Disney CEO Bob Chapek Addresses California Parks Reopening

Disneyland is set to officially reopen on April 30th, and Disney’s CEO gave his reasoning for why reopening is going so well. Bob Chapek talked to Bloomberg Business this week about all the happenings for the House of Mouse. California’s decision to go ahead and reopen the parks has been regarded as a major turning point in the public optimism about the vaccine effort. When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, the parks ground to a halt along with movie theaters and cruise ships. That’s three huge arms of the company’s business all facing a lot of uncertainty. Through a number of methods, they seem to have weathered the storm, and it actually looks like Black Widow might finally get a spot on the screen this year. Chapek talks about that brand loyalty as a huge factor for why people are so keen on returning to the parks.

“We’re thrilled with the response that we’re seeing from our guests in terms of future reservations and intent to come back to our parks,” Chapek began. “I think that it’s a function of two things. Number one, confidence that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic. But also, a tremendous trust in our brand. You know, we’ve been able to operate across the world, at Walt Disney World for example, for the last nine months. We’ve done so responsibly. We’ve had the NBA bubble that was so successful. And I think guests know that Disney is going to do it right.”

“That brand trust really leads them to want to come back to our parks and experience the magic,” he continued. “They know that we’re going to be responsible as we do that and they can have a great time.”

In previous comments to CNBC, he talked about the craving that certain fans had to get back to their vacations during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen the enthusiasm, the craving for people to return to our parks around the world,” Chapek observed. “We’ve been operating at Walt Disney World for about nine months, and there certainly is no shortage of demand.”

Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock also put out a statement when rumblings about California’s parks reopening began.

“We are encouraged that theme parks now have a path toward reopening this spring, getting thousands of people back to work and greatly helping neighboring businesses and our entire community,” Potrock’s statement reads. “With responsible Disney safety protocols already implemented around the world, we can’t wait to welcome our guests back and look forward to sharing an opening date soon.”

Will you be visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World this summer? Let us know down in the comments!