When Walt Disney World Closed for COVID (2020–2021 Timeline & What It Was Like)

It began as a temporary closure and turned into one of the most unusual chapters in Walt Disney World history.

Around this time six years ago, Walt Disney World was preparing for something none of us had ever seen before. In early March 2020, the news was filled with uncertainty, but even then, most Disney fans assumed any closure would be brief. Two weeks, maybe a little more. Temporary. Manageable. Routine.

Instead, Walt Disney World shut down in a way it never had before for a non-weather-related event. The last time Walt Disney World had closed for anything significant had been September 11–12, 2001 what followed changed the vacation experience for months and, in some cases, permanently. Looking back now, it is hard to believe just how strange that period was. And yet, for those of us who were there when the parks reopened, it is impossible to forget.

Personally, I was TDY to a military conference when the announcement came. I called WDW Media Relations, and they said they had no other information and that it would only be through the end of the month. As time stretched on, I had to cancel 2 research trips to WDW in April and May.

The Day Walt Disney World Closed

On March 12, 2020, Disney announced that Walt Disney World would close beginning March 16, 2020. At the time, the closure was described as lasting through the end of March. That sounded temporary enough (remember Two Weeks to Stop the Spread?), even if it still felt shocking.

But once the parks closed, it quickly became clear this was not going to be a short pause. For the first time in modern history, not related to weather, Walt Disney World’s four theme parks went dark:

• Magic Kingdom
• EPCOT
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom

All Closed! The parks would remain closed for nearly four months.

The Disney Resort hotels, Disney Vacation Club resorts, and Disney Springs also shut down.

And yet, even while the parks were closed, one meaningful tradition continued. Disney Security cast members still raised the American flag at Magic Kingdom each day and performed the daily retreat ceremony, quietly honoring that tradition even with an empty park.

Disneyland Closed Too, and Stayed Closed Much Longer

Disneyland Resort closed slightly earlier, with Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure shutting down on March 14, 2020. But while Walt Disney World would reopen that summer, Disneyland’s closure stretched far longer. California regulations kept Disneyland closed for more than a year, and the resort did not reopen until April 30, 2021.

That made it the longest closure in Disneyland history by an enormous margin.

The First Signs of Life: Disney Springs and the Resorts

Before the Walt Disney World theme parks reopened, Disney Springs became the first major sign that things were beginning to move again. Disney Springs started reopening on May 20, 2020, with a limited number of third-party locations, followed by additional stores and Disney-owned operations in phases.

Disney Springs Bus Station Temperature CHeck

The resort hotels also returned gradually rather than all at once, based on the number of rooms needed. Disney Vacation Club resorts were allowed to open first, which was because those properties involve ownership interests rather than simple hotel bookings. From there, additional Disney resorts reopened over time as demand returned and operations expanded.

Shades of Green remained closed longer and did not reopen until August 12, 2020. Even then, the reopening came with disappointment for many military families, because previously announced room discounts were removed for stays from August 2020 through January 2021.

Walt Disney World Parks Reopened in Phases

The Walt Disney World parks reopened in mid-July 2020:

• Magic Kingdom – July 11, 2020
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom – July 11, 2020
• EPCOT – July 15, 2020
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios – July 15, 2020

But the Walt Disney World that reopened looked very different from the one that had closed in March.

Main Street USA with almost no people and Cinderella Castle with the awful new paint scheme in the background.

There were masks everywhere. Temperature checks before entry. Physical distancing markers all over the ground. Plexiglass barriers in queues and on some attractions. Hand sanitizer stations were everywhere you turned. Transportation options had reduced capacity. Bus and boat seats were blocked off. Monorail cars were split into two with a canvas separator. Standing on Disney buses was not allowed. Dining room tables were spaced out, sharply reducing capacity. Skyliner gondolas were limited to a single travel party. Each park also had an outdoor relaxation station where guests could sit at a table and remove their masks for a while.

