Orange County stay-at-home mandate will keep Disney World closed through at least mid-April

UPDATE: Osceola County the afternoon of March 25 issued a stay-at-home mandate matching Orange County’s closure.

Disney World is expected to chime in soon that it will extend its closure now that Orange County has issued a stay-at-home mandate through April 9. Universal Studios has already stated that it has expanded its closure through April 19.

Orange County, where a large portion of the park is located, the other is Osceola County, has issued a shelter-in-place order that goes into effect March 26 at 11 p.m and extending through April 9. This is an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19.

During this time all non-essential activities are prohibited.

Disney World has previously stated that its resort would remain closed through April 1. But that timetable was always been in question once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on March 15 that no gatherings of 50 or more take place in the U.S. for eight weeks. That would have given the earliest opening for Disney as mid-May.

According to WDWNT.com, Disney sent an internal email instructing its Florida-based Cast Members at Walt Disney World and beyond to follow the stay-at-home mandate that was recently issued earlier today for Orange County. 

While Disney has not yet made any official announcements, it has altered its cancellation policy stating that all Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through June 30, 2020, are waived.