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!
I think Disney will reopen for the summer. Just a guess.
I’m thinking around late May, first of June. Definitely NOT April or early May!
FYI, we had a trip booked April 9-14 at one of the Disney Springs Hilton hotels. Just got an email that the reservation is cancelled and the hotel will be closed. So no, definitely not reopening April 1st.
Haha, Donnie’s not trying to convince you of anything.
Did you have a hotel package booked or just park admission tickets? Have struggled to get a refund on park tickets not part of a package
Disney will NOT re-open April 1st, 2020, so forget about that. Not going to happen. My guess is 2-3 months from now, best case scenario, but it could be a lot longer. I for one am happy, because Disney Fanatics will hopefully re-assess their lives and find out that there is WAY MORE to life than wasting all of their free time at Disney Parks and Resorts. Hopefully this is a wake up call to all those poor souls who are addicted to Disney.
You Mr .Desmond are a kill joy.Why don’t you spew your happiness of this sad news to let’s say the child that maybe has cancer and has their one wish to go to Disney..?Some people and their children love Disney and all the a Magic it holds.We don’t need to re- asses.Maybe you are just a depressed miserable sole who feeds off others disappointments?So many selfish people in this world .Worry about yourself.We are all aware of all the other places we could go.
Wow, I am not a poor soul for being a Disney fan. I know Disney is not perfect but it is a joy for many & your comment was rude. All my free time is not at vacation parks & even if it was it’s none of your business. Why are you even on this site if you dislike Disney so much?
Amen!
I am not sure I will ever understand people like this. If you think that Disney FANS are “poor souls”, then what on God’s green earth are you even doing on a Disney Fan page? I believe YOU are the “poor soul”.
Mr Desmond, the only question I have for you sir is why are you wasting your time commenting on this site about Disney if you hate it so much? I guess you find ways to entertain to yourself while these crazy times are happening. If you don’t like Disney then leave your comments to yourself. I’m a 38 year old mans man, who has a family that loves Disney and love the magic that this company brings to the world. Really all I have to say to you is, good day sir… I say good day!
Summer 2021 at the soonest. These 8 week measures won’t eradicate Covid-19, and they cannot be “unpaused” at the end. Fall of 2020 will likely see a spike because (a) normal flu season in North America and (b) there will likely be a push to send kids back to school. If either or both of these cause a resurgence of the virus these social distancing measures will be re-implemented throughout the winter. I hope I’m wrong because we would like to go to WDW soon…
You really think the parks (and the world) will be closed for more than a YEAR? No. Not possible. If that happens – we ALL are in WAY more trouble than is even conceivable – there will be nothing left of the economy. No. no. NO.
The parks will not open 4/1! The earliest I see it opening is June 1st. There’s no way they’ll open back up within the next month.
I realistically think the parks are closed for the foreseeable future. We have a trip planned for July and are not holding our breath they will be open for us. But we will rebook, and go as soon as we are able to! I think the decision to open is out of their hands.
Disney has no choice but to extend the temporary closure. One would think that with only a week before the temporary closure is scheduled to end, they would have announced the extension by now? Many people have reservations and are waiting to see the official closure announcement before opting for a refund or a reschedule. It will be another massive crush of people inundating Disney phone lines. Come on Disney. Just get it over with so folks can move forward here.
I agree! I don’t think they’re going to reopen on April 1st considering PA is about to go on lock down, and many of our neighboring states are already on lock down. Other states who haven’t been hit as hard yet (like Florida) will soon follow the same orders. So why not just announce the extended closure now and get it over with rather than wait and have people calling in panicking because they still have reservations for next week?
We have reservations for April 16-21 and are waiting until they announce an extension on the closures before we rebook. While I know it seems irresponsible to still take our vacation if the health crisis is not yet better, this is a special trip for my family (my mom’s 60th birthday). We do have one member of our party who is immuno-compromised and in greater danger of contracting covid-19, but she has stated that she is willing to take the risk in order to celebrate my mom’s birthday with our group. If we do end up being able to go (which I highly doubt is going to happen), then we will make sure to self quarantine upon coming home in order to prevent further spread in case we get the virus while there.
The schools in VA are closed until May. The Governor of VA announced the closing of the academic year today. I seriously 100% doubt Disney will be open. I would be shocked. If kids can’t go to school then how are they able to go to Disney? It’s scary unprecedented events. My family has a reservation to Disney in Nov. but even now I wonder if that will happen only because it may be extremely crowded with people whose trip was canceled while this is happening. Who knows. I then think a lot of hotels are already booked up for Nov. do it may be fine. I hope everyone stays safe!
Yes I think walt Disney world will open on April the 1st 202p
Seriously? No way it’s opening 4/1. You’re looking at early June….possibly late May opening, and that’s cutting it close.
Given Disneys propensity to grossly oversell Park attendance to the point of Mass OverCrowding, and the New Awarness of Infectious Desease, coupled with High Numbers of foreign visitors….Will Disney Change there Ways and Make the Parks Safer for there Home Base of patrons, Or, Just keep Pack’in Them In ?
I agree. I’m hoping that after all of this, all theme parks set capacity restrictions. These parks are often over crowded, leaving no room for personal space, and are not sanitized as effectively and often as they should.
They don’t oversell park attendance. That is a fire marshall issue and they will not put more people in the park than it is designed to hold.
On another note — is there are particular reason for the absurd capitalization? And what exactly does “Pack’in” mean?
