It has been a week since Walt Disney World closes all theme parks to
on Sunday March 15th. And though the official word from the company is
that the parks will remain shuttered through the end of the month, many
have speculated that Disney would remained closed for much longer. And
though we’re still waiting on an announcement from Disney, there are
some concrete signs that Disney will be closed at least through
mid-April, if not longer.
1. Reservations for early April disappearing on My Disney Experience
According to several
guest reports, previously-existing Walt Disney World resort reservations
that were previously available from the My Disney Experience app are
being quietly removed for stays up until mid-April. Though this could be
a temporary glitch, other guests resort reservations for May and June
are still showing up in the app. Though guests with these reservations
are not reporting an official cancellation notification yet, we’d expect
that we are days away from hearing about an extended closure with
refund/change instructions for those affected.
2. Star Wars marathon for mid-April cancelled
RunDisney has announced that the upcoming Star Wars Rival Run Weekend, which was scheduled to return to Walt Disney World Resort for its 5th year from April 16 – 19, 2020, has been cancelled. All participants for the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort who purchased their registrations on runDisney.com will receive a refund for their race registration in four to six weeks.
3. Disney Springs Hotel extends closure
Though not owned by
Disney, the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace, which is located in the
Disney Springs area has confirmed that it will remain closed through the
end of April, and all guests who had reservations during this period
are being notified that they can either cancel or reschedule their
stay.
4. Executive order banning eating in restaurants and alcohol sales still in effect
Earlier this week,
Florida governor Ron DeSantis ordered all restaurants and food
establishments in Florida to suspend on-premises food and alcohol
consumption, effective immediately. This order will be in effect until
the State of Emergency is lifted for the State of Florida, and
unfortunately, there’s no way to know exactly how long that could
potentially be. As long as in-restaurant dining and alcohol sales are
banned, unfortunately Walt Disney World will not be able to operate
under normal conditions.
Even if Disney is looking at employing some light social distancing
methods when it reopens (which would include eliminating entertainment
that requires close gathering, such as nightly firework shows and
parades and keeping table service restaurant capacity down to 50%
occupancy) they wouldn’t be able to comply with this latest order, which
would make a reopening impossible as long as Florida’s State of
Emergency is ongoing.
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.
News Source: Themeparktourist.