Disney is considering moving some of its corporate operations from California to Florida amid the blocks from the coronavirus pandemic. Ashley Webster of FOX Business with more.
Walt Disney Company CEO and President Bob Chapek said the media conglomerate would increase efficiency and update attractions at its theme parks in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Florida’s Disney World reopened last summer, it operated at altered times, with limited capacity and with security measures in place.
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In February, WDW News Today reported that each of the company’s theme parks would open for another hour, as more Americans were vaccinated and cases declined.
However, the economic future of parks – as well as the future of cinemas, concert halls and professional sports arenas – is still mired in uncertainty as America finally tries to turn the corner.
This Saturday, July 11, 2020, photo archive, guests wear masks as needed to attend the Magic Kingdom’s official reopening day at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel via AP, Archive)
Chapek said during a conference call with Morgan Stanley Technology that he felt optimistic and that the company had cautiously seized a “unique opportunity” to advance aspects of the parks to help improve the guest experience and generate shareholder benefits since the pandemic. reached a year ago.
Included in this effort is an even more robust commitment to storytelling in depth using complicated technology as well as personalization.
DISNEY WORLD EXTENDS HOURS FOR THE FIRST WEEK IN MARCH
But, Chapek noted that the plan also includes a renewed focus on the guest experience, including implementing keyless check-ins, mobile food orders, contactless sorting and “itinerary planning and full utilization” of information. He said the company’s planning also incorporates consideration of reopening and rehiring costs.
“There is a fundamental shift, in which we can more effectively practice these income management strategies in a more profound and unlimited way,” said Chapek.
For example, Chapek cited recent changes to the annual pass program.
He said Disney was “thrilled” at how guests responded to precautionary measures at reopened parks and consumer sentiment, but that a real recovery would be a function of the speed of the COVID-19 vaccine and travel readiness.
“And we think that demand will recover very well, when – if and when we can increase the number of people that we are installing in our parks or opening them for the first time,” noted Chapek.
A closing notice is at the entrance to Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland Resort, temporarily closed due to the coronavirus, in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. Lam Yik / Bloomberg via Getty Images
As the centenary of the centenary of The Walt Disney Company approached, he predicted that the magic of Disney would continue.
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“Well, we are about to reach our 100th anniversary. And I think that success in the future will be having the second 100 years as innovative, as creative, as full of growth as the first century,” said Chapek. “I think we will have a second 100 years of success, as we did in the first 100 years. And we are proud of the team and all the work they did to get us out of the pandemic pit. But the best is yet to come.”
Michael Hollan of FOX Business contributed to this report.