Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando officials have presented their plans to safely re-open their gates later this summer after an unprecedented closure to help society stop the spread of COVID-19.
After a nearly three and four-month closures, SeaWorld, Aquatica, and Discovery Cove wants to open on June 11, with Disney following exactly one month later, as presented to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force Wednesday morning.
Walt Disney World Resort Senior Vice President of Operations Jim MacPhee announced that the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom plan to open July 11. Epcot and Hollywood Studios would open July 15. Guests will need to reserve dates in advance for their visits.
Both parks plan to have increased sanitation and other protocols in place to protect guests and employees.
The plans from both parks will need to be endorsed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, then sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his final approval before any re-opening can begin, but every attraction in our area that has applied has gotten both seals of approval thus far.
“The virus is still active among us. As we re-open we must still balancing these safety considerations,” Demings said. “We need to be sure we reopen businesses in a clean, safe manner.”
All parks will require guests and employees to wear face coverings, parks will have signage detailing social distancing and many new handwashing and sanitizing stations. John Weiss, Director of Planning and Environmental Development Services said officials have inspected the parks and declared them ready to implement those plans.
This plan offers up about a month of theme park reopenings in our area. Universal Studios has already gotten approved plans to fully open June 5 (next week), so the “Big 3” of them, SeaWorld and Disney would all reopen in about a five-week stretch.
