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Florida Is Re-Opening! (And Updated Disney Info!)

a map of florida with different pictures

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced today that, with the exception of a handful of counties in the southeast portion of the state, the state of Florida will begin its reopening process effective Monday, May 4th.

The state had been under a “Stay At Home” mandate since April 3, at which time Florida residents were told to stay home and “limit movements and personal interactions outside the home” to essential services or activities. This would hopefully help to limit the number of cases of cornoavirus in the state and “flatten the curve.”

The Governor says that most of state will now begin to take “small, deliberate steps” towards reopening, using a “slow, methodical and data driven approach.” Effective May 4th, the state will be in Phase 1 of reopening. That will include:

The order will be posted on the Florida government’s website in short order.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties still have ongoing high numbers of coronavirus cases at this time and they will begin their own respective reopening processes at some time in the (hopefully near) future.

Governor DeSantis suggests Florida will reopen in 3 phases. Phase 1 will begin on May 4th. He’s not giving a firm timeline for Phase 2 and will use the data of continued testing and numbers of new positive cases to determine when to begin Phase 2. He did suggest hopes that Phase 2 could begin in “weeks, not months.”

When the Stay at Home mandate went into effect on April 3, Florida had just shy 7,000 diagnosed. Since then, Florida has averaged between about 700 and 1,200 new cases per day, for a total of roughly 26,000 more diagnosed. However when the mandate went into effect, we were experiencing a definitive daily upward trend of cases and it now goes up or down (albeit more down than up), depending on the day. Hopefully cases will start to go down on a consistent basis. We’ll see what happens.

OK, that’s nice…but what about the theme parks???

Obviously, in light of the above, they’re not opening yet. 😉

Governor DeSantis established a Re-Open Florida Task Force in April to lay the groundwork for how to open the state, including the large and small theme parks, for business. Members of the Executive Committee include upper level management from both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.

On April 28, the Executive Committee’s Orange County subcommittee had a task force meeting to outline how businesses related to tourism could eventually reopen. The outlines for each included different phases for reopening, and guidelines and mandates in terms of what businesses would do (recommended and mandated) during each phase.

Click here to see the video of the meeting (it’s an hour and a half long. Might want to just look at the lists below. Just sayin’).

Large Theme Parks (Disney, Universal, SeaWorld)

  • Guidelines:
    • Tape marking of 6 feet apart in ride/attraction queues
    • Staff to regularly wipe down surfaces at random
    • Phase 1 & 2: Staff who are 65+ are encouraged to stay home
  • Mandates:
    • All employees required to wear face masks
    • Touchless hand sanitizer at each ticketing entry and turnstiles
    • Touchless hand sanitizer at each ride/attraction entry and exit
    • Temperature checks for staff prior to shift (if you have a temperature above 100.4, you can’t enter the premises)
    • Wipe down all railing and surfaces regularly
    • Phase 1: 50% capacity
    • Phase 2: 75% capacity

Small Theme Parks (Funspot, Gatorland)

Hotels

Restaurants

The guidelines and mandates are only initial suggestions and don’t include any extra measures that theme parks/hotels/restaurants would want to take on their own.

There was no discussion about specific re-opening dates in the April 28th meeting, nor, as of this writing, are any opening dates posted on any theme parks’ websites. Universal’s website currently says they are, “temporarily closed at least through May 31.” Walt Disney World’s website currently says that, “Walt Disney World theme parks, Disney Resorts and the Disney Springs area are currently closed and a reopening date has not been identified. For guests who are interested in modifying their existing travel dates or making a new reservation for a future vacation, reservations are currently available for travel dates June 1 and later. Guests are able to modify these bookings if Walt Disney World Resort opens before or after that time.”

The suggested guidelines and mandates will next be sent to the Governor and the Executive Committee.

#stayhealthy #stayathome #washyourhands

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

 

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