The COVID-19 coronavirus has had a drastic impact on basically every business across the globe as stay-at-home orders keep consumers stuck inside their houses and emerging only for essential goods. Back in early March, Disney joined the ranks of companies forced to shut things down, opting to close their popular theme parks across the world in an attempt to help mitigate the spread of the virus.
Following the limited reopening of Universal Orlando Resort on June 5th, Disney World has announced that it, too, intends to reopen soon. The company revealed its plans to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force this morning, stating that the goal is to reopen its Orlando parks starting on July 11th. Both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will open that day, though Epcot and Hollywood Studios will wait a few more days to July 15th. The task force voted unanimously in support of Disney’s proposal, so it’s almost guaranteed the company will follow through.
Meanwhile, other major theme parks and similar businesses have announced their own reopening dates – Six Flags will open its first park to the public on June 5th, while Sea World will resume business on June 11th. With Disney’s parks being considerably larger and more expansive, it’s clear that their later opening date is likely the result of more time needed to plan and prepare.
COVID-19 has now infected over 5.6 million people worldwide and has reached a staggering death toll of 351,000. The United States remains the epicenter of the virus with 1.72 million cases and just over 100,000 deaths, but it hasn’t stopped many governors from reopening their economies and easing up significantly on stay-at-home orders. It’s yet to be seen how tourist locations like Disney World will fare as they begin to resume business, but let’s hope the choice to welcome people back won’t result in increased cases of the virus.