Though Disney may not have drawn the worst straw when it comes to the conditions under which they will reopen their theme parks worldwide, things are not looking great right now. A recent report indicated that the company is hemorrhaging a ghastly 30 million dollars a day (not just inside theme parks, but for the company at large) and is seeking $6 Billion in debt relief due to the effects of COVID-19 on their business.
Of course, these losses are completely unsustainable, and while these publicly-released figures are bad, Disney’s internal figures are undoubtedly worse, as Disney has made the unprecedented move of declining to release its quarterly earnings reports to stockholders…a sign that things are indeed heading in a grim direction at Disney Parks.
And now with Bob Iger back in charge of the company for a little while, it looks like a plan is coming together for Disney parks to reopen across the world. But not as you might remember them…
Fewer Cast Members to be working as budgets are slashed
Though budget cuts are nothing new at Disney Parks, one big part of Disney’s post-pandemic future will be decreased Cast Member presence in the parks. And while some might see this as a temporary measure to help keep the park gates open while the company financially recovers, the New York Times says that Iger is expecting the changes implemented now to be more or less permanent as Disney attempts to fundamentally change how it operates now and in the future.
Prices are going to go up
When the world was plunged into a global recession in 2008, one of the big ways Disney was able to lure guests into returning to the resort was by offering heavy discounts and free ticket deals. However, it looks like with the US economy teetering on the edge of yet another recession (and reportedly 1 in 10 Americans now unemployed) Disney will be going the other way when they reopen, and will be raising prices. The cost of food has already gone up in several locations (which you can read about here) and we’d expect that as we move closer to a potential summer reopening, we will hear more about increased prices at the resort.
Keeping guests and Cast Members safe
While a lot of the focus of Disney’s new strategy when it comes to the theme parks revolves around dollars and cents, there are also going to be several changes to how the parks operate in a world where COVID-19 is still a threat. Right now, essential Cast Members, like security guards and animal caretakers have been told that they are now allowed to wear face masks while carrying out their duties, and we’d imagine that in a world where masks have become increasingly common and culturally acceptable, this practice will continue.
In addition, Bob Iger recently said in an interview with Barron’s, that another change currently being discussed is more scrutiny and restrictions for incoming guests that could come in the form of mandatory temperature checks, similar to what is being done in China.
These temperature checks would likely be done at the front of the theme parks, and be an extra addition to the security bag check area, and guests with temperatures that fall in an acceptable range would be admitted to the parks.
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.
