October 1st, 2021 will be the start of the 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort. Historically Disney celebrates major milestone anniversaries with a year long celebration so there will be plenty of time for everyone to get to experience it. But for many Disney fans, there's no better way to kick off the 50th Anniversary than being in the heart of the fun on October 1st at the Magic Kingdom!
Walt Disney World could have never predicted 2020 and the current state of the world. With Disney parks having to be shuttered for months all around the world (Disneyland still remains closed at time of publishing) and new policies and procedures in place across the parks it's a much different theme park experience than they would have expected. While all four of Disney's theme parks are open, Disney World is rolling out a phased reopening of their resorts. (Here is a full list of resort reopening dates.) All resorts SHOULD be open by the 50th but you could be left out of the fun if you wait for other resorts to open.
ROOM AVAILABILITY:
With all the changes, Disney put a hold on all new bookings during the heart of the pandemic. Once they reopened bookings, it was only through September 27th, 2021, just shy of the anniversary celebration. Last Thursday, Oct 15th, Disney announced bookings for the remainder of 2021 allowing for guests to lock in their reservations for the festivities. Loyal Disney fans quickly began booking their stay’s and and by 9:20am The Contemporary Resort was already showing no availability for the nights around October 1st. This resort is in high demand given that it is actually only about a 3 minute walk right to the Magic Kingdom. At our last check there were only six remaining Disney Resorts showing room availability for the Oct 1st kick off to the 50th Anniversary.
PARK PASS AVAILABILITY:
To create a bit more fun and chaos into the mix, Disney recently published the Park Pass calendar through early 2022 implying that the reservation system is here to stay for the foreseeable future. There is no way to know what the park capacity will be for October 1st, 2021 but it is almost a guaranty that at least Magic Kingdom will reach capacity on that day. Given that Park Pass Reservations are now required for entry and they are already being booked, it’s possible the park could reach capacity months before the actual date.
Our advice for anyone looking to be a part of the historic 50th Anniversary Celebration: BOOK NOW. Reservations are already filling up fast and if you wait too long, you could miss out. Disney has a very low deposit price to lock in your experience. Only $200 is all that is required to book your next Disney Vacation. As always we recommend our sister company Little Palm Travel to help with your plans. Their services are free to you and they can help you have a hassle free and fun vacation planning experience.