skeleton crew working. Having tours also means guest can get more done in the parks in a shorter period of time so shorter operating hours they can ensure to sanitize ride vehicles inbetween loads. And if there is a breakdown they can reroute the groups so no risk of groups backing up while allowing guests extra time to take in and photograph areas of the park normally to crowded to see every detail.
Disney’s opening again will ultimately effect people all over the country…and maybe the world. There should be some sort of national board of medical experts and epidemiologists to decide things like this. We don’t need to have things flare up again before the coronavirus is actually snuffed out.
Yeah, that’s simply not accurate or realistic, I’m afraid. The only way a group would allow you to do more is if it’s like the private WDW tours guides that are $250+ per hour.
You are not very informed.
The entire point of the isolation is so we don’t have a huge spike in cases and over load the hospital systems.
Sorry saving 10,000’s of thousands of lives is interfering with your fun.
It is very real
Life must go on. Is the pandemic as bad as the government and media make it out to be. Realistically how long can you keep people quarantined. Is it true that all business except grocery and pharmacies will be mandated closed and early next week military troops will be used on USA streets. And why now are all our troops being brought home? Food for thought.
I mean, I guess that is one way to go. But that’s going to leave a trail of dead people in its path, many of whose deaths could have been prevented merely because we weren’t prepared and didn’t have enough medical resources to adequately treat all of the infected. Even under the best treatment protocol, this appears to be 10x (give or take… or, in the case of Italy, about 75x) more deadly than the flu. This isn’t like SARS where it was sufficiently deadly and virulent that it couldn’t spread easily before the host succumbed to the virus. This novel coronavirus seems like almost a perfect virus in terms of being just deadly enough to potentially kill millions of people, but not virulent enough to incapacitate its host before the host can spread it to other victims.
Some hotels in the Disney Springs area have just announced closures through April 3oth.
I was just automatically refunded (without request) my hotel for the first leg of my Disney trip, so I’m guessing the park won’t open the first of April when we we’re supposed to go. I just got an email notifying me of same, so that’s that.
If I had reservations, I would not believe they would open in the next two months, but those FP passes and ADRs are too precious. I’d hang on to them until the official cancellation.
Oh yes! That’s exactly what we did in Germany last week for our return trip home. Media overhype and general dumbasserie caused reports of people scrambling and paying $20,000 for a return flight to these USA because they didn’t bother to read that the restrictions did not apply to citizens. We looked at alternate flights and just drove around, saw many castles, drank a lot of great beers and had amazing food. I figured we just wait until British/American canceled our flight and then they would have to rebook us at no cost. Why would I pay? So on Monday they finally canceled our flight for today and didn’t bother telling us (thanks dirtbags). But since everything was shutting down and we saw there would be no place to stay or eat near Fuessen and Neuschwanstein, I called the airline directly (Expedia just had a BS message saying they had technical difficulties before hanging up on me) and opted for the callback since I wasn’t going to sit on hold at a quarter a minute. They called back and booked us on the flight we wanted for Wednesday, and we flew home. CDC met us in Dallas coming off the plane, told us to self quarantine for 2 weeks. We found a bar and had a couple of beers before boarding the hop back to San Antonio.
The short of the story is, remain calm and wait. If THEY cancel your stuff, they have to rebook for free or give a 100% refund.
So after being told to quarantine for 2 weeks you went to a bar to have a few beers before going home to quarantine?
Well J Sova, we were stuck in the airport with nowhere to go. An almost empty airport, with empty places. There was one other patron and the girl behind the bar was keeping her distance from all. She was expecting to be shut down soon and have no income for the foreseeable future, not that her base wage of $2.25/hr would help much. But we paid the tab and gave her a $200 tip, so maybe she’ll hang on for a bit. That was better than crowding together at the gate, in any case.
It’s been a week, bro…. you don’t stop a highly contagious pandemic by socializing. Personal and societal sacrifices are necessary. Since we were not prepared for this, despite at least a month’s warning, and did not act soon enough to contain the virus when it arrived in the US, greater sacrifices will now be necessary than if we had been able to actually test people and determine who had the disease. Unfortunately, anyone who wanted a test could not, in fact, get a test. The current course of action (isolation and social distancing) is of course predicated on a presumption that we want to slow the rate of infection so as to not overwhelm our health care system so that everyone who needs a ventilator can get a ventilator. I don’t think anyone wants doctors to have to begin making moral judgments as to which patients are “worthy” of getting the limited number of ventilators available, but that is where we are headed (and is the situation in which Italy finds itself) if we don’t ALL act responsibly to flatten the curve.
I don’t think Disney World will re-open by April 1 2020. Or even by April 1 2021. Cases of infections and deaths are rising exponentially and it’s still early days. In the absence of a vaccine, our only protection is social distancing. And as a vaccine is still 12 to 18 months away, I can’t see Disney World opening before Summer 2021. Perhaps not even before Christmas 2021. This thing will pass but in the meantime, hang onto your hats, we’re in for a bumpy ride.
