Disney World is Reopening! Here’s What We Know


Hi Companions, 
Susan & Natalie here! (In that order! YAY!) You get a two-for-one in this article!! Natalie and I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting news about Disney and we thought we would share what we have been reading and researching with our companion friends. 

At this point, Walt Disney World has submitted a proposal to have a phased opening. YAY!!! According to the Disney Parks’ blog, the Magic Kingdom, & Animal Kingdom will be opening on July 11th while Hollywood Studios & Epcot will be opening a little later on July 15th. Disney’s Vacation Club resort will open to it’s members and guests and Disney’s Fort Wilderness will be open on June 22nd. When going into the resorts, there are going to be some changes. We will update our blog as fast as we know but here is what we do know. 
  1. Guests over the age of 2 will be required to wear a face mask. 
  2. Cast members & guests will be temperature checked BEFORE entering the park. 
  3. Parades, character meet & greets, magical makeovers, nighttime activities, & playgrounds will not be available at this time. 
  4. According to this NY Times article, Shanghai Disney had LARGE stickers on the ground that helped with keeping people 6 feet apart. It will likely be the same for WDW. 
  5. All Fast Pass Plus and advanced dining reservations will be canceled if you had them. 
  6. All Disney Dining Plans are being removed from accounts until at least the end of the year. 
  7. No new tickets or resort reservations are available at this time. Right now they are giving priority to those who currently have resort reservations and, depending on capacity limits, may open up ticket sales at a later date. 
There are a lot of changes happening with the reopening of Disney BUT this is all to keep guests and Cast Members as safe as possible. If you still see some of these things in your My Disney Experience app, they will be removing them in the next few days. If you currently have a reservation, Disney will be reaching out to you via email to inform you of the changes. 
I know Susan and I wish we could go back to Disney and experience it the way we remember it, but Disney is doing what they feel they need to do for the health of everyone. As we all know through our COVID experience, things can change quickly and that is true with Disney as well. We will keep you updated and you can always check the Disney site for more information. All of this information is for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Currently, there is no update for Disneyland Resort in California and it will continue to remain closed until further notice. 
We are excited that the magic is starting to open its gates again, even if that means wearing a mask! It’s a way to experience the fun and stay safe at the same time!

Your Castle Companions,

Susan and Natalie
"Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious … and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
-Walt Disney
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