Universal takes first steps reviving Orlando theme park biz
meant to stop the virus’s spread. The smaller Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven, Florida, opened Monday.
As of Wednesday, Florida had more than 58,700 coronavirus cases and more than 2,500 related deaths.
Orlando’s theme park industry, and synergistic businesses like hotels and restaurants, were devastated by the coronavirus- related closures. Tens of thousands of workers were furloughed and the theme park resorts have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond on Wednesday reported that the county’s tax collections on hotels and vacation rentals in April dropped 97% from the same month in 2019 to a level not seen since 1980.
But Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he was confident tax collections will improve as the theme parks reopen.
“I believe that we will recover,” Demings said at a news conference.
On Thursday, the U. S. Department of Labor reported that more than 206,000 Floridians filed jobless claims last week, up from 175,000 claims the prior week. More than 2 million Floridians have filed jobless claims since mid- March.
With the reopening of the parks, “thousands and thousands of employees have been put back to work,” said Tom Williams, CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts.
After arriving at Universal Orlando, Ashley Gonzalez tried to go on as many rides as possible, though wait times were longer than usual because of social distancing precautions. Some things felt odd, such as having only one person in a row on the rides and not being able to have personal contact with performers dressed up as characters such as Captain America or Gringotts Goblin from the Harry Potter movies.
“It’s refreshing to be out here because you spent so much time cooped up and in quarantine. It’s cool to be out in the open,” Gonzalez said. “You’re so used to high- five- ing people, and getting the character meet- andgreets. But you can’t do that now, obviously because of socially distancing.”