Walt Disney World 2020 Re-Opening Dates & Details

Yes, Disney World has finally announced their re-opening dates for the parks.

In this post you're going to learn not only when the parks are going to open, but also the new parks hours, changes that you'll see a guest, and new protocol and requirements.

Disney Park Reopening Dates & Hours

Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will reopen on Saturday, July 11.
Epcot and Hollywood Studios will reopen on Wednesday, July 15.

There will be NO Extra Magic Hours during the initial reopening.

The new daily park hours will be:

Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 7 pm
Epcot: 11 am to 9 pm
Hollywood Studios: 10 am to 8 pm
Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm

Entering any of the theme parks will require both a ticket and a reservation.

How will the new reservation system work?

We don't know yet.

From what I've read, it sounds like Annual Pass Holders and people who have already bought park tickets will be the first to make reservations.

Disney World Monorail — Photo courtesy of Laurie at Pics from the World of Disney

Fastpasses

All existing Fastpass reservations have been canceled and the entire Fastpass system has been suspended until further notice.

There has been talk for a while that the Fastpass system as we know it might be going away permanently. If that really is something in the works, it seems like this would be the perfect time to make that change.

Changes to Disney Dining

Okay, this is the upsetting part.

First of all, all dining reservations, Dining Pan packages, and "experience bookings" (like dessert parties) for 2020 have been canceled.

Yup.

If you had the Disney Plan scheduled for an October trip, it's gone.

If you had a dinner reservation for 'Ohana two weeks before Christmas, it's gone.

If you were offered the free dining plan because your spring trip was cancelled?

Yup -- gone.

And I know how disappointing that is, especially if you spent a LOT of time planning and scheduling your dining plans.

And -- just like the Fastpass system -- both the dining reservation system and the Disney Dining Plan are currently unavailable until further notice.

The bright side to this is that if you did have free dining scheduled, Disney will be contacting you via email to adjust your package to give you a 35% room discount, which is a pretty decent amount of savings.

Once dining reservations do start again (and we don't know yet when that will be), two things will change:

You need to have a reservation for a park before you make dining reservations for that park
You'll be able to make dining reservations 60 days in advance instead of 180 days

Cupcake at Walt Disney World bakery — Photo courtesy of Laurie at Pics from the World of Disney

New Disney Park Protocol

Obviously -- and sadly -- the Disney parks are going to be very different in summer of 2020 than they've ever been before.

How long will these changes be implemented? If you have a trip scheduled for November 2020, will your four year old need to make all day?

Unfortunately, no one knows the answer.

Here are the main changes you'll see upon the park's reopening:

All guests and cast members will be screened for temperatures before entering the parks. (Guests with a temperature of 100.4 or greater and the rest of their party will be turned away.)
There will be NO character meet and greets OR character dining.
There will be NO fireworks or parades.
There will be NO Extra Magic Hours
Hand sanitizer and hand washing stations will be set up around the parks
Face coverings/masks will be required for cast members and guests age 2 year old and up.
Areas on the ground will be marked to indicate where to stand while waiting for an attraction to maintain social distancing.
Restaurant tables will be spaced out for social distancing.
Cashless transactions like Magic Bands and credit cards will be preferred, although cash will still be accepted.

According to AllEars.net, Disney is "looking into the potential" for setting up "relaxation zones" where you can grab a few minutes to breathe the 92 degree Florida air without wearing a mask.

Right now there's no information as to where these spots will be or how they'll be managed.

So that is the plan for Disney World's park reopening, in a nutshell.
(If I left something out or you're aware of something that has changed, please let me know in the comments of via email and I'll be sure to update this post.)

What are your thoughts on Disney World's reopening?

My family is fortunate, in a sense, that we have no difficult decisions to make regarding all this.

We had no Disney vacations scheduled at the time at Disney World's closings. And as someone in our family is at high-risk, we won't be scheduling a trip any time soon.

What about you?

Do you see this an as opportunity to enjoy Disney World without the crowds?
Are you canceling your trip because the idea of Disney World without character meet and greets, parades, and fireworks just doesn't seem right?

Let us know below in the comments!