While plans are still coming together for a reopening at Walt Disney World later this year, it looks like Disney is continuing to make preparations in the wake of the resort’s extended closure. From pushing back available reservations to extending tickets and cancelling deals, here are all the changes happening now as Walt Disney World continues to grapple with the resort’s closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reservations in June no longer available
Earlier this week during Disney’s official earnings call, executives declined to say how Walt Disney World could open in the near future, and insinuated that they would not be opening the park at rock bottom guest levels because it would not be profitable for them to do so.
And though Disney only officially cancelled Walt Disney World vacations booked through the end of this month, May 31, 2020, earlier this week they quietly stopped taking reservations from now through July 1, 2020, which is in line with Disneyland’s potential reopening date.
Free dining deal no longer available for rebooking guests
Guests who booked a vacation package or room reservation to stay at a Disney Resort hotel from March 16 through May 31, 2020 were previously being offered a new deal that includes complementary free dining when they re-book their vacation. However, it looks like, as of last week, this deal has been quietly discontinued, as all mention of the deal has been removed from Disney’s website and guests who call to rebook their vacation are no longer able to take advantage of this offer.
Discover Disney Florida Resident ticket valid dates extended until the end of September
Though there is no firm reopening timetable available yet, Disney has gone ahead and extended the validity date for guests who previously purchased Florida Resident Discovery Tickets. Guests who hang on to these promotional tickets can now use them through September 30 2020, two months past the original July 31 2020 expiration date. Of course, if the parks remain closed through the summer, we’d expect to see these tickets extended again.
Though Disney has laid out what their theme parks reopening in the United States will look like in the most general terms, and Disney Springs will be getting started with phase one of its reopening later this month, a lot of questions remain about when and how their theme parks, hotels, and restaurants could reopen and it looks like, even as Disney is ready to talk about reopening, their parks and hotels are planning for an even longer extended closure.
As always, while this situation is evolving, all theme park fans should check out the CDC’s official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.
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