Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, may soon lift its mask mandate for fully vaccinated visitors on theme park properties.
Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said Thursday he expects an “immediate” increase in the number of visitors to Disney parks following the announcement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stating fully vaccinated Americans can return to normal life without masks.
While Chapek didn’t give an exact date for when the family of theme parks — Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom — might lift its masking requirement, he did describe the CDC update as “very big news” for Disney that he said would serve as a “catalyst for growth in attendance,” according to Insider.
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The CEO told Bloomberg he is “really encouraged” by the trends he’s seeing, revealing booking for Disney has already returned to 2019 levels.
“There’s a craving not only for our guests, but our cast to come back and be part of this social experience to experience that magic with your friends and family,” Chapek said. “So we’re just glad to be able to bring people back to work and please our guests at the same time.”
As far as masks in particular, he said he believes lifting the mandate is “in the near future” and will “make for a much more comfortable experience this summer in the heat and humidity of Walt Disney World in Orlando.”
“Everybody [has come] to what seems to be the same realization now over the last couple weeks: that it’s safe to reopen, people don’t need to wear masks,” Chapek explained. “Social distancing requirements are literally evaporating right before our eyes, and I think that gives us the ability to create that sense of community in our parks and bring back some of the experiences that unfortunately we’ve had to put a hold on, like the parades and fireworks and meet-and-greets with our characters.”
“That’s really part of the big Disney experience and we’re just thrilled that the CDC has come to this point, given the increase in vaccinations, the decline in case rates, and just the general sense that people are now willing to travel,” he continued. “We see that consumer confidence in our research growing, whether it’s a willingness to jump on a plane but mostly to be able to come back to a Disney park and feel comfortable doing it.”
Chapek admitted during an earnings call thatwearing a mask in Florida heat can be a “daunting” task, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
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“Anybody [who has] been in Florida in the middle of summer with a mask on, that can be quite daunting, so we think that’s going to make for an even more pleasant experience,” he said. “You’re going to see an immediate increase in the number of folks that we’re able to admit into our parks, through our reservation systems that we recently implemented, so we’re very, very excited about that.”
While the current attendance cap is not clear, the Florida theme parks were previously operating at 35% occupancy.
These changes come a little less than two weeks after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) lifted all pandemic-related restrictions in the Sunshine State.