ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World is presenting its plans for reopening after being shuttered along with Florida’s other theme parks since mid-March because of the new coronavirus.
Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando will present their proposals for phased reopenings before an Orange County task force on Wednesday, said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. If Demings signs off on them, the plans will be sent to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval.
With 77,000 workers, Disney World is central Florida’s biggest employer.
Also on Tuesday, Grand Prairie-based Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, the world’s largest regional theme park company and the largest operator of waterparks in North America, announced that Frontier City in Oklahoma City will reopen with limited capacity beginning June 5, 2020. Other parks will be opening soon as well, the company announced.
“We have developed a comprehensive reopening safety plan that includes best practices from theme park and waterpark industry experts, along with top destination parks from around the world, which will allow guests to experience our parks in the safest possible way,” said Mike Spanos, Six Flags president and CEO. “This ’new normal’ will be very different, but we believe these additional measures are appropriate in the current environment.”
Last week, Disney World allowed third-party businesses at its Disney Springs dining and shopping complex to open with new restrictions.
All workers and visitors older than 2 at Disney Springs must wear masks, temperatures are checked at entrances to keep out anyone with a temperature 100.4 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) or higher and a limited number of people are admitted to allow social distancing at the high-end outdoor shopping area with restaurants, movie theaters, a bowling alley and a Cirque du Soleil theater.
Crosstown rival, Universal Orlando, presented its reopening proposal last week to county officials, saying it was aiming to reopen June 5. Officials approved those plans and sent them to the governor. Universal also has opened up its dining and entertainment complex with restrictions similar to Disney Springs.
Earlier this month, Shanghai Disneyland became the first of Disney’s theme park resorts to reopen, with severe limits on the number of visitors allowed in, mandatory masks and temperature checks.
_ FWBP Staff contributed to this report