In a press conference this afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that he has “no doubt” that Walt Disney World will be a “safe environment” when the parks reopen this weekend.
DeSantis said that “we have to have society function” and called Disney’s plan to reopen “very, very through”.
In recent weeks, Florida has become the COVID-19 hotbed of the nation, with daily positivity rates between 9% and 16% over the past two weeks and a high of over 11,000 positive cases just a few days ago.
While Disney World unions have been reluctant to push back on the reopening timeline like Disneyland unions did, the Actors’ Equity Association is holding firm in their refusal of Disney World’s terms to reopen.
“If Disneyland has postponed, it is unclear how Walt Disney World can responsibly move toward reopening when coronavirus cases are much worse in Florida,” said Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association.
As we outlined earlier, this is a busy week for Walt Disney World as they prepare to welcome guests. There will be four days of previews, beginning with Cast Member previews tomorrow. The NBA will also be checking in tomorrow, and the MLS will kick off their tournament on Wednesday. When asked about the circumstances that DeSantis would stop Disney World from reopening, the Governor didn’t answer the question directly.
From Disney’s standpoint, they have no plans to stop the Walt Disney World reopening. Disney World is getting no pushback on their timeline from state or local government, either.
Previously, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger has said that the company is focusing on “data, not dates”. With Disney World plans remaining in place, that would mean that The Walt Disney Company is comfortable with the data.
Meanwhile, other area attractions have been operating for nearly a month now. DeSantis praised Universal Orlando’s reopening operations during the press conference as well.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com for the latest Disney Parks news and photos. We’ll continue to bring you news and photos, where possible, through the Disney Parks closure due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and will resume our normal coverage once the parks reopen to guests on July 11th!
Thanks for the update!
Of course he doesn’t. He and those like him think having 2% or 3% of infected Americans die (and many more left with permanent damage) is an acceptable price to keep a shareholder economy bringing in profits.