The Walt Disney World Resort Hotels also appear to be ready to go for July 11th. The current plan for dates looks to be hotels, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney's Animal Kingdom opening on July 11th. EPCOT and Hollywood Studios hope to open on July 15th. New information is still coming out on the various park procedures, new policies, and temporary changes that are going on. My biggest suggestion is to keep watch on a reputable Disney news site such as Walt Disney World News Today and Disney's official blog, Disney Parks Blog.
The parks will be reopening, but not all features and entertainment will be available at first and the parks will operate at limited capacity. This has been done already in Shanghai and overall has been successful. Masks are going to be required, but Disney states that there will be dedicated rest areas where you'll be able to take the mask off for a bit. The biggest things entertainment wise to be aware of is that there will be virtually no additional major entertainment when the parks first open. There will be no parades, no character meet and greets, and no fireworks. Children play areas will also be closed. To get into the parks you will need a reservation and you currently cannot purchase tickets. Reservation are booked online and from what I hear, the system in Shanghai worked much better than Six Flag's system that completely crashed within five minutes earlier today.
Overall it sounds to me like the parks are going to follow Shanghai's lead. That's fine with me. It's a fair way for the parks to get going, for people to get back to work, for Disney to figure out all the kinks, and for guests to still be able to get back to the parks. In time all of the missing entertainment will return and it's Disney so we have no idea what surprises they have up their sleeves. For example, in Disney Springs today there were First Order storm troopers acting as social distancing ambassadors. In Shanghai characters have been appearing at safe distances, so just because there are no meet and greets doesn't mean there is no Mickey. As we get closer to July 11th I'm sure more and more information will come out. Chances are high I won't be covering all of it here, but if anything major comes up I'm sure I'll have something to say, so please keep a watch on those two links I posted earlier.
Excitement is abound, but let us not forget the challenges that cast members are going to face. If you go to the parks, please be patient with them. They are still there to make sure that you are not only having a magical time, but to make sure you are safe as well. From working throughout this pandemic I can safely say they are going to feel the stress. Yes, they're there for a paycheck, but the vast majority of them are also going to be there for you, so please, be kind and be patient. Expect bumps in the road as things get started again and remember you are lucky enough to be in one of the most magical places in the world. Do not lose sight of the fact that tons of people lost their opportunity to be there this year due to this pandemic.
Thank you for reading that little public service announcement on being nice to cast members. Thank you also for reading this blog! I'm super excited to see that the return of our beloved four parks is hopefully not far off. That also will mean a return to more park content here as well which I cannot wait for because I have really missed blogging about current park events that are exciting and not just depressing. Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!
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