Not Even Disney Can Live on Dreams Forever
“Normal” is fading from the vocabulary, but if theme parks and movie theaters remain in a pandemic rut, will Disney even be the same company anymore?
There’s no bubble big enough for Disney.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaThe post-Covid-19 “return to normal” that Americans long for is far enough away that not even a company built on dreams can see it.
Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday said it will let go of an astonishing 28,000 employees at its U.S. theme parks, which include Walt Disney World and Disneyland, as the coronavirus continues to prevent those businesses from fully reopening. Disney’s California locations remain closed because of state restrictions, while the Florida parks have been operating with limited capacity and weaker attendance than Disney anticipated. It’s clear that for families weighing the risks of travel and crowds over the reward of getting out of the house, the virus won out.