■ Disney World reveals more details about reopening plans.
Walt Disney World has announced details about the reservation system that will be used by theme park visitors when the resort reopens in July after its extended coronavirus shutdown. Among the changes: Folks won’t be able to “park hop” at first.
The Disney Park Pass System, which is not yet available, will operate through disneyworld.com (desktop or mobile), and registration via a My Disney Experience account will be required. Visitors must have a valid park ticket or an annual pass to secure reservations.
Once everything is linked together, there will be a calendar with available dates for each Disney World theme park. Tickets between family members and friends can be tied together.
Holders of multi-day tickets must make reservations for each
day of the visit.
“Guests will be able to select one park per day; visiting more than one park per day will be temporarily unavailable upon the reopening of the theme parks due to attendance limitations,” according to a Friday morning post on the official Disney Parks Blog.
After reservations are finalized, visitors will be able to view them on the My Disney Experience app.
According to disneyworld.com, Disney and other select hotel guests with valid theme park admission can make park reservations beginning June 22. Annual passholders without hotels stays can make reservations beginning June 26, and existing ticket holders can make reservations starting June 28.
“Booking dates vary based on your plans,” the official Disney World site says. Passholders and other ticket holders will be contacted by Disney about the dates they make park reservations on the new system.
Walt Disney World is reopening in phases. Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will open to the public as of July 11, followed by Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on July 15. The theme parks have been shut down since midMarch.
The resort is making major adjustments. On Thursday night, it revealed that it had canceled Mickey’s NotSo-Scary Halloween Party event nights for 2020 as well as this fall’s Eat to the Beat concerts tied to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.
Sales of 2020 tickets will resume “later this summer,” Disney said, based on the availability of park reservations. The park-hopper option will be offered for 2021 ticket purchases. Visitors who paid for park-hopping powers already will receive reimbursement and cancellation options, Disney said.
By June 28, Disney says, new hotel packages and park tickets/reservations for 2021 will be available. Visitors will be able to see park reservation availability on DisneyWorld.com before buying tickets.
In addition, Disney announced plans to tweak its technological offerings, including MagicBands.
“In 2021, we plan to unveil an innovative new offering as part of the My Disney Experience app that will bring features of a MagicBand to your smart devices, building on the app’s existing digital key feature,” the blog post said.
As a result, the company will no longer distribute complimentary MagicBands to Disney Resort hotel guests for new reservations with arrivals beginning Jan. 1. They will be available for purchase as an option, and more designs and colors will still be introduced, Disney said.
Visitors without MagicBands will use the My Disney Experience app or a Key to the World card.
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