Walt Disney World And Universal Studios Florida Give Official Updates On Reopening Of Parks After Irma

Hurricane Irma has now made her way through virtually all of Florida and passed by the theme parks of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida. Both parks remained closed on Monday, but when will they reopen? Guests have been waiting to hear the news that everything was all right at their favorite vacation destinations, as pictures of damage popped up on social media. As the day went on, though, the safety assessment was made and Disney has now revealed when its parks are set to open back up.

Not long after Walt Disney World decided to open its doors, Universal Studios Florida also made their announcement.

Around 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday, the official website of Walt Disney World updated their park operating hours and revealed parks would be opening back up on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. Now, not all of the parks are going to open back up on Tuesday, but that is also due to some cast members who evacuated due to the storm and Disney being a little short-staffed.

Still, they want guests to have a great time and that is why the four main theme parks and Disney Springs will reopen on Tuesday morning. Both of Disney’s water parks are going to remain closed, at least until Wednesday before reopening their doors.

On Monday afternoon, guests in Walt Disney World Resort hotels received this new message on their TVs. It does detail that “Theme Parks and Disney Springs are closed today and will be open tomorrow (Sept. 12). Water Parks will remain closed.”

As of now, the hours of operation for Walt Disney World on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, will be:

• Magic Kingdom: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. with Extra Magic Hours of 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.; Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party will take place from 7 p.m. – Midnight
• Epcot: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. with Extra Magic Hours of 9 p.m. – 11 p.m.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Typhoon Lagoon: Closed
• Blizzard Beach: Closed
• Disney Springs: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.

Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both have operating hours beginning again on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017.

Later on Monday afternoon, Universal Studios Florida announced on their official website that they would be reopening on Tuesday as well.

“Our destination saw relatively minor damage overnight involving fences, trees, signage and building facades. We are hard at work inside our parks and we can confirm an on-time opening for Tuesday, Sept 12 at 9 a.m. for Universal Studios, Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal’s Volcano Bay. “

There is still no official word on the reopening of the Orlando airports as of this writing, but an announcement of some kind is expected on Monday.

It appears as if both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida made it through Hurricane Irma without much damage or destruction. All morning and afternoon, the two theme park giants made their safety rounds to assess everything and to make sure all was good for their guests to return to the parks. Now, we know all is well and everyone can go have some fun to get their minds off of things on Tuesday.

[Featured Image by Danny Cox]