Disneyland postpones the reopening of its California-based theme parks as they wait for state guidelines on theme park reopening.
State officials have yet to issue theme park reopening guidelines until after July 4. This has led to the postponement of Disneyland’s proposed phased opening of its two parks in Anaheim on July 17.
“Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” the company said in a statement.
Disneyland will announce a new reopening date once it knows the release of the state guidelines and what they will be about.
Meanwhile, Disneyland will open its shopping center, Downtown Disney District, on July 9.
Disneyland workers from Florida asked the company and local government authorities to evaluate the reopening of Disney World next month. Over 8,500 people have signed the online petition as the number of coronavirus cases rise in Florida.
However, it is not certain whether all signees are legitimate Walt Disney employees or if the petition is supported by the union.
Meanwhile, Disney has already resumed its operations in Shanghai and Hong Kong and plans to reopen its parks in Paris and Japan.
Disney chief executive officer (CEO) Bob Chapek previously said the company is “seeing encouraging signs of a gradual return to some sense of normalcy in China”.
“While it’s too early to predict when we’ll be able to begin resuming all of our operations, we are evaluating a number of different scenarios to ensure a cautious, sensible and deliberate approach to the eventual reopening of our parks,” Chapek added.
Disney profits
In May, entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. has recorded a 91% decrease in profits for the first three months of 2020, following the closure of its parks, cancellation of films, and reduced advertising income.
The coronavirus pandemic caused widespread damage to the businesses of Disney, from the closure of its twelve theme parks and cruises to the gigantic costs associated with its launch of the Disney+ streaming service.
The company’s parks, experiences and products unit posted a 58% decline in operating income, compared to the previous year, as a result of theme parks and resorts closures globally. The company’s shares of stock also fell by around 2% in after-hours trading.
According to Disney, its operating income on its Parks, Experiences and Products segment decreased by approximately $1 billion due to lost revenue while it estimates the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic across all its businesses to amount to $1.4 billion.
All of the firm’s 12 Disney’s parks in North America, Asia and Europe have stopped operations since March 15.
On the company’s earnings call, chief financial officer (CFO) Christine McCarthy said Disney will suspend its dividend payout for the first half of the fiscal year, which would preserve $1.6 billion in cash with the assumption that the dividend remain constant at 88 cents per share
McCarthy mentioned that the firm will revisit and address the dividend again in the next six months once it is better able to assess the impact of the virus.
The firm’s advertising business, which supports its television income, also reported significant declines, as companies reduced marketing budgets and a lack of live sports that pushed viewers away from Disney’s ESPN sports channel.
