Florida Governor Says Theme Parks Can Now Submit Reopening Plans

in Disney, Theme Parks, Walt Disney World

Ron DeSantis Magic Kingdom

Credit: Wikipedia/Disney

In a statement by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday, he gave the Central Florida theme parks such as those found at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando the go ahead to submit their plans to the state for reopening.

“They have to provide how they are going to do it, how they’re going to accommodate the guests, how they’re going to protect the staff and then they need to have an endorsement from the local official in their locality,” DeSantis said.

However, as long as they plan to follow all of these guidelines, the theme parks now have the ability to submit the date they believe they can resume safe operations.

Walt Disney World
Credit: Disney

As we’ve recently reported, Walt Disney World has been keeping a tight lip when it comes to a reopening date. Recently, Walt Disney World Vice President Thomas Mazloum spoke on the recent change of new Disney World bookings to July, stating:

“We have taken reservations for July but that should not mean we are operating in July yet. We’ve opened Shanghai, which has been extremely well. We were very prudent and conservative and things went extremely well but at this point we have really nothing to report about Walt Disney World yet.”

Similarly, Universal Orlando has also not been forward as to when the theme park resort plans to reopen. In the company’s last official statement, they had only revealed that they had plans to stay closed until at least May 31.

Universal Orlando
Credit: Universal Orlando

Although, it is worth noting that Universal Orlando’s CityWalk entertainment complex recently reopened to patrons under new provisions. Additionally, Disney Springs, Walt Disney World’s comparable shopping/entertainment complex, also has plans to open as early as next week with similar restrictions in place.

At this time, neither Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando have revealed official dates for reopening their theme parks. Be sure to continue following with Inside The Magic as we continue to look for updates regarding these theme parks and more.

What are your thoughts on this new development in the reopening of the Central Florida theme parks? Let us know in the comments! 

View Comments (12)