It was already announced that Walt Disney World’s reopening would start with Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom, which will be reopening to guests on July 11, 2020 and then continue with Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on July 15, 2020. And though it was previously confirmed that the park experience will be a lot different with all parades, character meet and greets, and fireworks show cancelled, Disney has announced a number of additional changes that will impact all guests who choose to visit the resort in 2020.
1. No more FastPass+ or Extra Magic Hours for the foreseeable future
Disney has made the unprecedented step of completely shutting down the FastPass+ service for the foreseeable future and will be using the additional queue space to manage capacity at attractions and maintain physical distancing. Disney has said that they will automatically cancel existing FastPass+ selections and guests will instead be directed to use the new virtual queueing system that will be used for many attractions. All current FastPass+ reservations have already been cancelled, and the FastPass+ section of My Disney Experience has been completely removed.
In addition to cancelling FastPass+ indefinitely, Disney has announced that Extra Magic Hours will also be temporarily suspended when the theme parks reopen, and will not be available indefinitely.
2. All current dining reservations are cancelled
Because of physical distancing recommendations, Disney has decided to cancel all existing dining reservations and experience bookings, including Disney dining plans included in packages, through the end of 2020. They have said though that guests with tickets will be able to rebook as they reopen dining and experience bookings with more limited numbers closer to when the parks reopen. Disney has announced that they will also shift from a 180-day booking window to a 60-day booking window for dining and experience bookings going forward.
3. New reservation system coming online soon, guests with current tickets and passes will get first access
Right now Disney has temporarily paused new ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel reservations so that they can focus on guests with existing tickets as well as annual passholders. Both of these groups will have access to the Theme Park reservation system before new tickets are sold to other guests, and more information should be available soon about this new system.
We knew that a visit to Walt Disney World would look different when the resort reopens in July, with the mask requirement and cancelled entertainment, but with the addition of restrictions on FastPass+ and dining reservations, it looks like guests who visit in the months ahead will have to really change the way they experience the theme parks while these health and safety measures are still in place.
Disney has created a new “Know Before You Go” hub at DisneyWorld.com/Updates, where guests can find the latest updates on operations and offerings, including details on how to modify travel plans.
As always, while this situation is evolving, all travelers 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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