Disneyland and Disney World will remain closed indefinitely. The Walt Disney Company made the announcement today. The parks had originally planned to reopen on April 1st, which is next week. However, now that social distancing is really being taken seriously, there’s no way that the parks will be able to open on that particular date. Both parks shut down operations back on March 14th, which was unprecedented. Disneyland had only been shut down three previous times in history, including the September 11th attacks, the morning after JFK’s assassination, and the Northridge earthquake.
— Disney Parks News (@DisneyParksNews) March 27, 2020
With current events seemingly getting worse, Disney fans will have to wait to plan those trips and vacations. Plus, airlines and hotels should be avoided too. People in most states have been told to only leave the house for essential shopping and doctor’s appointments, while maintaining a six-foot distance between others while out in public. The Walt Disney Company released a statement which you can read below.
“The safety and well-being of our guests and employees remain The Walt Disney Company’s top priority… in line with direction provided by health experts and government officials, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort will remain closed until further notice.”
While both Disneyland and Disney World agreed to pay employees during the closure, a lack of updates has kept employees on edge. For that, there’s now good news and bad news. For now, it looks like the employees, aka cast members will be okay. But it’s unclear how long this current agreement will last. Disney Parks had this to say.
“The Walt Disney Company has been paying its cast members since the closure of the parks, and in light of this ongoing and increasingly complex crisis, we have made the decision to extend paying hourly parks and resorts cast members through April 18.”
Right now, it is not clear how much longer Disneyland and Disney World employees will be paid. It’s also unclear when the parks will be able to open up again since everybody is supposed to be practicing social distancing. President Donald Trump said just this week that he wanted the United States to get back to work by Easter Sunday, which happens to be on April 12th. However, many are urging him to reconsider.
China re-opened movie theaters this week, only to immediately shut them down again. For parks like Disneyland and Disney World, which contain way more people than a standard movie theater, this could lead to some long-lasting damage. Everything seems to be a big question mark these days, except staying indoors, so that’s what most of the world is going to continue to do for the time being. As for the Disneyland and Disney World, it’s going to be a while before they are able to open their doors to the public again. You can read the full statement on the matter below, thanks to the Disney Parks Twitter account.
