In a first step towards re-opening its parks, Disney has allowed third-party shops in its Disney Springs Orlando shopping and dining complex to resume trading. Lines formed outside the outlets that were trading shortly after the area re-opened at 10 AM ET on Wednesday May 20, THR has reported.
Prior to opening, Disney issued a warning on its website that guests would assume all risk of exposure to COVID-19, as well as introducing measures requiring guests and staff to wear masks and be temperature checked on the way into the park.
Twitter posts have shown both good and bad sides to the re-opening, with some praising the diligence of employees regularly cleaning and disinfecting highly trafficked areas, and others expressing disappointment that some guests weren’t following guidelines requiring masks and social distancing.
The partial opening of Disney Springs is the first phase in Disney’s gradual re-opening plans. The company plans to open more of the complex’s Disney-owned shops soon. While there isn’t currently a publicly-available timeline for the re-opening of other parts of Disney World or Disneyland, the company will likely be using the Disney Springs re-opening as a test.
Florida has had 47,471 confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to recent data, with 2,096 deaths. The state had 485 new cases and 3 new deaths on May 19, the day before Disney Springs’ reopening.
