Disney plans to reopen parks beginning July 11
Looks like a lot of people are about to get a whole lot happier.
Disney announced Wednesday it is hoping to reopen all four of its parks — the Happiest Place on Earth — in Orlando, Fla., by mid-July, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The phased reopening would begin July 11 with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, followed by the reopenings of Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15.
The Sentinel reports Disney, along with Sea World, presented plans to Orange County’s Economic Recovery Task Force, which had been set up by Mayor Jerry Demings.
Sea World said it hopes to relaunch even sooner — on June 11.
Both parks would need approval from Orange County and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before they could reopen.
The parks said guests and employees would be required to wear masks and have their temperatures checked. Both parks would enforce social distancing and encourage frequent hand washing.
Both Disney World and Sea World have been shut down for 10 weeks as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, Universal Studios announced it had approval to reopen its theme parks — Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and Universal’s Volcano Bay — on June 5.
Chris Pastrick is a TribLive digital producer. An Allegheny County native, he began working for the Valley News Dispatch in 1993 and joined the Trib in 1997. He can be reached at cpastrick@triblive.com.
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