There is a question on Disney fans minds, begging for an answer. If Disney can open in early June, the way Universal Studios and SeaWorld are, why are they instead opening in mid-July? Many of us were caught off guard with Disney’s recommended opening date, especially when the theme park giant’s competitors were planning to open over a month sooner.
Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, is giving us the answers we want.
“We always said we wouldn’t open until we thought we could do so safely.”
A man of few words. I like it. I joke of course. While Bob Chapek did say that, he goes on to give us more information on the thought process behind the opening date chosen.
“We feel that this is the right time for us, in July. We’ve got a different situation, frankly, than Universal does because we’re much bigger. We have a much more complex business. We’ve got a different labor situation, and at the same time, we’re also going to be implementing a new reservation system for our guests. It’s going to take some time to take the millions of reservations that we’ve already got on the books and then switch that over to a new reservation system, so we think July is the right time for us.”
Chapek also explains that “Over time, some of the fears that people have (and they’re warranted fears) about getting together in big groups will dissipate, but its going to dissipate on the function of trust. There are not many companies in the world that are trusted as much as the Walt Disney Company but its a trust that we will not, in any way, violate. And so, Disney opens up a little later than others, we open up with not as many people inside our parks, but we do that on purpose because we want to build that trust in this new environment, it’s a new normal, and then take it from there. So baby steps every step of the way.”
Baby steps indeed. While you will have to wait a little longer to get your in person Disney fix, it’s nice to hear straight from a top Disney official on the thoughts that prevail behind when and how to reopen.
There is no announcement ready to be made on the other opening of parks, whether it is Disneyland or one of the international parks. Chapek says in his interview they will following the lead of the local governments to help determine an opening date that makes sense.
You can watch the full interview with Bloomberg here.