The Star Wars Marathon was cancelled for mid April, that indicates a no go for the first.
July at the earliest, late 2020 more likely. The response of 2021 may be a little bit to negative, but not necessarily out of the question. I believe modifications will be significant, possibly some closures within the resort itself beyond its reopening. Maybe areas of a park closed & some resorts not opening with the others. My thoughts.
I hope they don’t open!!! I’m all for guests having a great vacation but now’s not the time! As a cast member concerned about getting the virus and bringing it home to my mother who has health problems, it would be impossible to maintain a 6 foot distance from guests. Not to mention it wouldn’t be permitted!
That is insanity. If true, we might as well let the virus run its course and stop worrying. That length of time for the world’s largest companies to remain closed cannot be afforded. Money would be worthless at the end, globally millions more would die of famine than Corona and after the lockdown ends, there would be no world left. No jobs, no entertainment, no supply chains, likely at that point no freeeoms left… this needs to end VERY soon or there wont be anything left.
I agree, with so many not working we will have a huge financial meltdown of our entire system. People being hungry and robbing others. Everything cant stay shutdown. People need to eat and pay for medication and other essential items.
I agree with you Scott. I don’t think most people fully grasp the economic ramifications of this crisis. I doubt people will be lining up to experience a Disney vacation when so many families will be negatively impacted financially from this event.
Yes, it prolongs the infection period. However, by spreading the infections over a long period f time, our healthcare system is less likely to be overwhelmed, with doctors literally having to choose whether Grandma or the 45 year old gets the ventilator (this is currently the issue I. Italy). By spreading it out and “flattening the curve” we are able to allow for medical resource to actually be available to treat the people who need them. Italy has an abnormally high death rate from that seen in other countries because they didn’t work as a society to flatten the curve and they don’t have the medical resources to care for everyone, so Grandma probably isn’t going to get the ventilator she needs and will likely die, an outcome that could be prevented if we can slow down the infection rate, flatten the curve, and allow everyone who needs a ventilator to have one. Your suggestion is lunacy, unless you think it is a good idea to not work to decrease the fatality rate because you’re being inconvenienced. I strongly disagree with you.
You don’t address the cost of this societal lockdown. How many families with children can afford to have one parent stay home to take care of the kids during the school lockdowns? There will be an enormous number of households forced into bankruptcy by the economic lockdown, because there employer was forced to close. This will not be restricted to hospitality and retail workers. In addition many, many businesses will be forced into bankruptcy, as business dries up. This is a big deal, because tens of millions of retirees depend on pension funds whose income comes from corporate stock holdings, or on income from 401ks.
Ending the lockdown at the beginning of April, and getting back to normal, pre-Wuhan virus life is essential to avoid an economic depression of a scope and duration never seen in America. Protect the elderly in their homes, if they choose, and let everyone return to their jobs and normal life, now.
Lol David, and you don’t address the costs of our hospitals being overwhelmed. There are no “good” options in a pandemic. Beyond the fatality rate, there is also the hospitalization rate, which I believe I read to be about 20%. This is not just for the elderly. If our hospitals are overwhelmed, we literally won’t have enough hospital beds in which to place these people to treat them and many more of them will die needlessly if we just revert to “life as normal” in April, absent a miracle cure at that time. Your analysis of course also ignores the fact that those same people you mention going bankrupt will then go bankrupt due to medical bills from their hospitalizations. People in their 30s and 40s are being hospitalized. Are the infected people supposed to just die in the streets? If they are to be hospitalized, who is paying for the hospitalizations (not to mention the construction of the new hospitals for the new patients)? Also, if the hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, what happens to others who need medical care for non-coronavirus related maladies? I wish I had some sort of panacea to magically make this go away. I don’t (and neither do you, it would seem). But simply returning to life as normal doesn’t seem like a scenario that works in the long-run for our society. Having 20% of the population hospitalized without adequate medical resources to treat them is a great way to change this from a 1-4% fatality rate into a far higher fatality rate, as has been seen in Italy so far.
Last Sunday CDC said 8 more weeks Groups of 50 or less no way Disney will open before that . Mid May is my estimation
I’m
Scheduled to be there 5/16 and Disney Cruise 5/18 not banking either will happen even though the 8 week time frame would be over 5/10.
