On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. On March 12, Disney Parks announced that it would be closing Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida. It would be the first time since opening that either park was closed for any outside, non-weather reasons for more than 24 hours.
Four months later, on July 11, while the country’s COVID-19 infection rates decreased but Florida’s grew, Disney World opened its doors again. Not all the way, but a good-sized crack. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, two of the seven parks inside the massive entertainment campus, and a handful of the many hotels have reopened, along with select restaurants. Meanwhile, Disneyland in California has decided to wait on reopening, due largely to rising coronavirus rates and delayed guidelines from the State of California.
Visitors to the newly reopened park must wear masks at all times, agree to have their temperature checked at the gates, and sanitize their hands before each ride. No longer are visitors allowed to eat while wandering about. To enforce mask-wearing, food has to be eaten inside socially distanced dining or rest areas.
In addition, kiosks selling photos of visitors on rides will not display or sell pictures of visitors unless they are wearing a mask in them. This is in alignment with the park’s policy of denying riders photos if they are doing something unsafe. Required reservations, online orders and payments, and long lines for limited space in shops are all part of the reopening. Rides are being loaded at greatly reduced capacity or have been altered to reduce crowding and risk.
On July 12, Florida reported more than 15,300 new COVID-19 cases, the nation’s highest day and state yet. Disney World can’t be held accountable for that, since the disease takes several days to manifest, but it’s a dark shadow on the decision to reopen such an obvious venue for infection. On June 10, Disney Hong Kong re-closed after cases in the area began to rise again, and just a few days before, Disneyland California announced that it would be delaying its planned July 17 reopening.
Photo: The gates of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Credit: VIAVAL TOURS / Shutterstock.com