Disney World Attendance Reportedly Down 80%

Despite declining cases of COVID-19 in Florida and adjacent states, attendance at Walt Disney World is down nearly 80-percent. According to a new memo from Deutsche Bank, Disney World attendance plummeted in August of this year when compared to a similar time in years past. In the note to clients, the financial firm attributes the attendance woes solely to consumer worries in regards to the further spread of the coronavirus.

“While Disney World appears to be lagging the COVID case reduction, we would expect the data to relieve some of the admissions pressure in the near future,” a note from the bank reads (Via Business Insider). “At present, Epcot and Animal Kingdom are outperforming Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.”

The bank sees the attendance problems as a temporary set back as the note adds, “Given this ongoing improvement in Universal’s attendance and declining new daily COVID cases in Florida, we believe that Disney World will also soon see some benefit.”

Within the past week, the state of Florida was reported around 4,500 cases a day, a steep drop from the 12,000 per day average the state reported throughout July.

Earlier this year, Disney parks boss Josh D’Amaro admitted the company feels like it’s in a new norm as everyone tries to navigate a post-coronavirus world. D’Amaro released a lengthy statement at the time Disney World beefed up its mask requirements as some park-goers tried to circumnavigate existing policies.

“We are in a new normal right now, so what’s happening outside of the gates of Walt Disney World is our new world,” D’Amaro said. “I think you know we were one of the first theme parks to close, and we’ll be about the last to open. And we spent every minute of every day thinking about how to operate in this new normal that we’re in.”

“I’m exceptionally proud of this group in terms of what they’ve put together from a protocol perspective and being able to open in a phased and really responsible way,” he added. “I had a chance to walk Main Street just a few minutes ago. It feels really good in the park. So yeah, the world is a different place, but we feel really prepared to operate in this new environment that we’re in.”

While Disney World is open to reduced crowds, the Anaheim-based Disneyland remains closed.