Should Disney World Stay Closed?
With rising case numbers in Florida, many readers have been increasingly vocal that it’s too soon for the Walt Disney World theme parks to reopen. In this post, we’ll look at whether opening should be postponed, with the potential pros & cons, plus ramifications of the parks staying closed for now.
As you’re undoubtedly aware, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are set to reopen on July 11, followed by Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15. These reopening dates were set over one month ago, at a time when Florida’s new daily case numbers were at a fraction of their current levels.
This upward trend has prompted one local union and many guests to urge Walt Disney World to remain closed, worrying that the major tourist destination will only exacerbate Florida’s woes. With Disneyland delaying its planned reopening, more have suggested Walt Disney World should follow suit. So…should Walt Disney World stay closed for now?
We’ll be blunt and up-front: we truly do not know. We’re humble enough to admit that, and would likewise suggest the same is true for you. The problems facing Disney and Florida leaders are complex ones, with no easy answers.
Rather than presuming to have the requisite knowledge (we absolutely do not) to address every component of this convoluted issue, we’ll cover a few and analyze those, while clearly acknowledging that there is much more we simply do not know.
Obviously, new daily cases have risen. The Florida Department of Health reported 8,942 new cases last Friday, followed by 9,585 new cases on Saturday. These numbers shattered the previous daily high of 5,508 infections made earlier in the week. This week, numbers have been trending in the right direction, with 6,093 new cases being this week’s high.
Closer to home, Central Florida now has 25,727 cases, up 1,440 from a day earlier. Orange County’s latest heat map shows fewer cases along the tourist corridor (which includes Universal Orlando), with far more in the downtown Orlando area. Nevertheless, we won’t sugarcoat it–that’s still an alarming number of new cases. It’s also exponentially more than when Walt Disney World made the decision to reopen. This alone is sufficient basis for many to believe Walt Disney World is reopening too soon.
However, Florida’s weekly reported deaths have been under 300 for seven weeks in a row. From the week ending April 19 to the week ending May 10, reported deaths were 300 or over.
Moreover, even though over 80% of general and ICU beds are in use at hospitals in Orange and Seminole counties, local health officials say that they are not concerned, as elective surgeries and unrelated emergency procedures have increased in recent weeks. They further state that Central Florida hospitals continue to have enough capacity to handle any potential surges.
There remain a lot of unknowns about what activities are less and more likely to be conducive to spread. As we covered in our recent Best Outdoor Dining at Walt Disney World post, it’s safer to dine al fresco as being outdoors dramatically lowers the risk of transmission. That’s corroborated by this study where only two cases out of 7,000-plus could be traced to outdoor activity.
Public health authorities have identified bars as the locus of outbreaks in a number of states, including in Florida. These have been shown to be super-spreader scenarios for a variety of reasons, and we’re hopeful that Florida’s decision to close all bars after an explosion of cases and widespread non-compliance will further reduce new numbers. As that move was made only a week ago, we really won’t know its effectiveness for another week due to the incubation period.
Research also shows that contaminated surfaces and fleeting encounters are low-risk, whereas sustained person-to-person interactions, crowded events, and poorly ventilated areas are higher risk. This bodes well for constantly-moving and properly-spaced queues (even indoor ones), but not so much for indoor stage shows.
There’s also the reality that Universal Orlando and other Central Florida theme and amusement parks have been open for roughly one month, and we’ve yet to see any outbreaks traced to these parks. In fact, aside from a few isolated cases with connections to (but not causal ones) theme parks, nothing has been traced to them, period. This is despite Florida health officials documenting community spread in the state beginning last December.
This should not be construed as conclusive proof that theme parks are “safe” places to visit right now. To the contrary, the expert consensus is that there are aspects of the theme park experience that are inherently higher-risk for visitors. More importantly, the parks being operational puts thousands of Cast Members who are in regular and direct contact with guests at risk.
The hope is that the enhanced safety standards, health protocol, and operational changes are sufficient to mitigate those risks. However, there are still simply too many unknowns about the efficacy of such measures. Studies and research continue, and our collective knowledge is evolving.
We won’t rehash all of the health and safety measures here as this is already going to be a long post, aside from one: face masks. The science is clear on masks, and they have proven effective in combating spread elsewhere around the globe. (From a purely economic perspective, even Goldman Sachs supports a nationwide mask mandate, asserting that it could substitute for another lockdown and save the economy from a 5% GDP hit.)
