The world’s most popular theme park destination continues to lay the groundwork for reopening. Part of Disney’s strategy is making it abundantly clear visitors will assume all risks of COVID-19 when they enter its properties. Disney recently updated disclosure and liability statements online for the company’s various theme parks.
What is not known at this time is whether disclosure and liability signs will be posted around the properties as reminders to guests. Disney’s theme park experiences are designed as escapes from reality, but the COVID-19 reality is something that can’t be kept hidden. Witness how Shanghai Disney reopened: temperature screenings before entering the park, social distancing line markers, cast members and guests required to wear medical masks, no kids hugging their favorite characters-even some characters wearing medical masks-, social distancing at theme park restaurants, and numerous hand sanitizing stations throughout the park. As Florida enters full phase one of reopening, will theme parks be included in the next phase? Governor Ron DeSantis recently asked theme parks to submit reopening plans for his team to consider. Florida’s theme park industry helps drive the state’s economy. Millions of dollars in state tax revenue are lost every day the industry is shut down.
Now that the Disney Springs and Universal CityWalk restaurant, shopping, and entertainment districts are reopening with limited operations, will the theme parks be far behind? Disney has just started taking reservations at its resort hotels for visitors beginning July 1. That could be a sign the theme parks might reopen for the July 4th holiday. Will families feel safe to return? With skyrocketing unemployment, how many families can afford an expensive Disney visit or vacation? What will the new normal look like and how much of the magical experience will be lost moving forward? Not so happy times for the Happiest Place On Earth.
