Walt Disney World and Disneyland Now Closed Until Further Notice Due to COVID-19

Hi everyone –

Walt Disney World and Disneyland are closed now “until further notice”. Everyone has been waiting for news from Disney and the announcement was made in the last hour. I am glad that Disney did not choose an arbitrary date again, because I occasionally have been asked if April 1st was still holding. Currently, Universal Studios has an April 19th placeholder; Tokyo Disneyland just announced April 20th “or later” today; LEGOLAND Florida April 14th and so on. My expectation for a while has been May or June, but there is no way to know when it will be safe to open the parks. As you can see below, The Walt Disney Company is paying its Cast Members until April 18th, 2020. I don’t know if that will be extended.

I hope everyone stays healthy so we can enjoy the parks once they reopen. I would also expect a new normal for a while, although I don’t know what that would look like  – depending on what the situation with COVD-19 is in a couple of months. Shanghai Disneyland opened Disneytown with temperature checks but the parks are not open yet and it has now been two months. Tokyo Disneyland Resort will be closed for at least a full two months total, and maybe longer. Disneyland Paris has not announced any dates yet, but there is France lockdown until April 15th, 2020 now so it can’t open earlier and will likely open later. This is a marathon and not a sprint.

Photo by Denise Preskitt