Why Go to Disney World During a Pandemic?

After the theme park’s reopening earlier this summer, visitors have weighed the pros and cons of going while coronavirus rates remain high in Florida.

[gentle tones][crowd cheering]- [Crowd] Mickey, Mickey, Mickey!Mickey, Mickey, Mickey!["The Mickey Mouse Club March"]♪ M-I-C-K-E-Y ♪♪ M-O-U-S-E ♪- [Automated Telephone Service]Thank you for inquiringabout Disney Parks, whereduring 2020 we're makingit easier than ever to celebrateany of life's special moments.Please remain on the linefor the next available agent.Due to heavier than normal call volume,the current wait timeis more than two hours.[bus reverse beeping]- [Female Traveler #1]Uncertainty causes discomfortand I think that discomfortis unsettling for people,it's part of human nature.I think Disney is afamiliarity for most people,so being able to go to Disneygave people that sense ofcomfort that they were missingand needing because COVID has madelife so uncertain right now.["Yankee Doodle Dandy"]- [Male Traveler] I justget absorbed in this worldthat makes me disconnectfrom the outer real world.I find myself there, Iforget that I have to bea professional, that Ihave to put on a showand makes me enjoymy inner childand being an adult, wesometimes forget what it isto be a child.- [Male Traveler #2]Staying connected to it wassuper important for meas a kid, it just wasa real place of imaginationand especially just in the mind of a kid.It's kind of a rite ofpassage of an American youth,for good and for ill but itstill has that place I thinkwhere kids and parentsfeel like they gotta go.[ride hydraulics hissing]- [Male Traveler #3]There's actually a pictureof me and my mother riding Dumboand that's probably when I was like, five.It's a little sentimental'cause my mother passed awayfour years ago from ovarian cancer,so I have that picture ofher and I by my bedside tablebut I think of those as justthe moments that you wantto hold on to, especiallyas you get older.Sorry, I'm getting emotional'cause I'm talking about itbut it's those type ofthings that I can gostand in this one spotand go I was here at thisspecific period of timeand just enjoy the time together.[indistinct ride sounds]- [Female Traveler #2] My dad hadpretty severe PTSD fromVietnam and he was a single dadand I grew up with him buthe absolutely loved Disneyand he felt a sense ofsafety and security thereand so his anxiety would sort of melt awayand so my dad was more of himselfand so I started to really love the placebecause we could relaxand have a lot more funand bond and I feltthat I had my dad thereand not his mental health issuesand then if you're a kidand you're mildly curious about thingsand you spend a lot of time in a place,interested in what is this place?And who created this?And the care and the craft behind it.- [Female Traveler #3] Myparents both had to work,you know, my parents wereundocumented immigrants from Mexicoand they didn't have money for a sitter,so my mom worked at a restaurantthat was next to a video store.She rented me prettymuch every Disney moviethat was available atthat time, so I thinkthat's where that feelingof comfort just stems from,it's just watching thesemovies over and overand so it just,like, going to the park, it's like again,that feeling of comfortand like everything's good.- [Automated Telephone Voice]All Disney Travel Planners arecurrently planningvacations for other guests.Please stay on the line.We look forward to speaking with you.- [Male Traveler #4] Disneyisn't meant for contradictions,it wasn't designed withcontradictions in mind,that is what makes Disney greatand why it does elicit suchfeeling but now with COVID,those contradictions are everywhere.You know, obviously weneed safety precautionsbut those are the contradictionsto what they built,Disney and theme parks ingeneral but Disney especially,they weren't made for social distancingand they weren't made for a pandemic.- [Female Traveler #4]Reading the interviewwith Josh D'Amaro, Presidentof Parks and Resorts,he said, "Look, the virus is here,"we have to learn to live with it,"and I think my first reaction to that was,I was pretty disturbed,especially because I don't seethis as something that wejust have to live with.I see every other country in the world hasdealt with this in some formof contact tracingand waiting until thecommunity spread gets to zerofor over a period of a couple of weeksbefore opening back up.We have a culture of exceptionalism,which is why you hear a lot of people say,"If you don't feel safe, don't do it,"if you feel safe, do it,"and then as I processed through that,I realized well then he's kind of rightbecause Florida is not one of those placesthat operated that way andDisney is a corporationthat isn't operating in avacuum and they have to makethe best decisions within the realitiesof the locations thatthey're operating in.- [Female Traveler #5] Imean, any business caresabout a loss of revenueand if you're anyone whois familiar with Disney,saw in the papers that Disney was losingquite a bit of money on a daily basis.However I, again, based onmy experience with Disney,I knew that they wouldn't openif it wasn't safe for people,despite their loss.- [Female Traveler #6] It'snot that I don't trust Disney,it's that I don't trust other peoplethat are gonna be going to Disney.My in-laws are over 70and I would hate to thinkthat I, you know, catch itand then bring it back home.I just, you know, part of mereally really wants to be therebut I can't.- [Female Traveler #7]We were on a group textand one of my friends waslike, "Yes we're going,"it's gonna open."We're like, "No we are notgoing, love you dearly,"would love to see you,definitely not going,"but maybe my situation isn'tanybody else's situation,so who am I to say dothis or don't do that.[air whooshing][engines chugging]- [Male Traveler #5] The thing I miss mostabout Disney World is justbeing able to go therewith my wife, push otherthings aside and just bein this place that is designedto keep you entertainedand keep you happy.It's just nice to go to aplace like that to escapeand kind of be envelopedin a very positive way.[futuristic music]- [Male Traveler #6] Istarted to kind of mournthe way it was but whatI'm really mourning isthat the world is so different now,in very profound ways to meand I don't think Disney could meanand be the thing that it used to be nowand that's where I really can't projectwhen it would be back tonormal, quote unquote,and then you talk aboutwell, you can enjoy itas a new normal.Maybe, that's a bigmaybe, I just don't know.Knowing it the way I didbefore, I feel like I willalways just sort of long for what it was.- [Male Traveler #7] What is magic?You know, there's notsomeone standing therewith a wand going bibbidi, bobbidi, booand then oh, I'm gonna change this,everything's gonna be fine.That doesn't happen but aslong as you can touch baseon your memories from thepast and try to morph thoseand adapt those to the current situation,I think that's what we can hold on tofor this current moment.- [Female Traveler #8]Not all magic is perfectand Disney's no exception to thatand to me, it's not like,oh look, they're human now'cause I never put it inthat category to begin with.So there's no doubt in mymind that a year from now,when hopefully everything'sa little bit more clear to goand everything else is kind of okay,that I'm not gonna getthe same exact feelingthat I had before.That feeling ofeverything's gonna be okay.[cheerful music]♪ You can fly, you can fly ♪♪ We're following the leader ♪♪ The leader, the leader ♪♪ We're following theleader wherever he may go ♪♪ We won't be home 'til morning ♪♪ To morning, to morning ♪♪ Wherever he may go ♪- [Recorded Telephone Voice] Thank youand have a magical day.