Prayers to all health care workers , grocery store , gas station and pharmacy employees, and of course first responders â¤ï¸
I currently have a Disneyland trip for first week of May and a Disney world in August. I would put a 2% chance on Disneyland and a 98% chance Disney World. Reading as many medical/economic reports I put our response between China & Italy. We were a little slow to get awareness & supply up too speed on top of lacking expertise of China as they have dealt with these events more often. We do have the advantage over Italy in sheer resources and the time scientists have been working on treatments. Add to that a small benefit of warmer weather coming I put the social distancing measures ending sometime in May. Speaking economically June this country will be itching to get out and spend! As long as the stimulus measures are substantial enough to people bills in check we will get through this. It’s seams we have learned from 08 add to that many companies like Disney were already short of workers and they will pay them while we wait. In many recessions we enter with less than a million job openings this time we had over 7 million. With many working from home and some industries still busy we can pick ourselves up fairly quick. I am completely concerned about travel and restaurants employees getting though so as I state if the government can keep them a Float they are the most adaptive workforce. The Tech or office jobs can hang in their for a few months and if they whole in 2 months then they will have pent up demand! The numbers of family members we will loose is disheartening but Ending number won’t be staggering which means we won’t fear getting back in the swing of things. You may say I’m optimistic but if your planning to hit up Splash Mountain after Memorial Day well then Zippity Doo Dah to you my friend.
Spend… what, exactly? Realistically, we’re looking at economic downturn, a high percentage of unemployment, and ineffective stimulus measures that will barely be enough to keep the lights on for some people – much less afford a Disney vacation. A lot of people simply cannot work from home through this, or were laid off because their company could not afford to keep them – sure, some of them will be able to get unemployment, but will that be enough?
I appreciate the optimism. God knows we need it during this time. But the idea that everything will open and people will be spending in droves… I don’t think Disney is going to start accepting monopoly money at any point soon, and when all of this is said and done, that’s all a lot of people are going to have.
What? Wishfull thinking, no… more like so far out of reality. Everything is shutdown. Most Americans cant go a couple weeks without pay. Definitely not a few months. Learn from 2008… not the younger workers who this is going to hit hardest. They were probably 10 or 12 years old. I hope im wrong but just being realistic. I dont even have a car or house payment anymore and this is hard on me.
We live in California and I can’t see how Disneyland would be open by April 1. We are asked to be at home with all non essential services be closed such as malls and theaters. Even if Disneyland tries to open, the surrounding communities can’t open sit down restaurants or cafes (only take out are allowed) so Disneyland would stick out like a sore thumb. Way too much backlash from critics everywhere if they tried to open when everyone else around is closed.
We got a refund on a Universal hotel reservation we had for the end of April. We were told the hotel will be closed. If the hotel is closed I would assume the theme park will be also.
What if they said “closures thru april 1, but we will pay our employees!” Because maybe the next thing will be, “closed thru (?) and there will be nothing about “paying employees”.
My family has a Disney world trip planned for April 2-7 and I hope they open for the sake of my kids. But, with all of this going on, it is looking less and less likely that they will open. At this point, I just wish they would announce it to the public whether they’re opening or not.
100% certain Walt Disney World will not be open in April.
I’d sadly say it’s doubtful they will open in April. We were supposed to be there 4/2-4/12 and pushed it out. I’d say doubtful because they have already cancelled the RunDisney races which were supposed to take place weekend of 4/17. Now while the races are run by a separate company they referenced in the closure the health and safety of cast members and guests. Additionally, given CDC recommendations and closure of Orlando schools until at least mid April. I think mid May is more realistic but still likely to be more like June.
Wuhan was under quarantine for what 8-10 weeks. I doubt the US will be any where near normal till July or August.
The thing to be wary of is that, even if we can suppress this wave of infections sufficiently to avoid mass deaths due to our health care system being overwhelmed, the virus still exists elsewhere in the world and will come back. That’s why I don’t really fully understand the apparent victory lap the Chinese government took maybe last week or so. It’s coming back to their country eventually and their people, by and large, still have no immunity to this virus. Unless/until we have a vaccine in place, this is going to be our new normal (on and off based on the periodic surges of infection). I wish I was wrong here, but….
And most of us have zero faith in any numbers reported out of Beijing.
So you would still go on April 2nd if it re-opened? My trip was planned for April 5-7 but if by some miracle they reopened on the 1st you couldn’t pay me to go. You really think you’d be among a crowd of totally healthy virus-free folks? Come on
No, but you never are at a place like WDW. Or a mall, or beach, or on a train, in a bookstore, cafe, etc. The lines will be very short! Take precautions and go live your life.
Tom,
What is Disney’s liability if someone would catch the virus on property? I would assume they have enough indemnification small print everywhere as well as being very hard to prove it happened on property, but didn’t know. OSHA has already put out notice for construction sites that it could be considered a willful violation if a massive outbreak occurs on company’s sites. Didn’t know if the same would hold true for someone like Disney.
