Disney reopens as a different world
ORLANDO, Fla. — Gary Semel’s hands trembled in anticipation of the moment he had awaited for four months.
Finally, he could kneel down in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World to propose to his girlfriend of two years, Tia Lovett, 50. They kissed, face mask to face mask, a love story in historic times, while a Disney photographer captured the moment.
“I wanted to do it at Disney, and then it closed. I’ve been waiting very impatiently,” said Semel, 49, turning to his future wife. “I’m sorry that I took so long. I really wanted to do it here.”
For the Jacksonville couple and many others, the return of Disney World on Saturday was a jubilant celebration. But the day brought only light crowds to the Magic Kingdom, which opened to the general public in tandem with Animal Kingdom.
Epcot and Hollywood Studios will open Wednesday as Disney’s Orlando empire returns a month after Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.
Not everything was magical. The resort’s revival is happening as the coronavirus pandemic surges. The state reported 10,360 new coronavirus cases Saturday, the third-highest daily increase, and 95 more deaths as Florida has become one of the nation’s major hot zones for the virus.
When asked why Disney was opening now, executive Josh D’Amaro responded, “We are in a new normal right now, so what’s happening outside of the gates of Walt Disney World is our new world.”
“We were one of the first theme parks to close, and we’ll be about the last to open,” he told CNN. “And we spent every minute of every day thinking about how to operate in this new normal that we’re in.”
At the Magic Kingdom, all Disney employees wore face coverings, and workers with high contact with guests, such as ride operators, were equipped with clear face shields as well.
Most visitors seemed to be obeying the required mask rule Saturday as well as markers meant to keep them 6 feet apart. Employees were observed enforcing the requirements.
“We’re encouraged by our guests’ overwhelmingly positive feedback for our phased reopening and are grateful for their support of the new measures we’ve added,” Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said in a statement.
Throughout most of the day, the most popular attractions posted 30-minute wait times or less, moving considerably faster than the sometimes hourslong lines of last year. A trip on Space Mountain had a 15-minute queue by afternoon.
The biggest issues appeared to be early Saturday as the first guests arrived to face a long line for guest relations, apparently because of problems with electronic tickets.
“This is not good,” said theme park journalist Carlye Wisel, depicting the moment on her social media account and calling it proof some things were working and others were not.
For Disney and the other parks, coronavirus will be a long-term problem for the industry, warned Dennis Speigel, who runs Ohiobased International Theme Park Services.
The virus ruined Orlando’s spring break. It’s already hitting the lucrative summer season, too, with no fireworks shot off for huge crowds on the Fourth of July or any day, for that matter, since mid-March at Disney.
“I’m thinking based on where we are right now, reading the tea leaves, Halloween is a serious question,” Speigel said. “We’re going to be dealing with this (virus) this time next year, no question about it. This is with us for two years, easily.”
For now, Disney loyalists can’t line up to get the best view of the daily Magic Kingdom parade. Guests can only see a lone float or a marching band spontaneously travel around the route as entertainment.
Kids can’t hug Mickey Mouse or run up to Princess Elsa.
“Disney World is a world very different than the one that closed back in March,” said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “Going to Disney World for that experience in the past was so fundamentally defined by the very things that now have to be regulated.”
For some people, this new theme park experience isn’t what they want when they plan a Disney World dream vacation, Thompson said.