WDW Bus Seating Zones

Parades were gone, replaced by character cavalcades. Traditional meet-and-greets disappeared, replaced by characters waving from a distance. Nighttime spectaculars were suspended. Many shows were dark. Character dining was cancelled. And if you wanted a photo on Walt Disney World property, you were required to keep your mask on!

Cavalcades were unannounced, drastically shortened parades with 1 or 2 floats and a few walking dancers. The surprise appearance and short duration prevented large crowds from gathering.

My First Trip Back

My first trip back to Walt Disney World after the closure was during the last week of August 2020 into the first week of September. It was one of the strangest and most memorable trips I have ever taken there.

The first thing I noticed was how wonderfully empty the parks were!

I have photos from that trip all over Walt Disney World with almost no one in them. Not “low crowds” by normal standards. I mean genuinely empty-looking walkways and sightlines that you just do not see at Walt Disney World. For a Disney fan used to navigating packed pathways, this part was amazing. There were views of the parks that felt almost private. Attractions that should have had long waits were close to walk-ons. It was surreal in the best possible way.

EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, November 2014, Noon

Taste of Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2020. Same Location (Monday 11:30 a.m.)

But there was another side to that trip too, and that part was much less magical.

My first trip back to Walt Disney World. There are a huge amount great pics from that time in the post!

The Mask Rules Were Brutal in the Summer Heat

Wearing masks in late August and early September in Orlando was awful. There is really no softer way to say it. With real-feel temperatures around 102 degrees, the heat and humidity were already oppressive. Adding a face covering while walking all day through Walt Disney World made the experience stifling.

The last time I hope to post this pic!

At one point, I had my mask pulled down while walking outdoors with no one anywhere near me, easily 50 feet away in any direction, and I still got yelled at by a cast member. That moment captured a lot of what was frustrating about the rules. Outside, in the open air, with no one around, the requirement remained absolute. Yet once you sat down in a restaurant, the mask could come off. Apparently, the dining location provided magical protection against the supposed threat.

That inconsistency made many of the policies feel performative rather than sensible. Looking back now, and frankly, even at the time, for many of us, a lot of these precautions simply did not hold up to common sense or real science (real science vs propaganda). Masks in oppressive heat outdoors, repeated temperature checks, rigid distancing rules in one setting but not another, and other highly visible measures often felt more theatrical than medically sound.

Temperature Checks Became Part of the Routine

Another frustrating part of visiting Walt Disney World during reopening was how often you had to deal with temperature screening. It was not just a one-time inconvenience. Depending on where you went and how you moved around property, it could become something you dealt with multiple times in a day.

Theme Park Temperature Check Station

Universal Orlando handled this much better. Universal performed a single temperature check per day and then issued a daily, rotating-color wristband to show that you had already been screened. Universal also reopened earlier, never required park reservations, and dropped masks sooner than Disney did.

The Crowd Was Different Too

One of the most noticeable differences during that first return trip was the complete change in who was visiting Walt Disney World. At first, the crowd mix was not at all normal.

There were no local guests and no international guests in any meaningful numbers, and you could hear that difference everywhere you walked. One of the subtle but unmistakable things missing was the usual amount of Spanish heard throughout the parks. When the parks first opened, they were only open to on-site guests; the parking lots were closed!

The normal blend of guests simply was not there yet, and that added to the strange feeling of the whole experience, but this time for the better.

The Quietest Walt Disney World Most of Us Will Ever See

There was something eerie about Walt Disney World in that period, but there was also something fascinating about it. Walkways that normally felt shoulder to shoulder were open and quiet. Sightlines were unobstructed. The parks felt physically bigger because they were not packed with people.

For longtime visitors, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Walt Disney World in a form that will probably never happen again. The photos from that time almost do not look real. They look like staged publicity shots, except they were not. They were simply what the parks looked like when tourism, international travel, local park-goers, and normal operations all collapsed at once.

What Was Created During the Reopening Era

One of the easiest ways to understand how much changed is to look at what Disney introduced during that period. Some of these things disappeared as soon as normal operations started returning. Others are still with us today in one form or another.