Both Japan and Hong Kong have been incredible success stories of the pandemic, despite neither having a coherent government response (both were arguably failures on a governmental level). Even with their denser populations, ubiquitous mass transit, and relatively lax restrictions, both have seen far fewer cases and hospitalizations than other nations. The crucial difference is that both Hong Kong and Japan adopted near-universal masking without any government mandate.
This is relevant because, unlike elsewhere in Florida, Walt Disney World and Universal have face mask policies that are being actively enforced. To be sure, compliance is not 100%, but it’s much better than anywhere else in the Orlando area. We’ve been to both Disney Springs and CityWalk a few times, plus our recent resort stay, and have felt safest at those locations.
Our local Publix has been so bad that we won’t even go back there, as it’s the wild west as compared to compliance at Disney and Universal. With that said, there’s an obvious distinction: grocery stores are an essential necessity, whereas theme parks and other entertainment complexes are not.
However, one of the most compelling reasons for reopening Walt Disney World is its instrumental role in Central Florida’s tourism-dependent economy. We hesitate to even broach this, as there has been a lot of cringe-worthy sentiment about ‘sacrificing grandma for the economy.’ This has caused unnecessary polarization and partisanship, which has done a disservice to the larger conversation.
The reality is that what America faces is a multifaceted problem that is now as much about housing and food insecurity as it is about the pandemic itself. Too much of the surrounding conversation has been myopic and reductionist, completely devoid of nuance, and attempting to offer a simple solution to a complex problem. This can be acutely illustrated by what’s already happening in Central Florida.
Florida’s broken unemployment system has made national headlines, with countless stories of system crashes, denial errors, and non-payments. Officially, more than 771,000 claims have been rejected and over 175,000 claims have yet to be verified, with unemployment in the Orlando area jumping to 22.6%, which is the worst in the state and far above the national average.
Every Floridian undoubtedly knows someone impacted (if they haven’t been affected themselves), and there have been harrowing reports on the local and national news. Before continuing any further, we’d strongly recommend reading ‘We Live From the Tourists’ in the New York Times and Orlando Sentinel’s latest on Florida unemployment. These tell vivid stories of the heart-wrenching human toll. In short, for many Cast Members, Walt Disney World reopening is “essential.”
To be abundantly clear: people should not be forced to choose between their financial and bodily health. There are numerous systemic problems on local, state, and federal levels that need to be fixed. However, as a practical reality, there is no waving a magic wand at this point and solving all of those. We have to play the cards we’re dealt, not the ones we wish we had.
There is little denying that America has failed this moment on multiple levels, including individual ones. While we desperately wish many aspects of this had and would still play out differently, we are realists. Our wishes are not viable realities that can instantaneously be ‘snapped’ into existence. Given that Florida’s unemployment system has not been fixed after four months, there is no reason to believe it’s going to be fixed at this point.
The longer the closure stretches on, the worse the economic fallout. Permanent layoffs have already begun throughout the Central Florida tourism sector. Last week, Universal Orlando laid off a number of employees across various departments. One Disney Springs restaurant operator announced it’s permanently laying off 143 workers. Cirque du Soleil has filed for bankruptcy protection and laid off 95% of its workforce.
While there have been no reports that Walt Disney World has begun its own layoffs, it’s naive to think the same won’t occur there. During the Great Recession, Disney laid off around 1,900 Parks & Resorts employees in a single round. During the previous dot-com bubble burst, Walt Disney World laid off 1,200 to 1,400 employees.
Moreover, Walt Disney World’s actions or inactions reverberate through Central Florida. A wide swath of area businesses are critically dependent upon the tourism Disney drives. Restaurants, hotels, smaller attractions, and more all directly rely on spillover business from Walt Disney World. Myriad others in Mousetown are indirectly tied to Disney.
Walt Disney World is a behemoth in Florida, and many industries rise and fall with Disney. There’s a simple reason all other area business leaders on the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force were so emphatic about Walt Disney World reopening–their futures depend upon it.
Experts widely believe that Central Florida’s tourism industry will take years to fully recover, meaning that these are the opening salvos of widespread layoffs that are inevitable throughout the region. The extent of the industry-wide layoffs depends upon how quickly theme park operators can bounce back and convince the general public it’s safe to plan trips.
