Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Says Walt Disney World is “Far Ahead of the Curve” on Reopening

Jessica Figueroa

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Says Walt Disney World is “Far Ahead of the Curve” on Reopening

With Governor Ron DeSantis’ Re-Open Florida Task Force Executive Committee now fully assembled, it seems the governor is already in talks with Walt Disney World executives in order to spearhead a plan for reopening businesses across Florida.

Just yesterday, it was announced that the President of Walt Disney World Resort Josh D’Amaro would be joining other executives from top Florida businesses like Universal Orlando, Publix, and Florida Power & Light, along with government officials from Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach County in the Task Force. In an interview with Fox News this morning, DeSantis emphasized Disney’s readiness in face of the health crisis:

In the video clip, DeSantis states the following:

“It’s amazing the ideas that the businesses are already thinking about. They’ve been thinking deeply about this for weeks and weeks… there’s a lot of great ideas that I’ve already seen put on the table. I’m in discussions with places like Disney. They are so far ahead of the curve, and I think everyone wants to make sure we do it safely.

And yeah, if you think about it, if you own a hotel in Miami, the last thing you want is to do a false negative and have a small outbreak in your hotel… so they are very keen on safety and I think that they’re going to be leading the way on the innovation. So we’ll have some guidelines of course, but I think some of the businesses are going to go above and beyond…”

The governor seemed fairly impressed with Disney’s plans for moving forward. As it stands, Disney has already been implementing extensive health screenings and social distancing protocols within the partially-reopened Shanghai Disney Resort, so having a venue to test these new guidelines and garner feedback may prove to be useful when it comes to moving forward with reopening the other parks.

DeSantis also emphasizes the need to avoid any false negatives at the risk of causing small outbreaks within hotels, specifically referencing Miami. At time of publishing, Orange County has reported a total of 1,222 COVID-19 cases. Miami-Dade County has 9,840 cases, with some of the greatest concentration of cases near the downtown hotel area by Miami Beach. You can click here to check for updated totals across the state using the Florida COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard issued by the Florida Department of Health.

Walt Disney World Resort remains closed indefinitely, and no official reopening date has been identified.

12 thoughts on “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Says Walt Disney World is “Far Ahead of the Curve” on Reopening”

  1. Here’s the problem – we know for a fact that a huge number of people are highly contagious without showing symptoms. So saying “they’re ahead of the curve” is a ridiculous statement at this point. We are nowhere near being able to safely open without major risks of a 2nd spike. DeSantis has shown he is far more concerned with elections than with safety. Until we have the ability to test nearly everyone – there is no such thing as being “ahead of the curve” unless DeSantis and Disney have come up with a magical way to convince the virus not to enter property. Medical screenings that only look for symptoms would be completely useless with crowds the size of Disney.

    • Many people tend to have fevers without actually knowing they have one, so I’d assume temp checks like speculated would go a long way towards everyone’s safety.

    • I dont speak for the governor but I think that “ahead of the curve” may refer to planning for a reopening.
      I agree, we are not ready to reopen and my biggest fear is opening too soon. But the pressure to reopen is strong, many businesses and individuals are in very bad shape. Let’s hope some one makes the tough decision and waits to reopen until this virus is under control.

    • More and more reports are coming out that this virus was likely here far earlier than first known. More than likely, an overwhelming majority of citizens had the virus already and didn’t even know it. This virus is being reported to not adversely effect the majority of the population meaning that most of us are low risk. It’s time to end these destructive closures and get back to work, play, whatever. If you are scared, no problem. Continue to stay at home. The rest of us have to rebuild our businesses and lives.

      • Stay home if you are scared but don’t stop us the healthy ones from moving this country forward! That government milk will run out soon!

    • Desantis is the one that is still behind the curve. He literally stated that he found out the virus can transmit without showing symptoms IN APRIL. He still has no comprehension of that. The only thing I will say is have accountability people. With yourself in trying to avoid certain places while this gets figured out and with your ability to learn, research and vote people in who give a damn about your well being.

  2. And yet you are not in the room during all the discussions and plannings so you do not know the full plans and all ideas discussed. Everyone cannot continue to hide in a hole for a year to year and a half. At some point things have to reopen using caution and monitor things.

  3. DeSantis can’t even figure out how to put on a protective face mask.
    I want WDW opened as much as anyone, but I also want it to be safe for everyone.

      • I have absolutely no problem with that. The more of you who get COVID-19, the fewer there will be who are a threat to me. You can have the restaurants, bars, concert venues, and WDW to yourselves to enjoy. And f you’re among those who die or infect your older family members, too bad so sad. That’s your choice and it looks like you’ve made it.

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