Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Disney has announced that they are closing all their theme parks in Florida, California, and Paris.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Disney announced that they would be closing the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure at their California resort starting on March 14.
"While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort, after carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of California's executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure."
Officials also said the California resort hotels will remain open until March 16 to allow guests to make travel arrangements.
The shopping and dining district Downtown Disney will remain open.
This is the fourth time that Disneyland has shut down since its opening on July 17, 1955. The others were after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The park remained open after Walt Disney's death.
In a second announcement just hours later, Disney officials revealed that the theme parks at its Florida Walt Disney World Resort will all close.
The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios, will close on Sunday, March 15, until the end of the month. It is believed that the water parks Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach will also be closed.
However, also in Florida, all Disney resort hotels will remain open until further notice. The dining, shopping, and entertainment district Disney Springs will also remain open.
In Paris, both the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park will close, but like the other two locations, the shopping and dining district Disney Village will remain open, as will the resort hotels.
Per CNN, a Disney spokesperson said in a statement:
"In an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of our theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort, beginning at the close of business on Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month.
"Disney Cruise Line will suspend all new departures beginning Saturday, March 14, through the end of the month.
"The Walt Disney Company will pay its cast members during that closure period.
"The hotels at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice. The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, will remain open.
"Domestic Walt Disney Company employees who are able to work from home are being asked to do so, including those at The Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television, ESPN, Direct-to-Consumer, and Parks, Experiences and Products.
"We will continue to stay in close contact with appropriate officials and health experts."
As per the statement, Disney Cruise Line will also halt all new departures starting tomorrow (March 14).
Shortly after Disney announced their closures, Universal Orlando Resort released the following statement revealing that they will also be closing their theme parks:
"Out of an abundance of caution and to assist with our nation’s preventive efforts, Universal Orlando Resort will temporarily close its theme parks. The closure is effective at the close of business on Sunday, March 15. We anticipate remaining closed through the end of March – but will continue to evaluate the situation.
"Universal Orlando’s hotels and Universal CityWalk will remain open.
“We have created flexible programs for those guests who have booked travel packages or tickets with us. Guests can call this number for more information: 877-801-9720. A core group of team members will continue to work on site. Hourly team members will be paid for any work scheduled through the end of March."
Much like the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Universal Orlando's hotels and their shopping, dining, and entertainment district Universal CityWalk will remain open.
Universal Studios Hollywood will also be closing its gates beginning March 14, but Univeral CityWalk will remain open to the public.
As of this writing, Shanghai Disneyland also remains closed, as per a statement on their official website:
"Shanghai Disneyland remains closed as we continue to closely monitor health and safety conditions and follow the direction of government regulators."
Per a statement on the official Hong Kong Disneyland website, their Disneyland Park will also remain closed until further notice:
"As a precautionary measure in line with preventive efforts taking place across Hong Kong, we are temporarily closing Hong Kong Disneyland Park out of consideration for the health and safety of our Guests and Cast Members.
"We are in close contact with health authorities and the government about the situation and will announce a reopening date once they determine it is advisable. Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre remains open as usual."
And finally, Tokyo Disney Resort has announced that they are extending the closures of their parks Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea through to early April, per a statement posted to their official website. It reads:
"As a precautionary measure in line with prevention efforts taking place across Japan and in response to the recommendations of appropriate authorities, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will remain closed through early April out of consideration for the health and safety of our guests and cast members.
"We remain in close contact with related government agencies about the situation and will provide updates as the situation changes."
The most recent situation report from the World Health Organization now states that there have been 125,048 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and 4,613 deaths as a result of the disease.
