Disney World Cuts Back Hours, Attendance Lower Than Expected

by

After reopening on July 11, Walt Disney World Resort (NYSE: DIS) will now be cutting back on its hours after attendance following reopening didn't reach expected levels. The scaling back will begin September 8 and run at least through October.

Attendance was lower than expected due to continued public attempts to maintain social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, as well as general public concern over the pandemic.

"We've been able to achieve net contribution at current attendance levels," said Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy during the company's recent livestreamed quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts. "But the upside we are seeing from reopening is less than we previously expected due to the continued rise of COVID cases in Florida."

All four Walt Disney World theme parks will be affected, with times open reduced anywhere from one to two hours daily.

  • Magic Kingdom: will close at 6:00pm (previously open until 7:00pm)
  • EPCOT: will close at 7:00pm (previously open until 9:00pm)
  • Hollywood Studios: will close at 7:00pm (previously open until 8:00pm)
  • Animal Kingdom: will open at 9:00am and close at 5:00pm (previous open from 8:00am to 6:00pm)
Part of the reasoning for reduced hours stems from not only fewer visitors attending the parks but also an increase in the number of cancellations. Additionally, it may not be as comfortable for individuals and families to adhere to mandatory temperature checks upon arrival and having to wear masks during their visit, likely contributing to Disney World's overall reduction in popularity during this time.

During third quarter, Disney's parks brought in $983 million, an 85% decrease from its revenue during third quarter of last year, which reached $6.6 billion. From May to June of this year, the company lost $3.5 billion in operating income over the three months while the parks were completely shut down.

In fact, it may have cost Disney close to $5 billion overall during those initial months of the declared pandemic while businesses and venues were closed, including $1 billion lost to shut down their theme parks during the second half of March.