Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced during a call to investors today that Walt Disney World has increased its maximum operating capacity to 35%.
Chapek’s statement was quoted and is as follows:
“We’ve been able to pretty materially increase our capacity and still stay within the guidelines that local governments are giving us, for example, 6 foot be social distancing, and this is happening across our parks across the world. In fact, Walt Disney World, which was at a 25% capacity constraint which was our industrial engineering estimates to keep 6 foot social distancing, now has been able to increase to 35% of capacity. So, almost a 50% increase in the number of guests that we can allow in, and still adhere to the local guidelines and the guidelines that are stipulated by the CDC with the 6 foot social distancing.”
As Chapek points out, the new capacity limit, a 40% increase over the previous limit of 25%, continues to enable industrial engineers to respect the CDC social distancing guideline of 6-feet. Although he did not specify exactly how the social distancing recommendations are still met at 35% capacity, the addition of plexiglas dividers on many Disney attractions may be part of that solution.
It is not known exactly when the capacity increase at Walt Disney World went into effect.
