Disney is re-opening Disney Springs on May 20

6/10/20 Update:

Disneyland is now scheduled to open on July 17 —  the 65th anniversary of Disneyland’s opening.

Park capacity will be limited and advanced reservations will be required. (Details for reservations will apparently be made available soon.)

The experience will be a little bit different because certain things will be closed such as the parades, nighttime shows and meet and greets with Disney characters. However, Disney characters will be roaming through the park.

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5/27/20 Update:

Disney World just announced that it plans to be reopening on July 11, 2020.

The Disney theme parks in Florida have been closed since March 15 and this re-opening follows Universal Studios Orlando which is set to open June 5.

Disney is set to do a phased reopening with the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom opening July 11 and Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios set to reopen July 15.

 
Out of all of the theme parks that are in the US, the most anticipated reopening has been Disney World and it perhaps is an indicator of where things stand when it comes to re-opening public venues with big crowds across the country. 
 
I’m sure officials will be monitoring the reopening very closely and hopefully things go smoothly, as this could be a big needed boost for many Americans who want to look forward to trips to not just Disney, but other large theme parks. 
 
This could also help spark business for related businesses including airlines and hotels. 
 

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5/7/20 Original article:

Disney just announced that it will be re-opening up Disney Springs on May 20.

Disney Springs, located in Orlando, Florida, features a lot of restaurants, stores and a huge 24 screen movie theater. 

It will begin a “phased re-opening” beginning May 20 along with some other Florida attractions.

Disney Springs will be subject to new protective policies including increased cleaning procedures, the use of face coverings by both cast members and guests, and also limited contact with guest services.

The main Disney world theme parks like Epcot will remain shuttered for now and we don’t have scheduled re-opening dates either. The same goes for Disneyland in California along with its shopping and dining district known as owntown Disney.

However, we know that Shanghai Disneyland will be opening up on Monday which is a significant step forward and will also allow Disney and other theme parks and attractions to see what works and what doesn’t with these new phased re-openings.

We also know that in Shanghai, people will have to wear masks and that the park will be forced to limit capacity down to 30% — at least for the initial openings. Also, special characters like Mickey Mouse will have to keep a safe distance from guests.

As part of the country begins to re-open, a lot of questions loom about whether or not this is a good idea. I think there are some states that are definitely pushing things a little bit too quickly based on the number of outbreaks but at some point a couple of states will have to be the so-called guinea pigs and the first to experiment with a re-open.

It’s very possible that with many people choosing to stay home and with new procedures in place that provide increased sanitation and enforced social distancing that we might not see a huge spike in cases when things reopen.

That is what I would like to happen but it is hard to be super optimistic when you see throngs of people pouring into public places like beaches as soon as things reopen.

Still, I think things could be different inside of theme parks like Disney where the theme parks have a strong incentive to enforce social distancing rules and to go about re-opening in a smart and conservative fashion. 

We still might be a little ways off before large crowds are allowed to congregate but the fact that some of these venues are beginning to open up in phases is something that I think will give a lot of people hope and something to look forward to.

I just don’t want it to backfire.

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