For a lot of people a trip to Walt Disney World is a special vacation, the sort of thing you might do only once, or maybe every few years. However, for others, visiting Walt Disney World is a much more common occurrence. For them, Walt Disney World presents numerous reasons to return to the parks every year, by putting together seasonal events that add new shows and experiences, new food options, and new decorations that can drastically change the atmosphere of the parks. However, one of the most popular seasonal events that tends to draw a lot of people, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, has been officially cancelled for 2020. Other events planned for this year have also been cancelled or modified
Sighting the fact that the major hallmarks of the event, parades, fireworks, and stage shows, all things that draw crowds, won't be safe to hold, Disney has announced that Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party will not take place this year. This is also the case for the H2O Glow Nights events which take place at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park. Those who have already purchased tickets for such events can get refunds.
One very popular event that will be taking place this year is the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, though the event will undergo some changes. First this year's modified event will have a different name, A Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. It will get underway starting July 15, the first day Epcot reopens to the public.
One major element of the festival the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, will not be taking place. The festival will see 20 "global marketplace" additions giving samples of international cuisine. This is down from more than 30 locations in 2019, and it's likely this is to help spread out these locations to allow for better social distancing in the lines.
The removal of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is a clear indication of just how long Disney is preparing for the current limited capacity, socially distant, version of the parks to remain. Parades and fireworks will not be taking place when the park reopens next month, and it looks there's an expectation that will continue at least through October.
If there's a light of hope for the future, it comes in the form, maybe fittingly, of Christmas. Walt Disney World's two major Christmas festivals, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays have not been cancelled, at least not yet. Disney says it's waiting to make a decision on those events, which means there's at least a possibility that they could still happen. If the Christmas events aren't being cancelled there is likely some real belief that things at least could be in a state good enough to have them, at least in a modified form. We'll have to wait and see.
While these changes are specific to Walt Disney World, we can likely expect similar decisions to be made regarding Disneyland Resort. It has a Halloween party of its own that was only going to be in its second year this year, and now is likely to not happen at all.
