Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek spoke at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference and addressed theme park operations.
Bob Chapek stated that capacity would continue to increase over the upcoming months at Walt Disney World, with “low double digits increases” in attendance. He expects to see benefits from the changes in COVID-19 policies near the end of the fourth fiscal quarter.
He also said the process for relaxing the guidelines has been slowed by OSHA guidelines, but did not elaborate further.
Chapek reiterated his point about the company using the shutdown to reanalyze passholder/legacy programs.
Around the Walt Disney World Resort, “Earning My Ears” nametag adornments have started to pop up along with groups of cast members returning to work and training after being furloughed or displaced last year.
Because the parks are not running their normal operating hours and there are still resorts, shops, and restaurants that are still closed, these cast members have stayed displaced or furloughed until things could start to open back up. The theme park operating hours were recently extended through June 2021 in anticipation of larger crowds and expanded capacity.
As of the first week of April, cast members who decided to return to work in a new area are starting to be recalled to their home location.
Those who have been sitting on furlough are now being recalled to come back to work to help as the parks and resorts start to extend their hours and reopen some locations that have remained closed. Some of those areas include merchandise, food, and possibly entertainment for increased guest capacity this summer.
This week, DisneyCareers.com posted they are hiring some housekeeping and lifeguard roles.
In a recent announcement, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the state was close to reaching a goal of vaccinating 2 million Californians living in underprivileged communities. Reaching this target results in it being easier for counties to move into less-restrictive tiers of California’s reopening plan. The state’s reopening plan allows for theme parks to reopen as of April 1st with 15% capacity if they are in the “red tier”.
While Orange County, the home to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, is on track to reach the red tier from its current, more restrictive purple tier, the vaccination benchmark makes it easier to eventually reach the even lower orange tier. The Chief Health Officer and Director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, Dr. Clayton Chau, said he expects “to have two weeks in the red tier on Tuesday and on Wednesday we’ll have an official entry into the red tier.”
If the county can move from the red tier to the orange tier, its capacity limit would increase from 15% up to 25%, allowing for nearly 2/3 more guests to enter the parks. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure are currently expected to reopen in late April, according to The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek.
While the parks may choose to initially reopen at a capacity lower than that allowed by California’s reopening plans, the actual capacity in effect could go unannounced by The Walt Disney Company and only be shared months after the fact, as has been the case for Walt Disney World.
February 11, Disney held their first-quarter earnings report meetings. With the COVID-19 vaccination rolling out, one topic of discussion was if Walt Disney World would increase their park capacity from the current 35%. Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, confirmed the park capacity will remain at 35% with a rise depending on the COVID-19 public vaccination rate.
As reported by OrlandoSentinel: Since November, just before the holidays, Disney World raised its cap from 25% to 35% of full attendance. The company executives confirmed Thursday the cap still remains today at 35%. For Disney World’s attendance to rise this year, Chapek made it clear that depends on the public’s vaccination rate. “That to us seems like the biggest lever that we can have in order to either take the parks that are currently under limited capacity and increase it or open up parks that are currently closed,” Chapek said.
As shared by TheDisInsider: “During a revealing interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Chapek stated that the theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort were capped at 25%.”
Disney cast members welcome guests to Magic Kingdom Park, July 11, 2020, at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on the first day of the theme park’s phased reopening. (Kent Phillips, Photographer)
While wait times have seemed to soar recently and crowd levels are continuously growing, this may come as a surprise to many. We do believe however, that yes, the parks are at 25% capacity. So, why such a difference between now and when the parks first reopened with the same 25% capacity? We believe people are starting to feel comfortable enough amidst the COVID concerns to visit the parks once again. This is likely a sign that the first couple of months Disney was well under the 25%. We’re likely just now starting to see the full 25% capacity in each park as Disney goers head back to the most magical place on earth!
