Last month, Disney made the decision to close all its Disney resorts amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. This included North American resorts Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in Anaheim. While many are anticipating its re-opening, experts are now saying that Disney parks could remain closed until early 2021.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Swiss banking firm UBS informed clients on Monday that “the Walt Disney Co. is likely to wait until Jan. 1 to open its theme parks.” UBS also touched on potentially huge reduction in profits, saying
While Disney currently has no planned re-opening date, Universal Orlando is currently planning to begin operating again in June 2020. Whether this date will stick is largely unknown as countries worldwide extend their lockdown periods. However, Universal Orlando recently sent out a survey to annual pass holders regarding how likely they are to return to the park under certain conditions. These conditions include things like wearing a face mask or limiting park attendance.
Disney is reportedly losing around $30 million a day in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. They also recently had to re-shuffle their entire theatrical schedule, such as moving some upcoming releases to their new streaming service, Disney+.
Disney is currently pouring resources into its new streaming service. A swathe of new television shows and films are in the works, such as a Mandalorian documentary series and a Robin Hood remake.