Walt Disney World reopening in July isn’t an effort to salvage the summer–it’s about the fall and holiday season. Save for DVC members, Annual Passholders, and diehard fans with existing trips, what’s left of the summer is already a lost cause. No matter when the parks reopen, it’s going to take several months to ramp up operations and even start to return to a semblance of normal and attract tourists back. The greater the delay, the deeper and longer-lasting the wounds.
Ultimately, even this just paints a partial picture. There are no doubt countless other factors and variables, both for and against reopening. And to be abundantly clear, we truly don’t know where we come down on this question. It’s tempting to offer simple solutions to complicated problems, but we’d again caution against that. Frankly, I’m quite thankful to not be one of the Disney or local leaders tasked with the unenviable decisions in front of them. It’s a veritable buffet of least-bad choices. Even equipped with better knowledge, there’s no way of knowing today what unintended consequences will result from any decision.
Finally, we’ll reiterate what we said at the end of “Our Surreal Stay at Walt Disney World” post. While a lot of this likely reads as being pro-reopening, we still would err on the side of not traveling to Florida for vacation right now. (To that point, we are not traveling anywhere.) Even with risk mitigation efforts in the parks & resorts, the fact remains that cases are spiking. Flying to Florida and taking a weeklong Walt Disney World vacation right now is not no-risk or even low-risk. We’d also be incredibly apprehensive about planning a trip for the fall. If you’re an out of state tourist, you can play it safe and take a wait and see view to see how things play out. Such a tentative approach is arguably not as practical for Walt Disney World’s decision-makers when considering the long-term and holistic health of Central Florida.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think–is it too early to reopen, the appropriate time, or do you likewise not feel comfortable offering a definitive answer? Are there additional major factors we’ve failed to consider? Agree or disagree with our assessment? We anticipate this being a controversial topic, but please keep the comments civil. A variety of viewpoints are welcomed here, and comments will not be deleted for their perspective alone. However, we will not tolerate insults, arguing, conspiracy theories, or politically-charged comments. Don’t ruin a 95% fine comment with an unnecessary cheap shot—that 5% will get it deleted. Additionally, please do not incessantly harp on the same point across multiple comments. Respectfully share your opinion and move along.
I think this is so much bigger than whether or not Disney should open on July 11. I have read the research, looked at the numbers , and followed the updates along with everyone else. I think that taking time in the beginning to figure things out was a good idea, but that it has gone on too long. We know who is most vulnerable and what we need to do to protect them. I am not sure how long we can stay shut down as a country and expect to be able to come back to where people have businesses to run and jobs to go back to. This isn’t going away and we can’t stay in our homes indefinitely. Do we wait for a vaccine? What if it doesn’t work? Do we co to us to stay in and wait it out? I think we just need to take precautions for ourselves and live our lives by doing as much as we are comfortable with. In my mind Disney can open when it needs to. Disney is an anchor business for the economy in Florida Without Disney , Florida loses more than just Disney jobs it also loses all of the businesses that people started because of Disney’s success. What happens if all of that doesn’t come back?
Disney is a business. In business, you need to make money.
As a consumer you make a choice.
That’s your right.
As an AP holder I have looked at the data daily in Florida and said,
nope, I’ll pass for now… The risk reward just isn’t there.
Tom, you’re a brave man. 😉 I applaud you taking a risk and writing this post. I agree with everything you said. These are complicated issues and every “solution” presents its own no-win situations. I wish the country would pull together during all of this but it seems, once again, this is more fuel to an already polarized fire. Very disheartening.
I live in a NY county hit *very* hard by Covid-19. Many lives lost, many people who “recovered” but now actually face a long road of health issues (something many don’t talk about) and on the other side, so many families unable to even buy food – losing jobs and businesses. My uncle lost both his job AND his 401k just a few years shy of retiring.
These are very complicated issues, I don’t envy anyone having to make these decisions. I wish we could all pull together instead of tearing each other down. Alas, it seems that is not the road we have chosen.
I understand the anger some of these posters have with the idea of WDW not opening. I get both sides, I really do. After making our own sacrifices and adopting inconveniences since March, I get the major fatigue associated with this. Luckily we, and our family, have our good health. We also haven’t had the responsibility of working in a hospital and caring for the actual humans associated with the numbers we are constantly updated on. Just this afternoon, on a city block in Manhattan, we have young people hanging out on the sidewalks, no masks, drinking their to-go margaritas and socializing. They are tired of being cooped up, we are tired of being cooped up, but it pains me to see that so many states after seeing the disaster that hit NYC and how we have since worked to get this mess under some kind of control, haven’t taken the measures to prevent this happening to their own citizens! They had a two month head start to get it right!!!
