Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-10-12)

◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek October 12, 2020

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THEBOTTOMLINE Thepandemicis takinga financialtollat

Disney.Earningsmightnotreturntolastyear’slevelsuntil2024,

saysresearcherMoffettNathanson.

nation’ssecondmosttourist-dependentcity(after

LasVegas),accordingtodataresearcherSeoClarity.

Withtravelsohardhit,thatdoesn’tbodewellfor

laid-offworkerstryingtofindnewjobsquickly.

MaxineWild,a weddingplannerand23-year

veteranatDisneyWorld,starteda Facebookgroup

inAugusttohelpfurloughedworkersfindsidegigs.

CalledEarForEachOther,thegrouphasswelled

toalmost12,000members,withDisneychefsoffer-

ingtodelivermealsandothersmowinglawnsor

washingcars.SeamstressesaresellingHalloween

costumes,bakersarebakingcookies.“We’reget-

tingallthesewonderfullytalentedpeopleinthe

room,”Wildsays.“It’sbecomea placeofhow-to.”

Disneyis alsotakinga financialhit.Itsthemepark

divisioncouldswingfroma $4.9billionpretaxprofit

lastyeartoa $1.5billionlossin2020,saysresearcher

MoffettNathansonLLC.Earningsmightnotreturnto

lastyear’slevelsuntil2024,thefirmsays.

ForallhotelsintheOrlandoandAnaheimareas,

revenueperavailableroominAugust—normally

oneoftheyear’sstrongestmonths—wasdown

almost70%froma yearearlier,accordingtomarket

researcherSTR.RichardMaladecki,presidentofthe

CentralFloridaHotel& LodgingAssociation,esti-

matesthatasmanyasa thirdoftheregion’s125,

hotelroomsareclosedandwillremainsothrough

theendofOctober.Thehotelsthatareopenhave

beenaveragingoccupancyoflessthan30%.

CharlesSchnaars,whorunstheDestinyPalms

HotelneartheDisneyWorldcomplex,saysjust12%

ofhisroomsarefull,whenthatfigurewouldnor-

mallybeashighas70%.TheChristmasseasonisn’t

lookinganybetter,withDecemberbookingsless

than10%ofnormallevels.“It’shorrible,”hesays.

LanceBoyer,whowithhiswife,Karin,hasfor

24 yearsrunFloridaDreamHomes,avacation

homerentalbusiness,sayshe’shadalmostnobook-

ingsforthepastfivemonths.The59-year-oldhas

survivedongovernmentstimulusfunds,butthey

recentlyranoutandlastweekhesoldhiscompany

truckfor$11,000tohelppaybills.He’shopingthe

federalgovernmentpassesanotherreliefbillsoon.

“Wedon’tneedtaxcutsforbillionaires,”hesays.

“WeneedhelpforaverageAmericans.”

AfterreopeningitsFloridaparksinJulyand

seeing weak visitation from faraway guests, Disney

said it switched to focusing on local visitors. Len

Testa, who follows theme park attendance for the

site TouringPlans.com, says it’s now much easier for

season-pass holders to get a spot on the parks’ res-

ervation system. He estimates attendance at Magic

Kingdom has been at about 19,000 guests a day on

weekends, well below the capacity of 90,000.

Park patrons are definitely experiencing a

very different Magic Kingdom in the Covid-19 era,

though a dozen visitors on Oct. 2 told a Bloomberg

reporterthenewprecautionsdon’tsignificantly

detractfromthefun.RovingDisneycustomer-

service workers chided patrons for letting their face

coverings fall below their noses, and even families

huddling together for photos in front of Cinderella

Castle had to mask up. Lines for the rides appeared

discouraging at first, as Disney spaced parties 6 feet

apart for social distancing. The queue for the

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, for example, stretched

the length of three football fields from the ride’s

entrance.Thewaittime,though,wasrelatively

shortbyDisneystandards: 70 minutesonOct. 2

vs.2½hoursonsomepre-pandemic peak days.

JacobIrwin,44,hadflownfromConnecticut

tobeamong 11 familymemberscelebratinghis

parents’ 47th wedding anniversary. His brother and

sister-in-lawhadvisitedDisneyearlierinthesummer

and gave the family the thumbs-up after judging it

clean. “Honestly, the airport and the flights were

more of a concern than the park,” Irwin says.

Busscher, the former Disney parks employee,

thinks it’s just a matter of time before people feel

comfortable visiting the attractions again. She hit

the Magic Kingdom resort the day after Disney

announced its big layoffs, going with a friend to

her favorite ride and one of the parks’ scariest:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. “I hadn’t been

on a roller coaster for months,” she says. “I just

wanted to forget everything else for a little bit

and feel like a child again.” �Michael Sasso and

Christopher Palmeri, with Saijel Kishan

▲ Shuttered ticket

windows at Disneyland