Disney Announces Major Changes to Hotel and Dining Reservations Prior To Reopening

Just a day after Walt Disney World’s big announcement that they would be reopening their parks on a phased basis beginning July 11 (pending state approval), they have released a second announcement outlining major changes to Disney World hotel, dining and ticket reservations.

In order to manage attendance at the parks with the new limited capacity restrictions, Disney World will be implementing the following changes.

Suspension of New Ticket Sales

All new ticket sales for Disney World’s theme parks are currently suspended. In order to focus on guests with existing tickets and Annual Passholders, no new ticket sales will be available for the time being. Already ticketed guests will have a chance to make theme park reservations before new ticket sales commence.

Annual Passholders can continue to renew annual passes online.

Suspension of New Hotel Reservations

In order to accommodate guests with existing reservations, all new hotel reservations are temporarily suspended. As with the theme parks, occupancy at the hotel will be limited and in order to manage occupancy no new reservations will be available for the time being. Suspension of new hotel reservations does not apply to DVC reservations. For information on booking a DVC reservation, contact DVC Shop Rentals now.

Cancellation of Dining Reservations

Restaurants will have capacity limitations upon the reopening of the parks and resorts. Therefore, in order to foster proper social distancing, all existing dining reservations will be canceled. This includes all Disney Dining Plans that have been purchased as part of a package. Dining Plans booked with DVC reservations are not being canceled. Dining bookings will commence closer to the reopening of the parks and booking windows will be shortened from 180 days to 60 days.

Additionally, Disney has announced that it will be temporarily suspending all buffets and character experiences.

Cancellation of Experience Bookings (Tours, etc.)

All existing experience bookings will also be canceled. Experiences, such as behind-the-scene tours will also need to comply with new social distancing guidelines and therefore will limit capacity. Experience bookings will reopen closer to the parks reopening dates and will have a shorter booking window of 60 days.

FastPass+ Changes

Because Disney will be making a lot of changes to ride queues in order to follow proper social distancing guidelines, FastPass queue areas will be repurposed to accommodate the extra space needed for the physical distancing of guests. Unfortunately, this means that FastPass+ has been suspended and any existing FastPass+ selections will be canceled automatically.

Extra Magic Hours Suspension

Extras Magic Hours will be temporarily suspended when the parks and resorts reopen.

Disney seems to be aware that this news will likely be quite disappointing to many guests who have already booked their Disney Vacations or those were planning to visit the parks this summer. However, during this unprecedented time Disney is asking for patience and understanding from guests as they attempt to navigate reopening in the safest way possible for everyone, stating:

“We understand how much excitement, thought and time goes into planning a Disney vacation and realize some of these changes may be disappointing…We appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to keep the well-being of guests and cast members in mind.”

Check back with us at DVCShop.com for the latest Disney reopening updates.