So, my rant now aside, I do think WDW should stick with the plan to reopen. We know masks work, contact tracing works, and WDW has implemented so many good mitigation policy structures. I do think we need to adapt to living with this virus now. Places and people that don’t or won’t comply with preventive policies, will be the ones who continue to drag our society further into the depths of this virus, and will inevitably be the ones who miss out when we finally get to the light at the end of this abysmal tunnel.
I want to smoke on a plane if people don’t like it don’t fly. I want to smoke in a restaurant if people don’t like don’t go out to eat. I want to do 70 in a 45 if people don’t like don’t drive. Cannot do those things. You know why because it is for the better. Wear a mask or stay home until this thing is done!
So I had a reservation for Disney Beach Club resort in June which they canceled so I made a new reservation for end of August are they going to be open or are the resorts are going to close again?
Disney is not closing. Major League soccer is there and the NBA is going there. People are going to be a little more than upset if they have 10,000 people there for that and limit other guests.
Exactly right. Nor should it be closing. If the hospitals have no problem handling the serious cases that are coming in which are extremely few then everybody needs to just go about their life and treat this like any other flu. The numbers compared to the regular flu are so similar in terms of actual deaths It’s ridiculous how much people are overreacting. Go compare the numbers on your own and see what I’m talking about. How many people died in your state because of the flu and how many people died in your state because of the Corona virus. keep in mind the Corona virus numbers are way over inflated everywhere because as long as a person has the virus it doesn’t matter what other cause could have contributed to the death it was Corona virus. it doesn’t matter if cancer was involved a car accident was involved or a gun was involved because if somebody was shot and that person died even though the bullet is in his head he died of Coronavirus if he had the virus. That’s all there is.
@Matt:
The NBA and MLS players will NOT, I repeat, NOT be going into the parks and riding “Rise of the Resistance”, “Flight of Passage”, etc. . I just checked WDWNT. It says:
“NBA Players Will Not Be Allowed to Visit Walt Disney World Theme Parks During Resumed Season”
Also, they will be confined to 3 specific resorts, and get tested for COVID NIGHTLY, with the results delivered the following morning. I even read that they will be using a system incorporating Magic Band tech to monitor everyone’s COVID status. Doing that with hundreds of thousands of regular guests is not going to happen. So, nice try, but, no.
Even though Disney World is an innocent victim of the pandemic, it’ll be a bad look for them to open then have to close again as employees get sick and cannot report to work. For such a conservative company, it seems odd that Disney is apparently going against the odds for a successful reopening. The Florida’s governor cavalier attitude regarding “opening” the state too early will come back to haunt him.
Tom, surprised you entered the political arena this deep especially since you closed the comments on the splash mountain refurbishment. There must’ve been some really nasty comments I hope for you to close it down. The ones o saw were not racist or polarizing. Anyhow It’s known that the overwhelming majority of Americans are moderates yet the two extremes seem to have taken over and are ruining us. Your points in this are spot on.
a pandemic is NOT political, nor should anyone make it so. public health is not political.
My opinion. I live here in Florida, I am an AP. I love going to Disney, I miss it. I understand how the tourist industry works and benefits the state. On the other side, of this, people travel to Disney from everywhere, many states, presently are out of control. Having Disney open right now can have a major ripple affect, spreading Covid19 to areas that are showing improvement or making matters
Even worse . You must look at the big picture.
Wow as a Canadian this is just amazing to read about. We have had under 200 cases a day for weeks ( in Ontario pop of 13 million compared to Florida’s 20 million to be fair ) and restaurants ( besides patios) are still doing takeout. Forget amusement parks playgrounds are still off limits. It’s a different world south of the border these days. Whatever side you are on hope everyone stays healthy and we will see you at Disney in 2022 or whenever the border opens up again!
kb, that’s the way things should be done. bars and restaurants are going to wind up being the downfall of any progress we’ve made in the US. that and refusal to wear a simple face covering because it’s been made political.
