Disney Hopes to Reopen Walt Disney World on July 11

Walt Disney Co aims to begin reopening its Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando, Florida on July 11, a company executive said on Wednesday.

Jim MacPhee, senior vice president of operations for the Walt Disney World Resort, discussed plans to begin a phased reopening of Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, at a webcast meeting of the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force.

Disney needs approval from the county task force and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis before it can reopen Disney World.

The company closed theme parks around the world starting in January to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Welcoming visitors again to the parks is key to Disney’s recovery from the global shutdowns sparked by the pandemic. Disney has estimated it lost $1 billion at the theme parks division from January through March.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Jonathan Oatis)

This article was written by Helen Coster and Lisa Richwine from Reuters and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.