Yesterday we broke the news that Disneyland Paris will be closing once again on October 30th due to a lockdown order within France. Now, the park has announced its operating plans for the foreseeable future.

Disneyland Paris posted the following statement on their website this morning:

In line with latest direction from the French authorities, Disneyland Paris will be closing end of day on October 29th. In anticipation of celebrating the Christmas holiday season we will be taking reservations from December 19 – January 3 and hope to be open based on prevailing conditions and government guidance at that time. Disneyland Paris will be closed from January 4 through February 12. Please check back on the website for regular updates. If you have a booking with us during the above-mentioned periods, please check here for our latest commercial conditions.

We thank you for your continued loyalty and understanding during this difficult period.

Disneyland Paris will aim to reopen ahead of the lucrative holiday season on December 19th through January 3rd, but this may change as the situation evolves in France. Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a lockdown until December 1st across France as cases spiked as high as 50,000 new cases per day last weekend. Disneyland Paris is now the second resort to re-close, with Hong Kong Disneyland closed from June through September due to a surge in COVID-19 in the city.

Disneyland Paris President Natacha Rafalski sent the following email to all Disneyland Paris Cast Members:

Good morning everyone,

I apologize that I cannot be with you to deliver this by video message or in person, but I wanted to prioritize getting this information to you as quickly as possible.

By now you have probably seen the updates from President Macron’s address last night, where he outlined the government’s confinement plan which will directly impact many businesses, including ours.

In line with the latest direction from French authorities, it is with a heavy heart that I share with you that Disneyland Paris will be closing close [sic] at the end of the day today, October 29.
In anticipation of celebrating the Christmas holiday season we will be taking reservations from December 19, 2020 – January 3, 2021 and hope to be open based on prevailing conditions and government guidance at that time. Disneyland Paris will be closed from January 4 through February 12, 2021.

I want to acknowledge how heartbreaking this news is for each and every one of us and certainly for our Guests, especially after a period of such great momentum and Guest satisfaction.

Since we reopened in July and especially during the recent holidays, we have seen fantastic feedback on the Guest experience. Together, we have reimagined the Guest experience and delivered on outstanding product whether in our hotels, our Parks, or Disney Village. And the Halloween season illustrates our relentless creativity on reimagining the experience, including incredible decor, theming, and our fantastic selfie spots. You have all worked so hard to create an amazing environment for our Guests and myself and your leadership team could not be prouder of all that you have accomplished, delivering an incredible Guest experience while also ensuring that our health and safety measures are followed every day.

As we temporarily close our resort, I want to remind everyone that we had already extended the use of Partial Unemployment through the end of December and we will meet in the coming weeks our CSE members and Union members to extend it to early 2021.

I am sure you will have many questions. For now, I encourage you to please report to work as initially scheduled or continue to work from home and your leader will reach out to you shortly to provide you with additional information. Any Cast Members with a change in status will be informed by a notification in their electronic HR safe. This may take us through the end of next week to notify you so please bear with us as we manage the closure of the resort and the planning for the closure.

We remain focused on the long-term business and along with the unions, we are committed to creating the best path forward for our Cast, our Guests, and the destination. We are an exceptionally resilient company and I remain confident in our future. The last couple of weeks of the Toussaint vacation have demonstrated that our Guests want to come to our resort, even during this complicated period. That leaves me extremely hopeful and positive about how we will rebound coming out of this crisis. Each of you continues to be critical to our success.

Whether or not the resort reopens for the holidays, Disneyland Paris will be closed from January 4th through February 12th. The two parks had already been operating under reduced hours since September, with Walt Disney Studios Park only open five hours a day. Disneyland Park was closing at 6:00 PM on most days and 8:00 PM on Saturdays. Disney Village was open from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM daily.

Disneyland Paris previously closed March 15 and reopened July 15, on about the same timeline as Walt Disney World in the United States.

Stay tuned to WDWNT as this story develops.

Spencer Lloyd