Orange County

‘We’re ready for this new world’: Walt Disney World reopens two parks amid pandemic

BAY LAKE, Fla. — “The Most Magical Place on Earth” reopened this weekend.

Two Walt Disney World parks are back open after they shut down in March due to the pandemic.

On Saturday morning, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopened to the public. Earlier this week, the parks were opened for cast member and passholder previews.

Read: As Disney parks begin to reopen, some furloughed cast members still waiting to head back

“In these unique times we’ve evolved, became more flexible, and I think we’re ready for this new world we’ve stepped into,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products.

Temperature checks, physical distancing and enhanced cleaning will be part of the parks plan to maintain a safe place for guests.

The parks also introduced new metal detectors to limit bag searches, and to enter the park, your pass or magic band will be scanned, with no need to for a finger print.

Cast members will be wearing masks and some will even have face shields if they are working closely with guests.

Read: Walt Disney World releases list of safety precautions ahead of reopening

In order to enter the parks, guests must make reservations.

Reservations can be made using a My Disney Experience account with a valid theme park ticket or annual pass linked to the account. Hotel reservations should also be linked to it beforehand.

For now, guests will only be allowed to select one park per day. Disney said they hope to bring back the multi-park tickets in 2021.

In addition, the resort stated it will implement temperature checks at the gate. Anyone in a party who has a temperature of 100.4 or higher will not be admitted along with the rest of their party.

Read: 2 Walt Disney World annual passholders file lawsuit after billing error

EPCOT and Hollywood Studios will reopen on July 15.

Click here to see the entire list of the new safety measures in place.

Katlyn Brieskorn, WFTV.com

Katlyn Brieskorn is a Digital Assignment Editor at WFTV. She joined Channel 9 in July 2019.

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