Walt Disney World Cancelling FastPass Reservations Ahead of Reopening

Walt Disney World is hoping to reopen its gates on July 11th, after being closed since the middle of March due to COVID-19. The Orlando theme park laid out its reopening proposal this week and now just needs to wait on approval. In the meantime, Disney is getting all of its ducks in a row, preparing potential guests for the park's new normal should it reopen in July. There will be plenty of added safety measures, a lot less people, and an update to how reservations are handled. This means that current reservations, including the popular FastPass+ ride options, have been cancelled.

Disney World will be implementing a new reservation system for this period of reopening, suspending the FastPass+ system entirely. All dining reservations, experience bookings (including behind-the-scenes tours), and dining plans have also been cancelled. Instead of the normal 180-day window guests usually have to book all of their reservations, everyone heading to Disney World will now have 60 days.

All of these procedures, as well as the event cancellations and shorter window, are part of an effort to better control how many people are in each individual park, and keeping groups from forming at any restaurant or attraction.

"Upon reopening, theme parks, Disney Resort hotels, restaurants, attractions, experiences and other offerings may be modified and will be limited in capacity and subject to limited availability or closure, based on direction from health experts and government officials to promote physical distancing," reads Disney's website. "Attractions, experiences (such as shows, parades and fireworks), services and amenities may have limited availability or may remain closed. We will provide more information as it becomes available. We reserve the right to cancel any reservations, admission media or purchases and provide applicable refunds."

If you had dining reservations cancelled ahead of a trip, or were hoping to make reservations for a trip in the future, Disney confirmed that it will be opening dining and experience booking closer to the actual reopening of the park.

Disney World's current plan will see Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopen on July 11th. Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios will open back up four days later, on July 15th. Rival theme park Universal Studios in Orlando is hoping to be back up and running in early June.