It might not be long before a tiny, tiny world in Disney World. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – presented at a round table in Orlando theme park on Wednesday – suggested that theme parks in the area could quickly build up their capacity.
Talk to directors of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Universal Orlando parent Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCS.A), en SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE: SEAS), DeSantis praised the protocols that have put the closed attractions in place to make a day in the park safe for guests and staff. New COVID-19 cases in Florida have fallen sharply since Disney World opened in mid-July, silencing critics who felt that crowds gathered in the thousands at the state’s signature attractions and in some cases tens of thousands would make the pandemic worse.
The sector opened in early June for limited guest counts, but DeSantis apparently feels it’s time to start giving the theme parks a longer belt. It is not official, but DeSantis said Wednesday that he thinks the operators have earned the right to increase the number of guests allowed on each day by their turnstiles. It is a positive step for the vital tourist market in Florida, but will the demand follow with the increased supply? The answer may not be very comforting.
Image Source: Disney.
Wait for the ride to begin
Pulling on yellow belts is a rite of passage for Disney world speakers. Some of the more wild rides there have belts with yellow straps that cast members ask guests to pull before the ride begins. It is a safety protocol to make sure they are safe and ready to enjoy the ride.
Florida gives theme parks the opportunity to increase capacity – and it’s quite a given now that DeSantis has made it public – it looks a lot like a yellow belt check. Disney World, Universal, and SeaWorld are pulling the tabs, but what if there is no guest to secure?
Comcast’s Universal Orlando has never reached capacity on its two signature theme parks since opening in early June. Only the much smaller water park had to refuse guests after he hit his little cap. SeaWorld Orlando has required guests to make dated reservations to ensure they do not exceed the maximum occupancy levels, and they never meet these digital requirements.
Disney World is a different story. It went the reserve route like SeaWorld, but it has allocated the daily entries in three baskets. Guests staying overnight at an on-site resort and people purchasing one-day tickets are freely available. The third basket of reservations – annual passholders – have a harder time getting around to guaranteeing daily access. This is the only group that would immediately benefit from a bump in capacity constraints, but will it matter?
The whole summer season is done. Schools in Florida begin the fall semester. Disney and Comcast have canceled their popular Halloween event for hard-ticket, a move that hurts Disney, but Universal Orlando is crushing where Halloween Horror Nights is a big draw. International travel restrictions are still in place. Interstate travel is possible, but still largely discouraged. We are also in a recession, and a week or weekend of escapism is fun, but not necessary.
DeSantis gives theme parks the green light just as the light turns yellow. Pull-strap yellow. It may not make sense, but it can actually be for the best. As long as social distance measures are in place and experiences of many foods such as parades and fireworks are not allowed, where would the extra people go? You can no longer put people on carts and in show boards where wide gaps of empty seats exist to keep parties six feet apart. These issues will continue until COVID-19 is truly contained and those security measures are lifted. Until the world can collectively pull on the yellow belt to make sure the protections are secure, this ride is not going anywhere.
