Coronavirus: Disney World halts passholder payments while parks are closed; some refunds in store

Walt Disney World passholders whose trips to The Place Where Dreams Come True are halted due to the coronvirus will see their payments refunded or waived through the parks' closure.

The parks closed March 15, and for now are shuttered indefinitely. Information on the WDW website and app shares that those on monthly payment plans will see refunds for payments made March 14 through April 4, with future payments halted until the parks reopen. Those who've paid for a year in advance can choose a partial refund or extend passes while the parks are closed. New expiration dates will updated on passholder accounts before the parks reopen, officials said.

All passholders will be receiving more details soon, the park states, including information on refunds. 

More:Parkgoers seek magic and memories before Walt Disney World temporarily closes due to coronavirus

A statement on the Disney World website states:

"Our Annual Passholders are some of our most loyal guests, and we are available to help them during this incredibly uncertain time."

In addition, Disney will furlough its non-union park employees starting April 19.

“Disney employees have received full pay and benefits during this time, and we’ve committed to paying them through April 18, for a total of five additional weeks of compensation,” an April 2 statement said.

“However, with no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses, we’re forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.”

Disney fans on several Facebook pages dedicated to passholders and other social media have questioned their payment status for weeks, many expressing anger over having no word until now about their status.

That's not the case for Carolyn Perrine of Melbourne, a passholder for most of the past 18 years. She's just looking forward to the reopening. She, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend are frequent park visitors, and are gauging their response to the park's move so that all will, down the road, have passes that are good at the same time.

She's moved by Disney's donation of 150,000 rain ponchos to MedShare, a humanitarian aid organization, for distribution to hospitals in need, according to the Disney Parks Blog. Disney Parks also recently donated 100,000 N95 masks in New York, California and Florida,

And Perrine, who goes to the parks at least once or twice a week and gets in about 25,000 steps, is still getting a sort of Disney fix during the downtime.

 "I'm using the ellipitical now while watching videos from Disney," she said, laughing.

For information on annual pass status and refunds: 407-WDW-PASS or 407-939-7277.

Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly

Want more news? Support local journalism and become a subscriber.