ORLANDO, Fla. (WJW) — Some financial analysts are predicting that Disney parks will remain closed until January 2021, according to USA Today.
John Hodulik, the managing director of investment research at global financial firm UBS, says economic and health concerns will likely keep Disney World, Disneyland and Disney’s overseas parks closed for the rest of the year.
“We believe Parks’ profitability will be impaired for a longer period of time given the lingering effects of the outbreak and now assume an opening date of Jan. 1 as our base case,” Hodulik told the newspaper. “That said, the economic recession plus the need for social distancing, new health precautions, the lack of travel and crowd aversion are likely to make this business less profitable until there is a widely available vaccine.”
Hodulik says that while “officials at the federal and state level are working on ‘opening’ the economy,'” he anticipates it will “happen in stages” and that stadiums and theme parks will be the last businesses to reopen.
However, another researcher, J.P. Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani, optimistically predicted that Disney could reopen its US parks as early as June 2020. She believes if they do that attendance will remain very weak.
“We’re assuming the parks will open on June 1,” she reportedly said. “It’s also the date that Disney is accepting reservations,” she said. “If you call up and you want to book a hotel at Disney World, that’s the first date you can book: June 1.”
Disney has not yet commented on either prediction.
The company released a statement in March saying Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California, would both remain “closed until further notice” because of the coronavirus.
