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Disneyland Is Forced To Remain Closed As California Issues New Theme Park Guidelines Amid COVID-19

Photo credit: SOPA Images - Getty Images
Photo credit: SOPA Images - Getty Images

From House Beautiful

This post was updated on 10/20/20 to reflect the most recent information released by the parks.

Disney's theme parks and hotels around the world were closed for months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but with many opening back up, it's left many Disney fans wondering what the parks will look like when they visit next.

There are tiny tidbits of information in so many different places—so we corralled everything into one spot for you. Consider this your one-stop guide about Disney's reopening plans and what you can expect when you visit.

Which Disney parks and resorts are currently open?

Disney Springs in Orlando, FL, started its phased reopening on May 20. Walt Disney World in Florida re-opened its Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom parks on July 11, and Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15 with limited capacity and other enhanced safety measures in place. Disney also began trimming its hours for these parks starting September 8. For example, Magic Kingdom will close an hour earlier, at 6 p.m., and Epcot will close two hours earlier, at 7 p.m. Disney Springs will keep its current operating hours. You can see a full calendar of operating hours here.

Shanghai Disneyland reopened on May 11. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea reopened on July 1. Disneyland Paris began its phased reopening July 15. Hong Kong Disneyland reopened its doors on June 18, but announced it would be closing again on July 15. It reopened in September.

Which Disney parks and resorts are currently closed?

The Walt Disney World parks in Florida and all of its hotels are currently closed. The Disneyland resort in California and its hotels are also closed. Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, and Hong Kong Disneyland are also closed.

What are Disney's plans to reopen?

Disneyland reopened its Downtown Disney District on July 9 and although it had previously announced plans to reopen the rest of its parks, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel throughout July, those plans were put on hold. On October 20, California released its reopening guidelines for theme parks, which say that parks of Disneyland's size will not be able to reopen until its county is in the yellow designation for COVID-19 cases. It will then be able to operate at 25 percent capacity. Disneyland's president issued a statement saying that the guidelines keep them closed for the foreseeable future:

"We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world. Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities. Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community."

What guidelines will be in place when Disney reopens?

This will likely vary by park and will change as time goes on, but all parks currently open or planning on opening, as well as Disney Springs, will require temperature checks for guests and employees, face coverings like masks for entry, social distancing requirements and barriers in place.

According to Disney World's proposal, meet and greets will be temporarily suspended, and events like parades and fireworks that draw crowds would be paused as well. The parks are placing an emphasis on mobile food orders and cashless transactions, and they'll also be employing "social distance squads," made up of cast members who will encourage guests to practice good social distancing measures. This "squad" has been successful and a big hit with guests at Disney Springs so far, Disney said.

Disney also added recently that those dining at table-service restaurants at Disney Resort hotels will undergo a temperature screening prior to entering the location. They must have a temperature of below 100.4 to enter. If someone in their party screens above that temperature, the rest of the people in that party will also not be permitted to enter.

Can you currently make reservations at Disney?

Disney World has implemented a new reservation system that requires all guests to make a reservation in advance for theme park entry. Guests will need a My Disney Experience account and will need to link their tickets to that account. If they're staying at a Disney hotel, that will also need to link those reservations to that account. You'll then be able to access reservations via a calendar, select which park you'll be going to each day, and link your tickets up with family and friends. If you have a multi-day ticket, you will be required to make a park reservation for each day you're visiting and you won't be able to visit more than one park per day. You can learn more about it here.

Disney also announced it would be suspending FastPass+ service for now in order to use space to maintain social distancing, and that Extra Magic Hours will be temporarily suspended. Disney will also be switching to a 60-day booking window for dining and experience bookings, a shift from the previous 180 days.

You can read more about these policies here.

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