Disneyworld submitted their plans for a gradual reopening to the Orange County task force on Wednesday. According to a recent report, if County Mayor Jerry Demings signs his approval of the proposal, it will be sent over to the governor. The contents of the plans included the reopening of Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, which were set to start resumption of operations on July 11.

Disney to reopen July

The week prior, Disneyworld let third-party businesses at affiliated shops like Disney Springs dining and shopping complex to resume operations so long as they complied with their procedures. Workers and visitors would be required to wear masks, temperatures would be checked, and people would be admitted at reduced capacity for social distancing to work.

To enforce these guidelines provided by the health officials, Disney launched a "social distance squad" to remind visitors to keep their distance from each other. With almost 80,000 employees in the workforce, Disneyworld is one of Florida's largest employers.

Last month, analysts from USA Today and the Wall Street Journal predicted that theme parks might not reopen until the end of the year.

Disneyworld has since remained closed "until further notice" since mid-March. During the closure, they had to furlough thousands of workers to keep the businesses afloat. Disney announced that theme park tickets bought prior to the closure on March 12, 2020 were extended to use at any day through to December 15, 2020. In the same vein, monthly payments of annual passholders will be suspended during the closure.


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Other theme parks set to open as soon as June 1

Like many other theme parks in Florida, Sea World Entertainment presented reopening plans. As of last month, their fourth CEO resigned, and 90% of their employees were not receiving payouts.

The first phase of their plan was to reopen on June 10 for employees to resume work, and then on June 11 for the public. Guests would be required to wear face masks, practice social distancing, get screening for temperatures. Employees would sanitate and clean facilities, encourage social distancing, and stay home if they are sick. The plans were approved by the Orange County Task Force and sent to Governor Ron DeSantis.

In their statement, the company said that the health and wellbeing of the employees and visitors were their top priorities. They assured that they would be able to operate safely with their protocols and manage the capacities for any changes. Similarly, Universal Orlando's reopening plans were approved by both Demings and Desantis last week. Last month, the employees were paid at 80% of their original salary, and they furloughed workers at the beginning of May. Their reopening would be set on June 5 following standard procedure.

On the other hand, Legoland Florida's new Pirate Island Hotel is set to open June 1 so long as they continue to operate within guidelines for guests with reservations. The company is also offering its tickets and passes for Peace of Mind Policy, which allows people to change dates and make extensions during the quarantine.