On Thursday Universal Orlando announced that it would be extending the closure of its parks and City Walk location through at least May 31, 2020. They had previously scheduled to reopen April 18th but with COVID-19 cases still on the rise, the theme park unfortunately had to move the date.

Universal also released that their part-time workers would be furloughed beginning May 3 and all other workers would receive a 20% pay cut starting April 20. Universal will continue to ensure that employees who had benefits previous to the COVID-19 crisis will continue to have them.

Universal Orlando said in a statement , “Taking care of our team members during this difficult and challenging time remains one of our most important priorities. We are working hard to find solutions that also allow us to sustain our business. Our team members will be paid at 100 percent through April 19, but as we enter a more prolonged closure period, we need to take additional measures. Beginning April 20, nearly all our team members will be paid at 80 percent of their pay – and we will ask them to adjust their work accordingly. A small group of team members will be asked to continue working at 100 percent and will continue to be paid at that level. We have also made the difficult decision that we will furlough our part-time hourly workers beginning May 3.”

“All of these team members remain in our thoughts – and, while we don’t yet know when, we look forward to returning them to work one day,” Universal said in the statement.

Proper social distancing continues to be a main strategy in reducing exposure to COVID-19, so at this point it’s clear that theme parks won’t be opening anytime soon. Being a huge supporter of our world famous theme parks, Positively is certainly looking forward to be able to share theme park news with the community once again.