It's not exactly business as usual this weekend for central Florida's leading theme park operators. Hurricane Ian may be gone from the state, but the storm left a lot of destruction in its wake. There's also a fair amount of flooding making things a bit challenging. Varying recovery and staffing logistics find Disney (DIS 1.82%), Comcast's (CMCSA 0.41%) Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS 2.49%) carving out different timelines for the reopening process.
All three companies shuttered their gated attractions on Wednesday and Thursday, in anticipation of the brutal windstorm that eventually ripped through the area in the early hours of Thursday. Friday is where the game plans diverge. SeaWorld parks in Tampa and Orlando remain closed on Friday. Universal Orlando is opening portions of its resort on Friday, but only to guests staying at one of its on-site resorts. Disney World is opening all four of its theme parks to all visitors, but also as part of a phased reopening.
Image source: Universal Orlando.
A whole new world
Friday's restart at Disney World and Universal Orlando are putting resort guests front and center. Staying at a Universal Orlando hotel is the only way to get in on Friday, but Disney's also giving its on-site customers a bigger-than-usual lead over outside visitors. Disney typically opens its theme park attractions 30 minutes early for guests staying at one of its many hotels. On Friday, those guests will have access for two entire hours before the opening for everybody else.
Giving resort guests enhanced access makes sense on two different levels. For starters, the folks currently staying at a Disney World or Universal Orlando hotel have had little to do over the last two days with the park closures. Whether they are there on vacation or have been evacuated from the west of the state to ride out the storm in a more inland location, they still paid a premium to stay at an on-site lodging destination. The other reason for giving overnight guests the first crack at the reopened theme parks is that it achieves a gradual reopening with lighter crowds.
Most storm-related closures in the area have been near misses, making it easy to get going again. Hurricane Ian -- despite weakening to a tropical storm as it carved through the center of the state -- did go right over the theme parks. Shots of the damage at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure went viral on Thursday, including a chunk of the wall at the Jurassic Park River Adventure being torn off and a small portion of the Incredible Hulk Coaster track submerged under the flooded water.
Reopening isn't just about painting smiles on and unlocking the turnstiles. All three theme park operators have been doing a lot of cleaning up since Thursday. Getting back to business is also going to be a challenge from a staffing perspective, as many employees will likely be unavailable as they deal with personal recoveries back home.
There's naturally more than just a financial incentive to returning to normal operations sooner rather than later. Theme parks are scalable businesses that incur thick overhead costs even during closures. Locals also need escapism more than ever after weathering one of the worst storms to hit the state. As a tourism hotbed, central Florida also needs to let potential visitors know that it is ready for business. It's about more than just the upticks and downticks of the state's travel and tourism stocks.
Hurricane Ian was a monster. The human casualties and financial toll will continue to climb as Florida sifts through the damage in the days and weeks to come. The recovery of the state's popular theme parks pales in light of the plight itself, but they will also play a pivotal role in the recovery process by generating revenue for the state and the locals who need it now more than ever.
