Disney World Reopening: Is It Safe? Disney CEO Explains New Park Measures

Disney CEO Bob Chapek has explained why it’s safe to go back to Disney World once it reopens.

The “happiest place on earth” is slated to reopen very soon. But is it truly safe for parkgoers to pay a visit with their families, especially during these times?

To reassure future visitors amid the ongoing coronavirus scare, Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently spoke with CNN Business, addressing common park concerns as well as the newly imposed health measures to be put in place once the park has officially opened its doors.

“Well, the first thing that's going look different is that our cast and guests will both have masks on, and that's obviously something that we're not accustomed to in the parks,” Chapek said of the new health guidelines.

According to Chapek, the guests will be seeing copious amounts of tape at the park’s queue lines. The tapes will highlight a “six foot distance” so that people are able to maintain social distancing protocols inside the premises. “We're going to help our guests help us maintain that social distancing, which is so important,” he added.

The Disney resort, which is located in central Florida, is often incredibly hot, especially during summertime. Obviously, the mandatory wearing of face masks may possibly be a concern considering this. Chapek said that despite such a challenge, the obligatory wearing of masks will still be enforced in order to stave off risks towards parkgoers’ safety.

With regards to the trend of Disney park’s visitors, Chapek shared that guests have been cooperative with the safety measures.

“So far the experience at Disney Springs, after only a short week, is that guests are willing to wear the masks because they know that it's for everyone's good,” he said. “You know I've had this mask on pretty much the whole day, and you just forget about it after a while, and I think that's going to be a part of maintaining the magic.”

Besides the customary COVID-19 health protocols, Disney World’s plan is said to involve enforcing strict crowd control during the first phase of reopening. But unlike Disney Shanghai where strict government mandates imposed a certain guest capacity, Disney World does not get such a prerogative.

So to carry this out, Chapek said that the “six foot social distancing” set up is what will help them pare down the pool of guests that can be welcomed inside the park.

The Disney CEO shared that for the past few months, industrial engineers in the park have worked on the plan in order to figure out how the arrangement would turn out. “The capacity that we're going to open up with is actually slightly below where we really think we can reside with that six feet,” he revealed.

The Disney company’s plan of action seems very extensive, but it may still not be enough to cloud over notable health risks and the possible transmission of the virus.

To mitigate this uncertainty, Chapek said that the company is ensuring a slow and cautious reopening of the parks to prevent a significant second wave from happening and avoid such a circumstance altogether.

The Disney resort in Orlando, Florida plans to reopen on July 11 for its Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom parks, CNN Business reported. Other areas of the park such as EPCOT and Hollywood Studios are set to open on July 15.