Walt Disney World — along with Disney Parks around the globe — remains closed until further notice due to the current global health situation. As states are considering how to safely re-open their economies in light of new federal guidelines, the state of Florida is, of course, including the tourism industry within its areas of focus.
Cinderella Castle in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
Last week we shared that Walt Disney World President Josh D’Amaro was appointed to the Re-Open Florida Task Force Executive Committee. As that committee begins discussions, mynews13.com has shared some of the key steps being discussed with regards to reopening.
The Task Force Executive Committee, which is comprised of 22 business, education, tourism and state leaders, also includes John Sprouls, CEO of Universal Orlando Resort and executive vice president of Universal Parks & Resorts.
Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
According to mynews13, the steps being considered will factor in a potential timetable for re-opening, with the consideration for a “gradual” reopening for state attractions. This may include a phased reopening for “[Florida] State residents, then national and international visitors.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has requested “recommendations by the end of this week on when and how Florida tourism should reopen” from the committee members.
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
We will continue to keep you posted on this developing story as discussions move forward. If you would like to read more about how the closures are impacting Disney Parks around the world right now, you may visit any of the links below.
More Disney Park Closure Details and Info
Click HERE for the All Latest Updates
Disney Parks Closure Extended “Until Further Notice.”
Should I Cancel My Disney World Vacation?
Disney’s Closure Timeline and What It Could Mean For Disney’s Reopening
Your Disney Trip Was Canceled -- Now What? DO'S and DON'TS to Cancel, Get Refunds, and Reschedule
Disney World and Disneyland Closure Questions Answered!
Are Disney World Restaurants Really Just Firing Everybody?! It’s Much More Complicated Than You Think
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Where in that article does it say anything about a phased reopening, with only Florida residents welcome at first?
I’d love for them to open to guest and the media to show some views of DisneyWorld. I wouldn’t be there this spring anyway, but it would feel good to see it open. Maybe they could broadcast stories from the park on Disney +, so we could see the rides and the characters again.
I also want to thank DFB for broadcasting videos on YouTube to help me plan for a happier day, rather than all those “so concerned” commercials and news programs. I’m not saying I am ignoring everything in the news, but I watch the other shows to escape all of that. I find that I am watching everything from DFB. Thanks.
Wow… abounds great to me. Any chance to visit the Mouse and get back to some sense of normalcy is a plus.
Are DVC members considered Florida state residents?
Since China is 5 or so weeks ahead of us, I would think they could try out various procedures at Shanghi Disney and the best ones could be adopted in the other parks as they phase in.
But, being at risk, I won’t go until after a vaccine is available. But for those not at risk or willing to take their chances, I think they should be able to make that choice on a limited scale, after more is learned about treatment as well as prevention. It looks to me like the world is still learning about this virus on a daily basis.
Great to see some light at the end of the tunnel as they say. Just hoping that we all get back to normal soon.
I’ll bet they do away with AP for a while and just sell one day tickets to control the numbers in the parks.
Myself and my two adult children were due to fly out From the UK this Sunday, having not visited since 2007 and as you can imagine, we are devastated that we can’t make it, but are hoping to be able to visit next year, as our 14 day tickets will be valid until the end of 2021. To this end, we have provisionally moved our villa dates to next year, together with our car hire, and have arranged an open ticket with Virgin Atlantic to book the flights when we have specific dates. Because everything is so uncertain, we can only hope that we do get there next year.
WDW is not really a locals park like Disneyland is. I can understand this happening at DL more than WDW.
CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?????
Haha ha. Some of this is really entertaining
To Mary, as to why DVC members are not considered Florida residents: no of course not, why would they be?
The whole point of allowing only Florida residents at first is purely epidemiological. The employees that work at the parks are all locals. They commute to the parks from within the state, most likely just the few surrounding counties. It is easy for Disney to get a grip on the status of the local hospitals and the rate of infection/morbidity and mortality rates for the surrounding counties from the Florida Department of Health (anyone can look up whichever Florida county they’d like at the FLDOH website). Tracking that alone will require a lot of effort.
What we know of the virus is that it is mostly spread through asymptomatic individuals, that is, people who don’t know that they’re sick and don’t know that they’re spreading it around. Infected people can do that for 4-14 days after they’re exposed to the virus. So someone who feels perfectly healthy can still get people around them sick for two weeks until they start to show that they’re sick. That’s why people calling for temperature checks at the park entrances or other types of on-site screening clearly don’t understand why those suggestions won’t stop visitors from getting sick: you can feel fine and still infect people. As an annual passholder, I know that there are a lot of vulnerable people and seniors that visit the parks. They’re all at risk of getting sick. Disney could make masks mandatory, but 1) most of the public don’t wear the masks correctly, and 2) most people still don’t understand why they should wear one in the first place (for those that don’t know: it’s to protect those around you from spreading infection. A mask doesn’t make you immune from catching the virus. It’s about the wearer being an asymptomatic individual who has the virus, and stopping the droplets from leaving their mouth and getting on surfaces that we all touch. It’s basically reverse herd-immunity). Nevermind that lots of folks are refusing to wear one anyway.
So that’s probably why they want to start with “locals” (FL residents) first. It’s definitely NOT about rewarding those who happen to live in the state with early access. And frankly, without a vaccine or gold-standard treatment, those locals will still be taking their lives into their own hands by visiting anywhere that folks can gather in large numbers. Add in anyone who’s infected and not showing symptoms, who also refuses to wear a mask or take even simple precautions, and that one person could infect dozens of individuals, who can then go home and infect lots more, etc. That’s hard enough to track right now. Imagine out-of-state or foreign visitors bringing in the virus, then going home a week later. Or getting infected at the park and taking it home to a place with low infection rates. Nope. I’d be furious if someone just HAD to to on vacation and brought something back to the area.
So NO, they definitely should NOT consider passholders or DVC members or anyone outside of the state of Florida to go to the parks at first. Opening the parks, no matter how Disney chooses to do it, is conducting a dangerous experiment with potentially fatal consequences. This isn’t about keeping you from the magic of Disney. It’s about keeping you SAFE and HEALTHY.
If you read this far, you’re amazing and patient. Thank you, Hope you understand where this is coming from.
-M, nurse practitioner that specializes in infectious disease. And yes, these past few months have been exhauting.
@J click on the link mynews13 that they listed and read where it stated, “Visit Florida is working on a multi-phase campaign, with the first part focused on Florida residents, encouraging them to visit state attractions first.”
Also they wrote—- This may include a phased reopening for “[Florida] State residents, then national and international visitors.”
Curious to see how this will effect all the re-bookings from canceled spring break trips to June.
@Mary, unlikely.. I think the idea that Disney opens to Florida residents first is because that means the resorts don’t need to open yet. If you are a DVC member living in Florida, you might be part of the first phase.
Those of us in other states, though, may not even be able to go since our own states might be limiting unnecessary travel. So, it makes sense to think of Florida residents first.
I also like the idea of Florida Residents first, then national and then international. It makes sense to me. I live in GA and am scheduled to go down in Sept. Just like when they introduced “bag-checks” I believe Disney will do their best to get guests moving along again through their theme parks and resorts. We just have to be patient.
If this is the case, I wonder if those of us FL residents who are Silver pass holders see a lifting of block out dates?
I think Disney should open in 1st week of may. Open to FL residents and if everything goes well in May then June can be out of staters that have lifted there social distancing.
@M what you bring up is verry valid. I’m from Canada and was planning to go to Disney in august. In light of the situation, I’m TOTALY in agreement with a phased reopening. Thanks DFB for all the update. Its really helpfull.