Though we don’t know exactly when Disney Parks will reopen once the imminent danger from the COVID-19 Pandemic has passed, and we could see some changes with regard to how the parks will run, all of your favorite Disney attractions, from the Haunted Mansion to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will reopen with the parks when they come back to life. However, things are starting to look a little dire for many of Disney Springs’ tenants, which may not return after the shopping district reopens.
1. AMC Dine-in Disney Springs 24 Theater
One of the big anchors of the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment district is the AMC Dine-in Disney Springs 24, which draws thousands of guests to sold out shows every weekend. However, though this location does very well at Disney Springs, parent company AMC may be in trouble, as S&P Global has said that the company may run out of money by mid-summer, which could be an issue if movie theaters don’t reopen by June. And unfortunately that has led to the theater company’s credit rating, being downgraded substantially to “Default imminent, with little prospect for recovery”.
Unfortunately, this puts the future of the AMC Dine-in Disney Springs 24 Theater, as we may be looking at mass theater closures across the country as soon as this summer, and this location could be among those that never reopen after this pandemic
2. Levi’s
Though its prospects aren’t as dire as that of AMC, Levi Strauss has also had its credit rating downgraded and a negative outlook has been assigned to Levi’s debt, according to credit analyst Fitch Ratings. Forecasts show sales could decline 25% this year, with the earliest recovery happening in 2022 in a best case scenario. Unfortunately, that would be bad news for the location at Disney Springs, which has never enjoyed much in the way of foot traffic, and could be one of the first locations to close should a corporate downsizing be necessary to keep this brand afloat.
3. Landry’s Restaurants
When Rainforest Cafe and T-REX Cafe closed last month along with the rest of Disney Springs, owner Landry’s took the extreme measure of fully shutting down and suspending all of its employees without pay instead of continuing to compensate their workers during this shutdown. And because the company has said that it is completely shutting down (a CEO recently said the were hemorrhaging $1 Million per day), it seems increasingly likely that none of these restaurants will return to operation when Disney Springs reopens.
4. Ample Hills Creamery
Image: Dakota Gardner
Though the Disney Springs location of the Ample Hills Creamery has been under construction for some time, it looks like this location may never open, as the company behind this ice creamery (which also operates at Disney’s BoardWalk resort) has filed for bankruptcy. This move was actually being planned before the mass closures due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and now with impacts being felt not only in the Florida locations, but those in New York and New Jersey, it seems unlikely that this the planned Disney Springs location will ever open
5. Drawn to Life – Cirque du Soleil
Image: Disney
Though it was set to debut last month, it has been officially announced that Cirque Du Soleil has suspended and postponed the Drawn to Life show at Disney Springs indefinitely. Cirque du Soleil has said that ticket holders will be refunded at their point of purchase for this show, and have not offered a date for a potentially postponed debut. Unfortunately that could mean that this new show will either not debut in 2020, or could be scrapped entirely.
As we’ve said previously, there is no way to know exactly how long theme parks will be dealing with the effects of Coronavirus, but while this situation is continuing, all travelers should check out the CDC’s official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.
