Across the nation, theme parks have been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Orlando is the theme park capitol of America and it’s been over two months since anyone has visited Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando, or SeaWorld Orlando. Even though businesses are beginning to return in phased openings, the Orange County Mayor doesn’t expect Central Florida’s theme parks to reopen until at least June.
During a recent coronavirus update, Governor Ron DeSantis made the announcement of how Florida will enter a “full phase one” by Monday, May 18th. Theme park organizations can start submitting their plans on that day. To clarify, those plans must include a date for when theme parks reopen, guidelines to keep both employees and guests safe, and an endorsement from an appropriate elected official.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is able to provide such an endorsement, however, he revealed how he hasn’t received any reopening plans from Disney, Universal, or SeaWorld. He did say that theme parks could be permitted to reopen during the second phase, but there’s no scheduled date for when phase two will begin in Florida. Orange County Major Demings went on to say the following:
“Suffice it to say, they’re looking at later dates to reopen and I believe what we can expect or anticipate in our community is a measured reopening. They will likely start with smaller business units, maybe hotels and resort-type areas before the major, massive theme parks themselves will reopen but in any case I suspect that that is going to be, clearly, some time in June or thereafter before that occurs.”
Source: Click Orlando
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