If You Choose to Wast your Money to Stand Sholder to Sholder in line for Hours on End, Then You Are the Target of Disney Greed, and you May be Very Happy to be Packed Up Tight…ZZ Top Reference
Enjoy !
Pack’in…….OverCrowded…..Sardine Canned…….Jamed……GridLocked
You Get the Picture!
Ignorance of the English language, apparently. Poor spelling, dumb capitalization. But I’ll give them credit for knowing ZZTop, one of the Seven Great Bands of all time…
We are on stay at home orders for 2 weeks beginning tomorrow night, Orange County (Orlando) & Osceola county (Kissimmee). Was just announced today. It may be extended if needed.
Universal announced today extending their closure to April 14, think it’s the 14th. No word on any of the other parks. Including Disney where I work. Hate being in limbo but they’ll do the same. People are fleeing NY & coming here
It seems the way to flee NY is by private plane. No two-week quarantine. I live near the Vero Beach airport, which has quite a few such comings and goings.
Up in New York, the Metropolitan Museum is expecting to remain closed until the end of June. The theme parks might perhaps open earlier if the epidemic is less bad down here, but I think I’d take the Met’s plans as predictive.
Universal is selling one-day tickets for specific dates starting April 20, so I assume they’re serious about reopening then. Disney is selling Florida resident tickets that must be used by June 20. Of course they could change the rules if need be.
Being a resident of NY and the majority of cases being here I can we are in this for months to come and people here are worrying about survival with 100% of our workforce but being allowed out unless they are an essential employee. Be thankful it has not come your way yet and prepare because we in the tri state area are not working, not allowed to be with more them 10 people at a time and atleast 6 to 9 feet apart, our colleges and schools are closed for the foreseeable future and those of us who work in healthcare risk our lives for those who are not following the rules. So I would worry more about saving money for your mortgage and inflated prices then going to Disney.
I think we may see restrictions lifted this summer, and things will reopen for awhile, as the virus subsides for a bit (just like the end of flu season). However, it’s entirely possible we may face another quarantine in the fall, as the virus makes its way around again. It may be periods of lockdown/ quarantine, followed by a period of “normalcy “ for the next 18 months or so, until we have a vaccine and can manufacturer enough for the world population. We have 2 more Disney trips planned this year. One in August, for our anniversary, and a big multi-generational trip at the end of November. My twin daughters and their families are supposed to go mid-April. One daughter already cancelled because she got laid off when the restaurant she manages in Nashville closed. I’m very sure Disney won’t be open in time for the rest of them to take the trip. It’s sad, but lives are worth too much to take the risk.
I’m just going to try to be a Positive Polly and hope for May 1st. I can’t even imagine a Fall reopening. Ugh. That would stink! A lot of us here are eager to get back to the Magic. Praying for the best here!
My daughter is scheduled to go to Universal in April with her high school band. They are still hoping the trip happens, but I am not terribly optimistic.
Where do you live that schools haven’t cancelled trips like this?
Universal will be closed at least through April 19. They’ve made no commitment to open then, but that’s at least the earliest possible date. By then, Orange County’s stay-at-home order may have slowed down local transmission of the coronavirus. If not, the virus could be spreading at a breakneck rate. It depends on how people behave.
I heard from a hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, England today, where I was booked for late April. They’re shut down, but the government’s making it possible for the staff to remain on the payroll.
I hope that Disney world does not open back up until the coronavirus starts to go away. I think that people will respect Disney’s decision to close and possibly save lives. I think when they re-open at a responsible time people will flood in and support Disney.
One other thing: Florida is still behind the curve here. One of the hotspots is Louisiana, primarily because of New Orleans. Why? Mardi Gras. People came from around the world and across the country, and many New Orleanians went out on their own vacations to places that would become European hotspots, bringing the disease back.
Florida is having outbreaks, of course, but don’t be surprised if there’s an explosion of cases over the next few weeks,
Paul, you make an excellent point. When Florida has sufficient testing in place (it does not now) outbreaks will likely be all over the place. Stay well.
I hope it’s just another 2 weeks. I am scheduled to cruise on the 25th of April and if DCL doesn’t cancel we won’t cancel. Keeping my fingers crossed
You’re not going to be on a cruise in 4 weeks. Thousands of people have died and we need to stop the spread of the virus.
I would reschedule the cruise. WDW won’t be open end of April and cruise lines sure won’t be open either. Maybe the end of May they’ll start running again. I know what a bummer it is, I was supposed to take my 5 year old to WDW 3/28. But I rescheduled for mid June.
Unfortunately, no one can think too far ahead. With this pandemic, we seem to be adding daily to this fear. If everyone would do as they should, to eliminate spread, we could advance to the positive. There is no room for ignorance, we need to work together(no pun )there, let’s fight this. Be strong, think smart, lets move ahead.. The cure will take time. And yes, I love WDW, since going with my family since 1999 to present. But safety first.
If I was a betting person, which I am not, I would say the earliest date to reopen is August 1st, but a more gut-worthy option is November 1st.
Aisha I have a couple of other ⚅ who are working on the same for a few days but they are in a position to help me back I have a couple of questions but ⚃ not 75 on the 2nd one though and they will tell me what you want to do and I will never forget the rest with the family information ℹ I think I have to wait for the rest with my work so
Agreed.
to clarify, I don’t see it opening until the Fall – if lucky.