COVID 19 shuts down Disney
The Disney Parks, along with many other Disney owned and operated franchises, have shut down in attempts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Photo by IMore
By Emma Ralls
A&E Editor
On March 12, the Walt Disney Corporation announced the closing of many of its parks and stopped new departures of their cruise lines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parks closed include Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California; Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; and Disneyland Paris in Paris, France. Since then, Disney has closed every one of its theme parks worldwide.
This marks the third time in history that both Disneyland California and Disney World have closed. The last time was on September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks in New York. The first case of the parks closing was in 1963 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In a statement issued by The Walt Disney Company, it explained that while there were no cases of COVID-19 at the Disneyland resort, it was closed as a precaution.
“While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort, after carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of California’s executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, beginning the morning of March 14 through the end of the month,” the Walt Disney Company’s statement read.
This announcement came on the heels of California Governor Gavin Newsom announcing that Disney was exempt from the general order limiting groups of 250 or more people. The governor stated this was because closing the theme park would create a “complex” and “unique” situation. Nonetheless, the company announced later that day that it would close its parks. The governor stated after the announcement of the closures applauding Disney for keeping public safety in mind and “doing the right thing.”
In the beginning, it was only the theme parks that were closing. Then on March 15, the Walt Disney Company announced the temporary closure of all of its Walt Disney World hotels as of March 20. Disney owned malls, Downtown Disney at Disneyland and Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort followed suit, closing on March 17.
Like many universities, Disney also decided to end their Disney college program early. With this also came the suspension of the Disney Culinary Program, Cultural Exchange Program and Academic Exchange Program. The program was set to be “temporarily suspended” on March 16, but its participants needed to pack up and travel home as soon as possible before their housing closed on March 18. In the official statement about the closure of the program, Disney stated that people in the College Program and other impacted participants will be paid through the end of March 2020 and will no longer be charged for their housing. Participants will also be given a successful program completion, which would help if they chose to pursue future roles within the Walt Disney Company.
Many people involved with the Disney College program were upset by the abrupt end of the program. A father of one of the participants took to twitter.
“Welp! Disney is closing,” the tweet by @Scooby_Barkley reads. “My daughter is in the college program and has to leave by Wednesday. She’s so upset. I’m flying my wife down to ride back with her. F U COVID-19”
According to CNN Business, The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is the world’s most-visited theme park. According to a report by AECOM, more than 20 million visitors came to see Cinderellas castle and all the Florida theme parks had to offer in 2018. Disneyland Paris is also the most visited location in Paris, France, beating out the Louvre by over 6 million visitors.
Universal Studios and Seaworld followed Disney’s lead and quickly shut their theme parks down following Disney’s announcement. On March 13 Seaworld tweeted out a statement in regards to their animals within the park.
“During this time, essential personnel, including animal care experts, will continue to look after the health, safety and nutritional needs of the animals in our care,” the statement read. “Our animal rescue and rehabilitation operations will also continue to operate.” The company also announced they would continue to pay their ambassadors throughout the closure.
While Disney originally could have opened April 9, a continuation of Stay at Home orders across the country cause it to remain closed. According to the Disney food blog, many people believe it’s likely that Disney Springs and some of the Disney resort hotels will reopen initially in Walt Disney World with the parks following at a later date.