Disney said Tuesday afternoon that its theme parks division took a $3.5 billion hit due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Disney Parks reported an 85% decline in revenue this quarter compared to last year, and the company said it believes the total negative impact of COVID-19 on parks this quarter is $3.5 billion.
“Unfortunately, COVID struck again and all the numbers started going up. This gave some level of trepidation to travelers who are anxious about long distance travel, jumping on a plane and flying to Walt Disney World,” Disney’s CEO and CFO announced the Parks, Experiences and Products Bob Chapek said.
About half of Walt Disney World visitors are coming from local markets. Disney is seeing a higher number of reservation cancellations than it expected.
Chapek is optimistic that once Florida’s COVID-19 numbers decline, tourists will come back.
“Our research indicates and our bookings indicate that we should be in good shape once consumer confidence sort of returns,” Chapek said.
Disney leaders say based on reservations, there is enough demand to surpass the current capacity caps put in place to ensure social distancing.
Overall sales for the company fell 42% to $11.8 billion.
Disney did report positive returns on its new streaming service, Disney+, which had nearly 60 million subscribers at the end of June, according to the company.
