Local approval not sought yet by theme parks
None of Orlando’s major theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld — have asked Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings for approval to reopen, he said Friday afternoon just hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis said the parks would need the county to sign-off on their plans.
The governor said the theme parks, which closed in March, must present their safety plans to the state for permission to reopen, but only after they receive local approval. Demings said he’s been in talks with the companies, and suspects they’ll move to open portions of their properties like hotels and shopping areas prior to letting visitors into their theme parks.
Universal opened CityWalk this week, and Disney Springs is poised to begin reopening May 20.
“Suffice to say, they’re looking at later
dates to reopen,” Demings said at an afternoon briefing. “In either case, I suspect that will be some time in June or thereafter before that happens.”
Smaller attractions like Fun Spot America, WonderWorks and others, who wrote Demings this week seeking help in reopening, will present proposals of their own to his economic recovery task force next week, the mayor said.
The International Drive attractions asked to be treated more like restaurants and stores, which have been allowed to open to a limited number of customers for two weeks.
As DeSantis said Friday, gyms will be allowed to reopen on Monday, the same day restaurants can increase their capacity from 25% to 50%, Orange County saw a slight uptick in new confirmed coronavirus cases, Dr. Raul Pino said on Friday.
Pino, the health officer of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, said hospitalizations associated with the virus remain in single digits here, and the small increase was expected as residents emerge from their homes and resume more trips to stores and restaurants. He said his office is trying to determine what a “normal” level of cases will be. Without a vaccine, he does not expect the virus to be eliminated entirely in the community.
“In our curve, there’s a little uptick and that was expected,” Pino said. “I’m not concerned yet. It’s fluctuating and that’s fine.”
Demings said Orange County will open its 11 boat ramps on May 22 to a limited number of vessels, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office will be enforcing social distancing and limit the number of people allowed on each watercraft.
Seminole County officials said they will amend the county’s social distancing order on Monday to allow restaurants to have up to 50% capacity to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new order.
In Osceola County, officials will begin taking applications for an emergency rental and mortgage assistance program at 8 a.m. Monday. The county will award assistance to 500 applicants, and the application will be live at housing.osceola.org.