Coronavirus and Disney World: Disney-owned hotels, shops to close

As the last guests left Disney World’s theme parks Sunday night, Disney World announced additional closures in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Beginning Tuesday, March 17, all shopping and dining locations at Disney Springs owned and operated by Disney will close.

“Individual tenants will make decisions on whether to continue or adjust operations,” Disney said on Twitter.

The outbreak will also affect retail operations throughout North America as all Disney Store locations will close the same day.

Effective March 20 at 5 p.m., all Disney World hotels will close. The previous announcement about the theme park closure, issued on March 12, had said those hotels would remain in operation.

This new announcement does not include an estimated date of when the hotels or Disney Springs location will reopen.

While Disney World’s theme parks are currently scheduled to be closed only through the end of March, the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts that timeline in serious doubt.

The CDC is recommending that for the next eight weeks, events that draw crowds of 50 people or more should be canceled or postponed. The guideline does come with the caveat that it does not apply to the day-to-day operation of businesses — raising the question of whether such an exemption could apply to Disney parks, where tens of thousands of guests typically congregate every day.

For reliable information on the COVID-19 virus, please visit CDC.gov or the Florida Department of Health.

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