Disney plans to reduce hours of operations of its Disney World resorts due to low number of guests.
Updated hours of operation
Disney World announced that starting September 8, day after the Labor Day, it will be cutting back visiting hours for its four theme parks. This decision was made following news of the House of Mouse losing $2 billion because of the pandemic-caused shutdowns of its parks.
Among the parks affected by the decision are Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios parks will be reduced by one hour in operations cutting at the end of the day. The remaining two will see two hours less, with Epcot finishing two hours earlier and Animal Kingdom cutting an hour from both morning and day’s end, per USA Today.
This updated schedule can be viewed on their website. But for references, here are the revised hours:
Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 6 pm | Epcot: 11 am to 7 pm | Hollywood Studios: 10 am to 7 pm | Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 5 pm
Travel restriction
With the coronavirus cases continuing to rise in Florida, Disney reopened its parks one month ago after shutting them down last March as the coronavirus outbreak emerged in the country.
They said that they missed to hit its expected number of visitors, particularly with guests coming from out of state. Previously, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek, reasoned out that the drop in long-distance travel affect their disappointing ticket sales.
The Forbes reported that the governor of Florida last week had lifted travel restrictions for people coming from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Posted by Forbes on Sunday, August 9, 2020
Park situation
The parks are also limiting number of guests in order to prevent massive crowds. They also claimed to have been imposing health protocols among its facilities. Among the measures required from visitors are wearing masks at all times. Reservations should also be made online.
Disney Parks constitute a huge chunk of the studio conglomerate’s overall revenue. Its theme parks are among the most visited resorts globally. However, due to the months-long closing of its theme parks, the Disney Company reportedly loss $5 billion on the second quarter alone (April-June). It also forced them to furlough 100,000 ‘cast members’ on their Florida resort.