Anyone at WDW when the parks shut down?

[DisneyMama811]

I've been curious in regards to what actually went on for guests at the parks when closure was announced last March, especially guests who were staying on property? it must have been absolute chaos. Did you have to leave immediately or were you given a few days? what was it like trying to find a flight home? the logistics must have been mind boggling

 

[HollyMD]

The resorts stayed open several days after the parks closed. We enjoyed 3 days of pool time and relaxation

 

[Akck]

You can watch this Vlogger from Great Britain. Their vacation ended during that period.

 

[hereforthechurros]

MDE pushed out a notification that the parks were closing down two days later. Wish I could remember the exact wording. We were there and it came through while we were eating at DS. The workers were getting word the same time the guests were, that part was wild. We were able to change our flight, cut our trip short and head home. Surprisingly things stayed pretty calm but all the guest chatter was slightly nervous as the virus was still so new and no one knew what to think.

 

[Chickenlady]

What got us worried at first were all the school groups talking about how they had to leave, but also how they weren't going back to school. My son was with me on this trip and got an email saying that his University was closing. I don't remember the MDE notification but it was a very strange feeling, with the unspeakable happening...WDW was actually closing.

 

[Animal]

The week before the closing was surreal. CMs were still asking us to fill in all available space. Everyone was like, "no. I don't think so." Took a screenshot immediately after the notification...

 

[DisneyMama811]

What got us worried at first were all the school groups talking about how they had to leave, but also how they weren't going back to school. My son was with me on this trip and got an email saying that his University was closing. I don't remember the MDE notification but it was a very strange feeling, with the unspeakable happening...WDW was actually closing.

I remember hearing on the news WDW was closing... we didn't have any cases at all in Ontario yet...back when everyone was kind of in the ok how serious can this actually be phase...when I heard Disney was closing I was like ok clearly this is serious...

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

The week before the closing was surreal. CMs were still asking us to fill in all available space. Everyone was like, "no. I don't think so." Took a screenshot immediately after the notification...

Ha-have to laugh at the closed 3/16-3/31! I remember every couple weeks we’d sit listening to our Governor to hear if schools were going back, as if it would actually happen!

 

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

Was at AKL After Hours event that Thurs when word went around via text to CMs that parks were closing that Sunday, event was packed, next morning as we were leaving (scheduled to leave that morning, we didn’t leave early), there was an eerie business as usual atmosphere, but I talked to one CM who said there would be a stampede out from property that afternoon and the next day.

 

[RangerPooh]

We were scheduled to arrive on the 15th, the day the parks closed. Debated if we'd cancel our trip or just go and stay at the hotel (and swim) since they were remaining open. Decided to cancel everything. Every MDE notification and email that came through, as well as news story had our group of three families texting back and forth the days leading up to our scheduled trip. It's a year later, and we're days away from our trip, no one wants a repeat of last year.

 

[ChanaC]

These YouTubers also from the UK were at Disneyland and Universal Hollywood right before the pandemic. I believe they were at Disneyland the day it closed. They also had a long layover on the way back to the UK in NYC and it is weird to see Times Square so shut down.

 

[Barnabas T Bullion]

Ha-have to laugh at the closed 3/16-3/31!

"2 weeks to flatten the curve" they said!

Turned into 52 weeks.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Anyone at WDW when the parks shut down?

Almost. The closure announcement was made the day before we were scheduled to depart home for WDW. We had to cancel our trip the day before we were supposed to leave!

 

[DisneyMama811]

Almost. The closure announcement was made the day before we were scheduled to depart home for WDW. We had to cancel our trip the day before we were supposed to leave!

that must have been devastating, I know I would have been in tears. have you been able to reschedule?

 

[Marthasor]

I wasn't in the parks when the announcement was made, however, we had a trip planned for our spring break, completely paid for and I started feeling like it wasn't a very good idea to go. I called WDW to cancel, knowing I would lose my deposit. While I was on hold, they made the announcement the parks were closing . . . the first CM I spoke with said, at that point, they weren't waiving cancellation fees. He put me in the queue for guest services and then I was hold for 6 hours as the phone lines got slammed. By the time I got through to guest services, they announced they were waiving fees, so once I got through to a CM, she cancelled my trip and issued a full refund. I remember telling her that we would just plan on coming down Mother's Day weekend instead . . . we all know how that turned out. After visiting 4 - 5 times per year for the past decade or so, I have not stepped onto WDW property since December 2019. Hoping to be back in the fall!

 

[pcollins48]

We were at DHS the last day the parks were open and stayed until closing. Many people had left by then so the lines were short. It was sad leaving and seeing all CM's and CP's waving good-bye and crying. We were scheduled to return two days later, so we went to the beach on Monday and our parks visits weren't affected. We hope to return this fall when some of the shows are back, our sweet, autistic son can't wait!

 

[Soph&HanMom]

I was there the week it closed down for spring break with my daughter and her friends. We arrived Sunday March 8th and left Thursday the 12th.
Crowds were a bit lighter then I anticipated and we had a great trip. Things started to change the 10th and eleventh. Signs started popping up all over and they stopped doing finger scans.
We left Thursday morning andI have never seen the airport so empty. This was the security line in MCO at noon Thursday March 12th

There were only a little over 100 people on our flight home
then Pittsburg airport

 

[Orion Nebula]

The week before the closing was surreal. CMs were still asking us to fill in all available space. Everyone was like, "no. I don't think so." Took a screenshot immediately after the notification...

The final weekend was PACKED also wasn't it?

 

[subtchr]

I was there as the tour director for a high school band from the St. Louis area, about 150 kids, 3 charter buses.

They had a performance at Disney Springs on that Thursday and a clinic on Friday afternoon. They were supposed to march in the Magic Kingdom Saturday, and we were to drive home on our charter buses after a day at AK on Sunday.

The directors got a call from their principal during the clinic on Friday that they had to cut the trip short and head home. I spent the next few hours working with the charter bus company to arrange for relief drivers, set up meal stops, etc. Since our drivers needed 8 hours of down time before we could leave anyway, we brought the kids back to Epcot for the evening after their clinic, as scheduled. Drove home the next day. Then I changed my flight home, flew home Sunday, and haven't worked a day since.

 

[pangyal]

It was just me and DS that trip and we’d completed about a quarter of our trip when we heard that his school was going to delay reopening after March Break, so I did what any rational parent would do and called DH to let him know we were going to stay in Florida a few more days, because why not? I spent our ‘Ohana dinner reorganizing our dvc points and booking a stellar lineup for an extra week. Then, after dinner, at Pineapple Lanai, we got the news from the CM there that they had just announced the parks’ imminent closure two days from then. I remember the kiddo just sobbing and sobbing and sobbing into his Dole Whip, which is just tragic on so many levels. The CM saw my face and wordlessly dumped a long shot of coconut rum into my dole whip before handing it to me.

The next morning, we decided to finish out the trip after all and just hang around the resort for the week (we were moving to Beach Club). It ended up being one of the greatest, most relaxing trips! We weren’t able to keep the extra week since they announced the resorts’ closure a few days later, but it was fine.

We went to DHS the last night before the closure and it was empty- we walked on every ride and were allowed to stay on and loop over and over and over on anything we wanted. They even did the Pirate Adventure Cruise near the end of our week, with some modifications. By the end of the week, it was a novelty to see anyone in the hallways at the resorts, so it was definitely weird. Our flight home was labelled a repatriation flight so it was super empty, and kiddo’s lightsaber got its own row behind us, seatbelt and all.

It was definitely memorable!