Now that Disney World has dropped a bombshell of updates to their policies regarding their July 11th reopening date, there’s a lot of confusion going around!
Walt Disney World
Following the announcement that a new reservation system will be needed to gain access to the parks,  all previously booked Fastpass+, dining reservations, and Disney Dining Plans have been canceled, many guests are now left wondering if they’re even ELIGIBLE to gain access to the parks when they reopen.
While we’ve known for some time Disney World would reopen with a limited capacity, we didn’t know to what extent they’d be scaling back admission (and it’s still unknown at this time!). BUT, we DO know guests who have previously purchased theme park tickets AND have hotel reservations ON THE BOOKS will be given priority access. Here’s the exact language from Disney, “To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date is required.”
Disney World has temporarily paused ticket sales and new hotel reservations! Learn more here!
Some of our readers who have BOTH of these essentials still feel in the dark following the announcements. We’re going to help clarify.
Walt Disney World Partner Hotels
What does this mean for guests who have booked stays at non-Disney operated hotels such as Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort as well as Shades of Green? Remember — while these properties are situated on Disney World’s property, they’re only partnered with the resort.
Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort
We reached out to Disney World today to get some answers. We chatted with a Cast Member who told us guests staying at Disney World’s partner hotels will also count as resort guests.
Screenshot of Chat with Cast Member from Disney World’s Website
That means if you have already purchased Disney World park tickets and have a hotel reservation at a partner resort, you will be among the first group of guests to gain access back in the parks if you’re staying at one of these hotels.
Disney Vacation Club Hotels
It has been previously announced that Disney Vacation Club Resorts will begin reopening to guests on June 22nd. While regular guests cannot book reservations at this time, Disney Vacation Club Members are STILL able to book new room reservations with their points at the time of writing this.
Disney Vacation Club
So if you’re a DVC member, you might still be able to snag a reservation around the reopening.
Disney-Owned Hotels
Finally, Disney-owned hotels on property are a bit trickier. It was announced that Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground will be reopening on June 22nd along with the DVC resorts.
Welcome to Fort Wilderness!
Aside from Ft. Wilderness, no reopenings have been officially announced for other Disney hotels. Prior booked reservations have not been canceled by Disney at this time.
We know all this news to come out of Disney in the past few days is a massive bomb dropped on many guest’s vacation plans, and we’re doing all we can to get you answers. Please share in the comments ANY questions you may have about your upcoming trip and we will do everything we can to help you get answers.
It’s official! Disney World theme parks and hotels will be reopening soon! Learn more details here!
Disney Park Reopening Details and Info
Click HERE for the All Latest Updates
Click HERE To See FULL LISTS of the Rides, Attractions, Shopping, Entertainment, and Restaurants Opening in Disney World!
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ALL Disney World Reopening Procedures
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Are you one of the lucky folks with valid tickets and a hotel reservation? Let us know in the comments below!
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Steve, as far as I know, that hasn’t been announced.
Lisa, I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer to that. If you can get through to Disney, they might be able to answer it. You may have better luck calling the AP number (no promises!). Good luck!
Toni, we don’t have this answer yet. Disney says that guests with “existing reservations” will get access to the new theme park reservations first. To my knowledge we do not have confirmation if this means folks with Resort AND tickets or just Resort or just tickets. When the new system goes live, hopefully we’ll get clarification.
So, is this talking about people with reservations for any date? Or just the ones who have reservations starting the 11th?
Does partner resorts include those at Disney Springs? We booked at one of them and not sure if that counts.
Stephanie N., we aren’t sure about this yet. We will update when we find out!
Coral, we’re not entirely clear on this new theme park reservation system, but my interpretation is that it’s anyone who has an existing reservation (even if that means during this closure period who would be rescheduling). But we’ll have to wait until the system goes live to really know what they do.
What about reservations at Coronado Springs Resort? We’re scheduled for early November, 2020.
Randy, no specifics about non-DVC Resorts (aside from Fort Wilderness) have been released. We’ll update with info as it emerges.
Travel agent that I booked my Disney vacation With stated that With the new reservation system, park hoppers have been eliminated. They need to be able to control the number of guests in each park, so have disabled park hopping.
Well my family and I are in a catch 22 situation. We have valid silver annual passes and had planned to upgrade them at the park when they re-opened to gold APs so that we could get into the parks as soon as they open. (Silver passes are blocked June, July and first week of August). The problem now is that in order to get into the park, you of course have to make a reservation, which requires a valid ticket or annual pass with no blocked out dates and a hotel reservation (we already have four different reservations between June, July and August booked on property). All Disney will tell us is that they can’t upgrade the passes at this time. One rep even suggested that we would have to come to the park to upgrade in person with guest relations which is completely pointless if you don’t live in Orlando (and we don’t). We are basically stuck unless Disney allows us to upgrade our APs over the phone. Even if they start allowing changes to passes, it seems we can only do this in person which makes NO sense. Why would we come all the way to the park trying to do an upgrade on our pass with no guarantee that we can get into the park? Smh It’s frustrating.
Aarif, thanks for sharing. I’ll check with the team to see if we’re getting confirmation that the reservation system is up. At this point, we have not heard that it is, and Disney indicated it could take “weeks.”
Sheila, I hear you. Not having all the information we need is frustrating. I’ll say this: to our knowledge, the reservation system isn’t live, so until it is, there will likely be a lot of uncertainty. And when it’s live, I hope that we will get the answers we need.
If park hopper passes were discontinued do we get a refund on the extra it cost for the tickets I bought?
Hi there! My question is— my resort stay and my park tickets were booked separately but both linked in MDE. So I do have both a valid ticket and a resort stay… just not sure if this counts since they were not booked as a package. Any updates?
Melissa, no updates from Disney, unfortunately. But on this page, Disney specifies “existing ticket holders”, which it sounds like you are. Good luck!
Sharon, if they are discontinued (which we do not have confirmation on), you would get a refund I believe. Disney has been refunding upgrades like tours and DDP, so that would fall in line with their behavior so far.
What if you make a new reservation at the Swan or Dolphin hotel through their website (NOT Disney) Would that give us any priority access to them purchase tickets prior to the public??
We were planning on surprising our kids with a trip to Disney this September. We were ready to book back in March right as all the closures for coronavirus happened so we waited.
Jamie, Disney has said that Swan and Dolphin guests will be considered Disney World Resort Guests. It sounds like in order to get priority access to the new theme park reservation system, you’ll also need to have park tickets (but since the system isn’t live yet, we don’t really know 100%). Good luck!
Do you know what Good neighbor hotels in Disneyland count towards making a Disneyland reservation?
Lorna, I do not think we know this yet. I’ll see if the team can investigate.