Amid lower attendance than expected since last month, Disney scaled back its hours at four of its theme parks in Florida, including the Magic Kingdom.
In early September, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom will each close an hour earlier, while Epcot will cut by two hours each day. The changes will take place September 8 and through October.
Disney reopened the Orlando, Florida, theme park resort on July 11 in hopes of reducing the fiscal hit caused by the closure of cinemas and other revenue streams as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, as Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said during the company’s quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts on Tuesday, the gains from the reopening of Disney World fell well below expectations.
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The park department lost $ 3.5 billion in business revenue for the three months ending June 27, the company said. Overall, Disney’s parking business pulled in $ 983 million in the third quarter, which was a slump of 85% compared to the $ 6.6 billion in revenue the parks earned in the same period last year.
“We are able to achieve net contribution at current participation levels,” McCarthy said during the call, which was streamed live. “But the turnout we are seeing from the reopening is less than we previously expected due to the continued rise of COVID cases in Florida.”
Read original story Disney World Scales Back Hours Amid Disappointing Attendance At TheWrap
