With Universal’s announcement of a June 5 opening date, I’m sure many of us expected Disney to follow relatively closely behind. Of course, we learned today that Walt Disney World won’t officially open until Phase 3 with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom opening on July 11th, followed by Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15th. (Although there will be soft openings and cast previews prior to that date.) That’s a full five weeks between the two opening dates!
Why would Disney choose to re-open their parks so much later than their competitors? There are probably a multitude of factors that, when added together, simply make it more profitable and advisable for Disney to choose a later opening date. While I don’t have any insider knowledge, I do have some theories on the various factors that could have influenced this decision.
Theory 1: It’s more complicated for Disney Cast Members to return to work.
During the shut-down, Universal furloughed its part-time employees and cut the rest of its staff’s pay by 20%. On the other hand, Disney has furloughed thousands of Cast Members across employment statuses and departments. Hourly, salaried, part-time and full-time cast members were furloughed if not deemed necessary to ongoing resort operations. Couple these furloughs with the fact that Disney Cast Members are unionized and Universal Team Members are not, and you’ll understand that Disney has layers of extra negotiations and complications to get their Cast Members back to work.
Additionally, let’s not forget that Disney sent home the entirety of its college program workforce – including all of its Professional Interns and Cultural Representatives. While it would not be impossible for Disney to open with its existing workforce, it’s certainly going to be more difficult (and more expensive) to staff all of its various attractions, food service venues, retail stores, and custodial team without these students. Additionally, the Cultural Representative Program is responsible for most of the workforce throughout the World Showcase. Without it, it’s doubtful that Epcot will be able to maintain the tradition of staffing the pavilions with native representatives. Will Sue from Rhode Island be serving your croissants in France? Will Bob from Florida be pouring your Italian wine? Time will tell.
Theory 2: It takes a higher number of guests for Disney to make a profit.
Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, has said that the parks will not re-open until they can reliably turn a profit on their operations. It’s entirely possible that the sheer amount of rides and experiences throughout the four massive Walt Disney World theme parks are simply more expensive to staff and operate than the more modestly sized Universal Orlando attractions.
Besides the organic need for more Cast and therefore more guests at Disney, it’s also possible that Disney plans on utilizing extra Cast positions as additional safety measures. For example, we already know that Disney is planning to employ the “Social Distancing Squad” to help remind guests of CDC-approved protocols. Disney may also be planning extra staff at food service locations to reduce guest contact or extra custodial Cast for sanitation procedures.
Bottom line: Walt Disney World is a larger resort than Universal Orlando. More size equals more Cast. More Cast means more cost and more guests necessary to make a profit. Of course, if you need more guests to turn a profit and more Cast to serve those guests, you’ll have a higher safety threshold to meet in order to begin operations. (Not to mention the potential cost or logistical issues involved in acquiring PPE, such as masks, for every individual Cast Member.)
Theory 3: Disney doesn’t yet feel they can provide a quality guest experience.
It’s not hard to assume that, between the two companies, Universal is more dedicated to quantity than quality. To illustrate the attitude differences within each park , let’s look at some of their recent attraction openings. Universal vowed several years ago that it would open at least one new attraction each year. Beginning with Skull Island: Reign of King Kong in 2016 and quickly followed by Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon (2017), Fast and the Furious: Supercharged (2018), and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (2019). With the definite exception of the Hagrid’s coaster, these attractions have felt rushed and unnecessary with their existence adding virtually no value to the park at all. In the case of King Kong and Fast and the Furious, Universal has simply lifted pieces of its Hollywood tram tour and adapted them into full length, stand-alone attractions. (Not surprisingly, “rides” using a system intended for a slow-moving tram tour are not that exciting.)
Disney, on the other hand, is focused on providing quality, innovative entertainment that truly immerses guests in their favorite stories. Late last year, Disney opened the Rise of the Resistance, one of the most technically and thematically celebrated rides of all time. This opening was followed by the 2020 release of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. While this experience hasn’t been as highly reviewed as Rise of the Resistance, it’s still an innovative attraction with an updated ride system and storyline (as opposed to lifting part of another attraction and trying to pass it off as brand new).
Based on this difference in attitude when it comes to attractions, its not completely impossible that Universal is simply grasping for the first conceivable date that they could safely re-open. Guest “inconveniences” such as a new and untested virtual queue system, reduced theme park capacity, and extreme social distancing might be seen as necessary burdens rather than obstacles to overcome.
Disney, on the other hand, may be waiting so that they can provide a higher quality experience to their returning guests. Maybe they are perfecting a virtual queue system or building large infrared scanners that automatically test a guest’s temperature, or perhaps, they just feel that they need more time to perfect their “new normal” before welcoming guests back into their gates. Either way we can be sure that a return to Disney parks will be as enjoyable and efficient an experience as possible.
Theory 4: Disney doesn’t feel they can open safely.
Universal’s re-opening plans were approved by the mayor, county’s economic task force and Governor DeSantis. While I don’t believe that their planned opening can be deemed “unsafe,” it’s possible that Disney has a more conservative philosophy when it comes to guest and cast safety. If you look at the graph below, you can see the difference in estimated infections between Universal’s opening date and Disney’s.
There will be an estimated 42,203 active infections in the United States on June 5, the officially announced date of Universal Orlando’s re-opening. By contrast, there will be only be an estimated 5,930 cases within the entire country on July 11th. The difference made by simply waiting a matter of weeks is, admittedly, staggering.
We did learn that Disney will utilize a reservation system for theme park guests to control capacity. A similar system is being used in the newly re-opened Shanghai Disneyland, so this wasn’t unexpected. Additionally, all guests and cast will be required to wear face coverings until further notice.
While I know we all expected Orlando’s theme parks to begin their operations at roughly the same time, the necessity for different dates is understandable given the significant logistical, financial, and operational differences between the companies. Even though we’ll have to wait a little bit longer for the Disney Parks, it’s once again encouraging to see our city and state progress towards recovery.