That’s a great point Carol. When you think about it it’s actually pretty insane that Disney is opening given that people are coming from all over. If the virus needed a proper transmission method to reach untapped susceptible populations, Disney would be it. The chances that face masks will stay on all day, especially in this heat, are minimal. And can we please not forget that this a place designed to attract not just adults, but CHILDREN. Have you ever been around a child??????? Illness spreaders FOR SURE. Bless their little hearts. No, Disney should absolutely not be opening(I canceled my annual passes) and all businesses have a social responsibility not just monetary or else their would be no need for many of the laws we have to ensure that businesses aren’t just making a bunch of money at the detriment of society. Coming from a native Floridian, maybe it’s time for Florida to diversify it’s economy a little further. 1. Do we think this is the last time this pandemic thing is going to happen now?(sorry to mention it but truly?) 2. Isn’t there something about putting your eggs in one basket? 3. People also need to develop more hobbies. Itching to get to Disney…in a pandemic? Come on. I think a big part of our problem during this pandemic is that we’ve trained our whole society for instant gratification and even when all our lives are at risk our need for outside entertainment is outstripping sanity. Cases are going UP in Florida. Case closed.
While I have not read every comment to check on this thought being posted previously, you did ask if we thought you’d missed any “facts”. I was surprised to read how you interjected the lack of surging in reported Covid19 deaths as though that was a sign things are not too bad. Surely you must realize that we have not begun to see the deaths resulting from this most recent increase in cases. Three reasons: 1. death does not occur with a few days or even weeks of cases being reported; 2. reporting of Covid 19 deaths is delayed about a week compared to other deaths (something about reporting being manual!); 3. because the majority of confirmed illness during this spike is a younger group of people, the death toll will like be showing up more vividly in the group (families) that they then infect.
Just thought it was information that should be considered and not an indication that things are holding steady with respect to reported deaths.
You’re assuming people are testing positive the day they get it. They could be 2 weeks into it or not have any symptoms at all. in fact, there is a great chance that the people going on their own and getting tested arent going to become severe due to the length of time they have it vs the length of time it typically takes to get into the hospital.
Matt – fatality rate remains flat.. people are recovering. The actual rate is now something like only .3% fatality and .6% of tested case fatality. That’s what makes it so tough, early media got everyone ramped up and now it’s not easy to come down from that panic. USA is testing at a rate like 10-15X more then worldwide and the positive tests spike directly corresponds with increased testing. This is such a tough issue, I wish Disney well.
Keep it down, until people get adjusted to the new norm and hopefully stop the spread. To many lives of every age are at risk, no one is exempt from coronavirus
Except you’re wrong. If you’re under 50 it has the same case fatality rate as the flu. If you’re under 35, its half the case fatality rate of the flu. It’s really not debatable given statistics coming put of various states.
You do realize that death isn’t the only concern . People are getting permanent organ damage. Brain, heart, kidneys etc are being permanently damaged in some cases due to complications from thus virus. If you want to risk that for you and your family members, just wow
they won’t know the long-term ramifications from covid for decades. they know now of permanent organ damage, but even those who “recover” will be test cases for years to come. the fallout from covid is nowhere near over and no thanks, it’s not something i want any part of in spite of being “low risk”. there have been plenty of low-risk ,young, healthy, active people who have contracted it. the chicago cubs pitching coach, 38 years old and athletic, was knocked down for a month. 30 days in and out of the hospital. no way.
@Belle – how do they even know its long term if its only been around 6 months? That’s quite the supposition to be able to tell “long term damage” when it hasn’t even been a year….
I call that Fear Mongering and Panic Porn.
Kinsley
I call it informed. Try reading up on it. Doctors can recognize permanent or long term damage when they see it. Some could be living with long-term health issues. Head in the sand attitude won’t make the virus go away or it’s ramifications
@Nicki…I don’t think you’re wrong. Here in IL, anyone can go get a test whenever. I had a coworker who got it and wasn’t allowed to come back until testing negative. I know he went 3 times, possibly 4, until he got that negative. So that’s at least 2, maybe 3 positive tests for the same individual. Random aside, he also got an antibody test 2.5 weeks after initial diagnosis that was positive. So if others are doing what he’s doimg, wecould be doue counting. However, estimates indicate probably 90% of positive cases were missed early on, so there are likely loads of people who are positive that never get tested, so it’s probably a wash.
Given that new cases in Florida today are 10,109 with a positive rate of 19.5%, I have to go with the stay closed option.