What Went Away, and Whether It Ever Came Back

Just as important as what Disney added was what disappeared. Some of these offerings eventually returned. Some came back in altered form. A few are still gone.

How the Shutdown Affected Military Travelers

For military families, the shutdown and reopening period brought an additional layer of confusion and frustration. Travel planning was already complicated enough, and then many of the military-specific Disney systems started changing too.

Disney Armed Forces Salute ticket sales paused for a period, and there were multiple updates on refunds, expiration dates, and extensions. Many families who had already bought tickets suddenly had trips they could not take. Disney eventually extended expiration dates into 2021, but the process was not especially simple, and there were several rounds of updates along the way.

Shades of Green also paused Disney World ticket sales during the closure. When Shades finally reopened on August 12, 2020, the news was mixed. The resort was back, but a number of previously offered room discounts disappeared through January 2021. That included promotional discounts, package deals, and the Survivors’ Family Program offer.

For many service members, there was yet another issue on top of all of that: military travel restrictions. Even once Walt Disney World reopened, many in the military community still could not travel freely due to duty requirements, policy limits, or broader uncertainty.

In other words, the parks’ reopening did not mean military vacations immediately returned to normal.

A Timeline of the Shutdown and Recovery

Looking back, the easiest way to see how drawn out this entire period was is to lay out the major milestones in order.

Military Disney Tips Coverage of the 2020 Walt Disney World Shutdown

As the situation unfolded in 2020 and 2021, Military Disney Tips covered the shutdown, reopening plans, and the impact on military travelers in real time. The posts below document how events developed and how policies affecting military families changed throughout the closure and reopening period.

• Disney’s U.S. Parks to Close
• Shades of Green’s Official 2020 Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Policy for Cancelled Trips
• Disney Springs Set to Reopen
• Disney Extending Expiration Dates on Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets
• Update: Disney ITT Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Refund Policy
• 2020 Disney World Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Extension Update
• Walt Disney World Re-Opening Military FAQ
• Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Sales Have Resumed
• 2020 Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts Are Back
• 2020 Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Refund Cutoff Date
• Shades of Green Reopens at Walt Disney World
• Our Return to Walt Disney World
• Our Second Trip Back to Walt Disney World
• Our Third Trip Back to Walt Disney World
• Planning and Executing Your Walt Disney World Vacation During These Trying Times
• Orange County, Florida Ending All COVID Measures

These posts capture the timeline of how Walt Disney World closed, reopened, and gradually returned to normal operations.

Looking Back on It Now

It is still a strange period to think about, and honestly, one many of us would rather forget. At the time, there was constant uncertainty, changing rules, and a lot of frustration. Some of the policies were annoying. Some were inconsistent. Some, in my view, were outright ridiculous. And yet, at the same time, there was something unforgettable about seeing Walt Disney World that empty.

Those nearly deserted parks, the odd quiet, the altered entertainment, the distanced characters, the empty buses, the mask break stations, the temperature checks, and the complete change in crowd patterns all combined to create an experience that was unlike anything Disney fans had ever seen before.

Eventually, the parks came back to life. Fireworks returned. Crowds came back. Entertainment reappeared. Characters got closer again. The noise and energy of Walt Disney World returned.

But for a brief window, Walt Disney World became something it had never been before: nearly silent, strangely empty, and historically unique.

And if you were there during that period, you probably have some remarkable photos to prove it.

Do you have memories of this time at Disney? Share them in the comment section below!

• Back to Basics Posts - A great place to start, offering basic topics!
• Disney Veteran & Military Discount Eligibility Guide
• The Military Family’s Walt Disney World Comprehensive Vacation Planning and Preparation Guide 
• Military Disney Tips Disney Packing Checklist 
• Disney Military Tickets – Your Start-to-Finish Guide

• Resorts/Hotel Overview Page
• Dining Overview Page
• Transportation Overview Page
• Technology Overview Page
• Shades of Green, WDW’s Military-Only Resort

The Mouse Experts is a travel booking company specializing in Disney vacations. Military family owned and operated! They know all the ins and outs of Disney military discounts!