I’ll preface this by saying this is not an area of legal expertise for me. I’ve seen OSHA’s statements, and most pertain to mitigation efforts. In short order, it’s going to be difficult to prove/trace the origin of an outbreak, which would further undercut that. I’d expect most workplaces to put signs up about hand-washing, offer paid sick leave, etc., and deem that sufficient.
No one is going to be able to prove they contracted coronavirus at Walt Disney World. Even if they somehow could, they assumed the risk by voluntarily going to a nonessential public place that’s pretty infamous for crowded and confined spaces.
IMO, and IANAL, there’s a significant risk that a jury will decide to stick it to
“the big corporation” in favor of “the little guy”. What happens during appeals is a different question, but I expect Disney to be sued by many, many people, and some of these will go to trial (whenever the courts reopen, which is yet another part of the impact of this pandemic.)
JB, I see where you’re going with that, but there is no way a single one of those suits would go to trial. Disney would have less liability than they do for a random alligator attack, and that number was zero. If by some unholy stupidity one did go to trial, any qualified judge would tank it before it got to a jury.
Zero. There is absolutely no way to prove it and even then, they simply cannot be held liable for such a thing.
Be nice. Your opinion on the matter could have been phrased in plenty of ways that did not involve demeaning those involved in the Q/A.
It all comes down to a few things.
1) avoid places where people gather and actually listen to the CDC & WHO who are doing their best to protect us all.
Yesterday before the resorts closed a guest was taking pictures of a bunch of people CM’s as well as guests posing for photos. The attitude this week we’ll let’s go down to the resort and get some pool time and shopping just to be on site.
2) quarantine is not a time to have house party’s, your kids hanging out with all the kids in the neighborhood. It means to shelter in place only going out when needed, for food, dr’s appt.
3) not thinking about those around you like your neighbors who may be high risk . This is not all about you.
We are a village and need to protect everyone in the village, and that means don’t treat the quarantine like a vacation.
WELL STATED DOREEN!! As a healthcare provider speaking from experience dealing with this virus everyday, pay attention to what the fed, state and local gov’t put in place. Don’t hoard and call your family. Face time them. Please stay home unless absolutely necessary and wash those hands!
I agree, there is no scenario in which they are planning to open in April. Maybe in May but more likely June.
In light of this current scare, I’m so glad we stuck with it and went to Europe even though we had to come home early. Disneyland Paris is amazing! So much more detail on all of the buildings, superior Big Thunder, Pirates and Hyperspace Mountain. Cool Mansion and a fun Indiana Jones coaster.
The Studios is okay for now but once they are done building Avengers HQ, Galaxy’s Edge, and Arrendelle, it will be an amazing park too. Wish I’d gotten a picture of the construction wall map showing it! Remy’s was pretty cool and I assume the Epcot version is the same.
I definitely don’t think WDW will recon on April 1st. The Star Wars Race to happen after 4/1 was already cancelled and registrants were provided refunds. I would like to be optimistic and say May but as a local Orlando resident and teacher and the ever changing news, I predict June also. Nothing until summer.
I bought tickets and our visit got cancelled due to coronavirus. Disney refused to refund our tickets. Now I dont ever want to go back or buy another ticket. I think that’s despicable conduct in the face of an international crisis. I don’t care when they reopen, I’m done with getting ripped off by Disney.
That doesn’t sound right, everyone is getting refunds and late cancellation fees are being waived for vacations booked up until June 30th, I experienced this myself and was refunded 100% of my money. Did you book directly through WDW?
Disneyland (I bought tickets directly) told me I could only get the expiration date extended, but not a refund. That does me little good because the children I wanted to take there for a trip we planned for March are not coming anymore due to the virus. We like Disneyland fine, but not enough to go without children. I am very angry about this policy given the situation.
Yes Ross, please share. Did you buy directly through Disney? I know that 3rd party vendors may not refund ( I am dealing with one myself now with Disneyland tickets) but from everyone else I have heard that bought directly from Disney, they have had no trouble getting a 100% refund. I know I will not ever buy from a 3rd party vendor again (and mine was reputable and recommended), but that is on me, not Disney.
Please see above reply…thx.
I sort of have plans for Universal in mid August.
I say “sort of” because I booked the flights to/from Orlando at the beginning of February, but not the resort. Part of me wants to finally book the resort before everybody decides to change their spring trips to the summer, the other part of me is taking a wait and see approach (I know the resort category, just have to sit the wife and child down and pick WHICH resort).
Seeing as our child’s remote learning (aka school) was just extended from ending March 30 to ending April 20 (maybe), and our governor today ordered all non essential businesses closed and travel out of one’s house unless your job is “essential (healthcare, etc) is now discouraged 24/7 (previously it was discouraged 8P-5A), I’m thinking even June might be optimistic for restrictions to start being relaxed.
Any thoughts on what happens if you booked during Free Dining and end up having to change your trip dates? Would free dining carry over? I hope?! I love reading your articles! Thank you!