Cases, not deaths. I am pretty certain that once the antibody test is available, many people have already been exposed to it.
Totally…. C’mon man… No need to open
You do realize that the same people are going and getting tested every single day and different locations don’t you? The test positive rate is accurate but deceptive because the numbers of positive cases are being counted 3, 4, 5 times in some cases for a lot of people. There are many people bragging about this all over the state. I’m really getting annoyed by all the people who lack information or who ignore information and still choose to conclude based on partial understandings or no understanding in some cases.
No theme parks should have opened until phase 3. Despite the so called safe measures put in place, it doesnt catch the asymptomatic cases that could still get in and be spreading the virus to others. Opening the parks right now with the surge in cases is putting all cast members at risk. Risking the health of everyone just to make money is greedy, absurd behavior.
Mithra,
Do you have a reliable source for your bogus claim?
There are many people bragging about this all over the state. I’m really getting annoyed by all the people who lack information or who ignore information and still choose to conclude based on partial understandings or no understanding in some cases.
What? Why would people who test positive keep going to multiple testing sites to get retested?
What are they bragging about? I don’t understand.
Who here was able to see the expedition Everest yeti in its full animation in person?
So many questions.
@ Comfort, I have no personal knowledge of this as I haven’t been tested at all, but the two reasons I would think someone would get tested multiple times if they have already tested positive are, first, to artificially inflate the number of positive cases (which I would assume would be why they were going to multiple sites and bragging?), or second, for less nefarious reasons, they tested positive and want to know when they are negative so it’s safe to go around others. Again, no agenda in my answer, that’s my best guess why someone would get tested repeatedly.
Mithra, whoa whoa whoa,
First, Florida can only test a two hundredth of a percent each day. That is crushingly low. Second, you won’t test positive for SARS-CoV-2 once your body has recovered from the infection. Serology tests for antigens do not get included.
Speculation and armchair scientific analysis aren’t helpful.
Tom – you opened a can of worms with this post. Seems like everyone is a medical expert on here.
Agree Gary!
Of course people need to be safe and practice universal precautions that being said we live in a country that we are free to make our own choices! If you are a high risk individual, if you are afraid to go out stay home but please do not take my rights away! I am an intelligent person who should be allowed to make the right decisions! I promise I will stay away from anyone who is afraid they may get infected! I promise I will wash my hands, wear my mask, cough or sneeze in my arm or a tissue which I will immediately discard but please do not take my rights away! Please do not tell me to stay home!
Dr. Google knows everything!
I believe while the economy did need people to get back to work they should of mandated the people only travel within their own State until the virus is completely gone.
Maybe if the Floridians followed suit like the NY/NJ/CT area followinf these 3 simple things, there wouldn’t be a sudden surge in cases:
1) scrubby, scrubby, scrubby the hands
2) cover de face, INCLUDING de nose
3) alligator-length away
I had a trip planned in August which I just moved to a later date. If things don’t get better, I will be canceling. After seeing the rise in cases in Florida, I support the Cast Members at Disney 100 percent. I’m tired of people saying that if people want to go to Disney and take the risk, they should be able to do so. Those people who go to Disney are putting Cast Members in jeopardy. These Cast Members are forced to come back and risk their lives or get fired from their jobs. Let us support the Cast Members. Without them, our trips in the past would have never been so magical. Keep Disney closed until the covid numbers come down!
Like shut the eff up already. We don’t want it closed. Would you please stop trying to add to crap that’s gone on in 2020. We don’t need people fearing going outside. There are more than enough precautions that have been taken. The economy needs to get back. People need to work. People need to live. Stop screwing around with people’s lives by writing articles like this. too many losers out there that are trying to close everything down all the time. those losers don’t need money because they’re doing just fine working from home. They are selfish and cared about nothing but themselves. they don’t care about the people that need jobs the people that are starving and can’t pay their minimum expenses because they’re out of work. Everything needs to open everywhere. If people can’t deal or people have other fears and they can stay inside and away from society. There’s nothing against that. But nobody should be trying to oppress other people trying to live a normal life. If you’re afraid stay inside. If you’re not afraid have a great life and enjoy yourself.
Disagree. TOTALLY.
who forced you to read it?
