Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries have been variously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; the company has business interests in areas that involve mass gatherings (including its theme parks and film releases) and isolation (including its streaming service and U.S. television brands).

In March 2020, Disney's executive chairman Bob Iger announced that he would not take any salary during the pandemic; in 2019 he earned $47.5 million.

[1] The president of Walt Disney World, Josh D'Amaro, was included on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's board for re-opening the state and reinvigorating its economy, while Disney Parks' VP Thomas Mazloum is on the task force for Orange County, Florida's economic recovery.

[9] Due to the closure of Walt Disney World, the British variety show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway canceled a finale taping that had been set to film at the resort in April.

[12] From the week beginning April 20, 2020, over 100,000 staff at Disney theme parks and hotels were put on indefinite unpaid leave, to save the company $500 million.

Park capacity was limited to 30%, social distancing measures were instituted, and temperature checks and face masks were required for entrance.

Pending local government approval, the resort intended to open the Downtown Disney shopping district on July 9.

[20] On September 29, 2020, the New York Times reported that Disney was laying off 28,000 people in the United States, due to the impact of the pandemic on its parks, resorts, cruise line, and retail store business.

According to Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney's parks, 67% of the employees reported to be laid off were part-time workers who were paid by the hour.

[21] On November 9, 2020, the Disneyland Resort announced additional furloughs for executive, salaried and hourly cast members.

[25][26] On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure could reopen with capacity restrictions beginning on April 1, 2021.

[27][28] Four days later, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced at a shareholder's meeting that the company was planning on officially reopening the parks in late April 2021.

[34][35][36] Disneyland Paris reopened on June 17, 2021, marking the first day in 17 months that all Disney parks worldwide were open.

[40] It suspended all ships on March 14, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered cruises to stop sailing for 30 days.

As compensation to passengers, Disney is offering full refunds or to re-book a cruise for within 15 months of the original departure.

[43] As films began to cancel wide releases at the start of 2020, Disney's Mulan, which was set to premiere on March 27, but was postponed in China and Italy.

[44][45] Particularly for Disney, Mulan not opening in China, where it aimed to make most of its money, was concerning,[46] especially with the possibility of pirated copies appearing, discouraging Chinese patronage in cinemas on release.

[45][91] Disney saw fit that the service should go live in India on March 11, eighteen days before it the initial release date was expected to.

[99] Mulan, after being delayed several times, had its U.S. along with multiple international releases in cinemas cancelled and instead premiered on Disney+ on September 4, 2020.

[101] The Marvel Cinematic Universe was first hit on March 12; the Marvel Studios film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was shooting in Australia, suspended production due to director Destin Daniel Cretton self-isolating due to suspected coronavirus, though he later tested negative.

[110] On May 11, 2020, Lucasfilm released a video featuring Mark Hamill thanking Star Wars fans from all over the world, who worked as medical and healthcare workers, for their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in their countries.

[138] On April 28, Diamond announced it would resume distribution of single issue comics to retailers, with in-store availability scheduled for May 20.