Chief Of Disney Parks Ask For Help In Its Reopening
As the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rage around the world, multiple industries continue to feel the economic effects it has brought about. The entertainment industry in general and the theme industry in particular are industries still struggling with the new normal.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products chairman Josh D’Amaro has appealed to California Governor Gavin Newsom that they need help in reopening their parks through guidelines that are “fair and equitable.”
D’Amaro made the plea while doing a webcast updating stakeholders on the parks’ operations. He emphasized that keeping the parks closer for any longer would only be more damaging economically to not just the local employees but furloughed employees as well.
The Parks, Experiences, and Products chairman also held up Disney World in Florida as an example of the company’s capability to reopen a theme park while adhering to any health and safety measures the state may require of them.
There have already been a number of health and safety measures implemented at Disney World, such as shortening park operating hours. The shortened hours were implemented a month after the theme park reopened.
The shortened hours were also an additional measure added to ones the theme park already had in place. Disinfection and sanitation protocols were put in place when the park was reopened, as well as an increase in handwashing stations. Visitors and staff were required to undergo temperature checks.
Disney World also limited the amount of people that could be let in the park and also suspended meet-and-greets and parades. Theme park visitors are also prohibited from eating and walking, as some had been using it as a loophole to not wear masks inside the park.
Getting theme parks to reopen is important to Disney as a lot of the company’s revenue comes from them. Disney’s theme park division has already lost $3.5 bullion this year due to park closures brought about by the global coronavirus pandemic.
As Deadline points out, even Disney’s competitors in the theme park industry are feeling the pinch. Brian Roberts, the CEO of Comcast, told investors that 70 percent of the hit they took from COVID-19 comes from the closure of Universal theme parks.
The Universal Studios theme park in California remains closed, while theme parks in Orlando and Osaka are only operating at 25 percent capacity.
Whether things will get better for the theme park industry depends on the state of the global coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Health Organization’s Sept. 22 COVID-19 dashboard, there are now 31,174,627 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. Deaths casued by COVID-19 are now at 962,613 people.