I tend to agree
Not sure I read the above article the same way You did… I am a strong supporter of the opening but thought the above was a good summary of issues on both sides. Disney does need to enforce its safety procedures but this is a great chance for a situation that could be higher risk to prove these measures work. If we can get a month into opening and show how Disney is not a major contributor to the spread, regardless of what is happening in the rest of the state/country – that will be the strongest argument yet to keep the opening doubters quiet and focused elsewhere.
I agree. Reopen Disney. People who don’t feel safe can stay at home. If you look at CDCs numbers (these are from yesterday, July 1, 2020), there have been ~112,000 deaths in the United States. Our population in the United States is 328,000,000 which means less than 0.0034% of our population has died from the virus. Survival rate is >99% here. I’ll take my chances.
I’ll take my chances…
AGREE. TOTALLY.
Wow… Angry much… Disney should not open.. c’mon let’s gather thousands of people together is a state that can’t get things under control…. Are u kidding….
Agree!!!!
Don’t know why you don’t get it!! Nobody can live a normal life right now. If you want a normal life, wear a mask and Social distance. If some of you people did this, you’d be able to go back to your normal lives. Me too! This might have been over if the powers-that-be had just enforced this right from the very beginning. Might be too late anyway. Now this could be going on how much longer than it should have been
Bars are closed. I know!! Let’s go Covid-19 text hopping!!! Really?
Amen.
THANKYOU Mithra!
Agreed. Way too much media hype over this virus. 24/7 virus coverage. And yes, it’s serious but we know a lot about who is susceptible and who is not. We know the probability of recovery vs death. There is no cure and maybe we won’t have one so the options are live with it or live in fear. Businesses need to open and people need to work. So choose to work and live or not work and stay home. Your mask and your social distancing is not going to abolish the virus. It’s going to be here for along time.
I agree with Mithra. It’s time to let people live their lives. If you’re afraid to live your life, that’s fine. You’re free to stay home and bubble wrap yourself against the world, but you don’t have the right to impose that on other people.
It’s time to let people decide for themselves whether they want to return to living as normal. We as individuals can decide for ourselves what precautions we want to take against coronavirus.
my heart goes out to the tourism industry whose individual livelihoods have been upended by the pandemic. i get it. but it’s question of public health and safety. when they announced the july date, it seemed like a good timeframe. then this surge happened. opening a tourist mecca in the middle of a state not taking a global pandemic seriously is just a can of worms that shouldn’t be touched right now. interstate travel should have been halted long ago, but surges in some states are just going to drag us all down again.
i live in a sate that thankfully had very stringent procedures from day one, including mask mandates, and we just moved into phase 4 on friday, and our cases are dropping. with phase 4, zoos are allowed to reopen outdoor areas only. as we are members of a local zoo, who this week is open for 25% capacity, members only with timed entry tickets, we are going. even being 25% capacity only, members only, and outdoors only, i am on edge, because of the people who still don’t take this seriously. people who will not bother to put masks back on when within 6ft of someone else, people who will let kids run wild with no regard for the personal space of others, etc. the same story will follow at disney. and disney will be allowing things indoors, which only serves to exacerbate this virus. disney can have every safety procedure it likes in place, but they cannot control individual guest behavior.
i totally get and understand that disney carries florida’s economy. but thanks to a pandemic having been politicized coupled with poor leadership, florida finds itself where it is, and reopening at the planned date is asking for more hardship.
and i don’t think you can base anything off the international parks reopening as any baseline for the US parks. those other countries start with such a higher personal responsibility and common courtesy baseline than the US it’s not even close, they will be able to operate much more safely than US parks simply because of the people.
You can take your masks off at Brookfield if you are socially distancing, so if people don’t listen at Wal-Mart, people aren’t going to listen at the zoo. Kids are going to run wild-they are kids at the zoo. They always have run around at the zoo, so it’s not going to change. Kids are going to be kids at Disney too.
jenna- you miss my point. we’re in the midst of a pandemic where we have been asked to distance ourselves from others, why are you totally ok with parents allowing their kids to run amok? i really don’t care if kids are kids, i will not be allowing mine to run wild because i have respect for others in a time where we are not to be in close contact. i don’t see why that’s so hard for people to understand. whether it’s a zoo, disney, or anywhere, parents need to be in control of their children right now, and if they can’t control them where they are not running near other people, then those are the people who should not be out near others. just because somewhere is open does not mean it is a free-for-all with no rules or courtesies. point back to my comment above that this country is severely lacking in common courtesy for others.
