Disney World Takes 1st Step Toward Reopening Parks, Resort

D'Ann Lawrence White
Updated ·4 min read

ORLANDO, FL — Florida's major theme parks moved one step closer to reopening after submitting plans Thursday to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force outlining ways to protect visitors and staff from the coronavirus.

The plans will be submitted to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for final approval.

Anxious to revive Florida's top industry — tourism — DeSantis encouraged park operators to submit reopening plans. The theme parks have been closed since mid-March.

"They have to provide how they're going to do it, how they're going to accommodate the guests, how they're going to protect the staff…" DeSantis said. "My goal in all this is let's keep safety first, but let's work and innovate to get to 'yes' on this stuff."

In response, Florida's big three — Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando— submitted multi-phased plans to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force. Headed by Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings, the task force includes nearly 50 representatives of hospitals, theme parks, financial institutions, hotels, small businesses, nonprofit economic development agencies and officials from Orange, Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties.

Since it began meeting in April, the task force has been discussing a phased approach to reopening the Central Florida theme parks. Among the recommendations is to open the theme parks at 50 percent capacity and then increase to 75 percent in a second phase.

Proposals also include mandatory face masks and daily temperature checks for employees, touchless hand sanitizer stations at ticketing turnstiles and ride entries and exits, and regular disinfecting of railings and other frequently touched surfaces.

Due to the size of the major theme parks and the millions of visitors they attract from around the world (Last year, Walt Disney World had 58 million visitors.), DeSantis said the reopening of theme parks will be a slower process than the reopening of zoos, aquariums and smaller attractions throughout the state, many of which are already open.

The theme parks must first receive approval for their reopening plans from local jurisdictions before they can be submitted to the state.

Disney World, for example, lies within the jurisdictions of two cities— Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista — as well as Orange County. SeaWorld Orlando also owns Busch Gardens, located in Tampa. To reopen, Busch Gardens would need the approval of the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County.

With this process, DeSantis said he doesn't anticipate seeing any of the theme parks open before June.

"When you open a theme park, it's not like you can just flip a switch and three days later do it. Now they're going to need a lot of runway to be able to know a date certain," DeSantis said. "So I'm not saying this is going to happen tomorrow. But I think it is prudent to solicit these plans so that we know the direction that we're going."

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After losing an estimated $1.4 billion during the coronavirus closures, according to the Wall Street Journal, Disney began a phased reopening of Shanghai Disneyland on May 11. Disney officials said it will serve as a model for reopening its other theme parks.

Currently, all other Disney theme parks, water parks, the Disney Resort hotels at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Disney's Vero Beach Resort and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort remain closed. This includes the Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando, Disneyland and California Adventure Park in California, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studio Park in Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.

"We’re looking at all of our locations and how best to begin the reopening process, including a gradual reopening and/or partial reopening of certain locations," said Dr. Pam Hymel, Disney Parks chief medical officer, in a letter on the Disney website. "For example, the opening of retail and dining locations prior to the opening of our theme parks."

On Wednesday, Disney World began a phased reopening of some of its shops and restaurants at Disney Springs. The World of Disney store in Disney Springs is scheduled to open on May 27.

"As you can imagine, managing guest density in queues, restaurants, hotels, ride vehicles and other facilities throughout the park and across the resort is a major focus as we implement physical distancing guidelines based on guidance from health authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and appropriate government agencies," said Hymel.

"This will likely include implementation of guest capacity measures to comply with state and federal guidelines," she said. "We’re also exploring ways to use technology to aid us in these efforts, like with our Play Disney Parks App and through virtual queues at Disneyland and Walt Disney World."

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This article originally appeared on the Orlando Patch