With Disney Springs getting ready to re-open, lot’s of talk about when WDW parks will re-open.
I just want to see what the rest of you think.
I am talking when the four actual theme parks re-open to paying guests of any type.
EDIT to add: Any park, one park, all four, or any combination. But with paying guests from the general public (which could include AP, DVC), not cast members only test.
Not resorts, hotels, mini-golf, golf courses, restaurants, water parks, when the first paying guest walks through the gates at either MK, AK, EPCOT & HS.
Sorry the poll is sorting differently that how I set it up, I had it in chronological order, anyone can tell me how to fix it? Please help.
I think I mis-read your poll… I thought you were asking when it will open to any (and all) types of guests. Like, not limited to AP holders. I think at least one park will be open to guests starting in late July 1.
I’m guessing I can’t change my poll response.
Because they will want to limit the crowd levels, I think it will be the second half of July. The parks are always crazy crowded for Independence Day and it’s on a Saturday this year, which means a long weekend for most working folks. That means even more people going to WDW, even with C19 in the mix.
So I could see them delaying opening things back up until after that just to prevent the PR nightmare of not allowing people in.
It may have more to do with people who booked for July 4th weekend earlier this year before all of the C19 mess. Unless they cancel, they have valid stays and park tickets for those specific days.
Of course, Disney never releases their booking data, but I’d be willing to be there are still a ton of reservations for that weekend because a lot of people are hopeful they will be open. That creates a PR nightmare if they have to tell people they can’t come even though they are open. I’m glad I’m not the person in charge of these decisions. The Bobs will have fun with this one.
Ah. I guess that makes sense. Is the PR hit that awful if they do some kind of priority reservation system? Like, open reservations for DVC first stays, then deluxe on site two days later, then moderate on site two days after that, then value on site, etc. If you don’t get a reservation, full refund.
At least then it’s not random and arbitrary and opaque…
I think if Disney can offer good enough incentives for guests to cancel their trips, such as tickets that do not expire for 18+ months or free dining if you change your dates and keep your same resort level…then they can make people feel “okay” about not going when they were originally planning.
I do think that if they started out with a reservation-style opening, they’d have to start with people that already have rooms/packages booked. If they haven’t maxed out the attendance with that, they could open up to AP holders and DVC owners who want to book a stay onsite. I don’t see any kind of option for offsite guests or even day-guests that aren’t staying onsite.
My answer in the other poll was a case of selfish hope…I picked the day just before we were meant to arrive.
Since that date has come and gone…well, now I’m trying to be a bit less biased (even though I do hope it is opened for us in August) by picking July 1-15. I don’t know that it will be July 1…but I think it will be open by July 15.
When someone first sees the poll, it is in chronological order. However, once you vote, it shows you the results in the order of most to least votes (ties are alphabetical). There is no way to change this to my knowledge.
In any case, I optimistically voted for the back half of June, but an opening in the first half of July is probably more likely. I don’t think they will wait any longer than end of July, because Florida seems to want them to open and there are so many measures at their disposal to make it relatively safe - masks, reduced crowd size, elimination of parades and fireworks, etc.
With restaurants already open, there’s not much in WDW that is more conducive to spread as we understand it than that, other than the indoor shows. It’s only a matter of time now.
From what I was seeing on June Disney fb groups, guests aren’t getting much in the way of incentives for trips being canceled in the early weeks of June.
No continuance of free dining. I can see no free dining in the next few months tho it was offered for some canceled spring trips.
Apparently Disney is not offering free dining if you put your trip off a year. But they seem to be happy to switch early June trips to September or October, for more money.
I don’t have details - just reporting what I’ve seen others complaining about .
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I love it!