I think you’re missing the point Laura. No one is forcing anyone to do anything. Anyone that doesn’t want to go to Disney doesn’t need to be there. Don’t want to go, don’t go.
It sounds like you live in Illinois like I do, Laura. I’m glad that Florida isn’t run like Illinois or else Disney World wouldn’t stand any chance of reopening this century. At least we in Madison County had the sense to disregard the governor and reopen our county early.
Our local zoo here is thankfully in St. Louis and isn’t subjected to Illinois’s endless lockdown. I hope you enjoy paying membership to a zoo that doesn’t even let you into the indoor exhibits that your membership is paying for while I enjoy the indoor exhibits at our free world class zoo in St. Louis.
Also, halting interstate travel would have been economic suicide to a large swath of your very own state. In my part of Illinois, many of us work in Missouri. Banning intestate travel would have banned our livelihood.
I saw my name and was intrigued, because I didn’t remember being a part of this convo. Because I wasn’t. lol You all may be long gone now. But I will just interject that I have helped over 150 families with their children. That’s over at least 300+ kids over 2+ decades and I will say a lot of families have this thing called “parental denial” going on and, IN FACT, some parents NEVER “learn” to control their children, yet they still go about their day as if it’s okay….just fyi I have also spent 6 days at Disney with a family in January. It was great. They were awesome! 🙂 (I also still have a “comp ticket” available for purchase that never expires and is good during the park pass reservation system…I called Disney and checked it 🙂
NO. Walt Disney World and Disneyland should remain closed until COVID-19 is eradicated. To open these Disney parks, and other brands, is dangerous, irresponsible, greedy and may be deadly. The blood of dying Covid-19 patients who contracted this disease/virus at various theme parks and other venues will be the responsibility of said theme parks, airlines, public events, churches, entertainment venues, restaurants and bars, cruise ships, etc. Despite disclaimers who state that they are NOT responsible for Covid-19 illnesses or deaths traced back to their venues. America is going down the tubes right now and many idiot Americans are not wearing masks and/or social distancing, or isolating. Total irresponsible behavior and selfish as well. It is ludicrous to open any large venues in the middle of the World’s most deadly virus. Shame on Disney and others for even considering to do so right now.
I meant to say, YES, Disney World should remain CLOSED until the virus is eradicated.
COVID may never be eradicated. Or it could disappear next week. No one knows so your answer is to possibly wait forever? Boy, am I glad the people of 1918 didn’t go WITH THAT! Where would we be today?
While I personally won’t be going anytime soon, and I wouldn’t recommend that people go out of their way to go, I think it is possible to open somewhat safely even if cases are going up again. The problem in a lot of the places with skyrocketing infection/death rates is that many people took their reopenings as a sign that they could go right back to normal, not wearing masks, dropping social distancing, crowding into bars, etc.
As has been noted, while it still increases risks, Universal has managed to do a good job at re-opening in a relatively safe way and has done so by strictly enforcing masks, social distancing and drastically reducing capacity. On the other hand, far fewer people travel solely to go to Universal than Disney and most out-of-state visitors go there in conjunction with a WDW trip, which means that the additional risk posed by Universal has mostly been limited to local guests for whom a day at Universal was more-or-less as risky as going to their local grocery store (probably less based on Tom’s reporting. I do think it certainly is possible for Disney to open safely, but the fact that it attracts many more out-of-state guests who could either be coming from an area even more impacted by COVID than Central Florida or who could risk taking COVID back to communities where its more under control needs to be considered.
At the end of the day, I’m not opposed to Disney re-opening for now. It obviously remains to be seen whether they will be able to maintain the vigorous mask enforcement Tom and others have seen recently when there are a lot more people to deal with and we still have no idea how much they are reducing capacity at the parks. If they are able to enforce social distancing and mask wearing and park capacities are held low enough to reduce crowding, then it should probably be OK (albeit still riskier than staying closed). I think the key is that Disney is going to have to be willing to be flexible and revise policies that aren’t working/reduce capacity/rethink how queues work, if necessary, and be absolutely willing to shut the parks down again if things don’t go as planned or COVID gets even worse in Florida.
Is it really worth getting sick over a ride. Waiting in line for an hour! Not really especially kids getting Kawasaki virus now. Not worth my families health. We all want for places to open. Do it too fast and numbers rise. People do not seem to social distance or wear a mask!! People need to work yes but people need their health to live! No negativity please.