ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World in Florida turns 50 in October.
To assist have a good time, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse will likely be sporting flashier threads and iconic constructions such because the Cinderella Fortress and the golf-ball-like Spaceship Earth are getting new lighting, Disney officers mentioned Friday whereas unveiling the primary particulars of how the large theme park resort will mark its milestone anniversary.
Plans for the 18-month celebration which begins in October are being made amid one of many hardest stretches the resort the scale of town of San Francisco has confronted in its almost 50 years. Final spring, Disney World closed for 2 months to assist cease the unfold of the brand new coronavirus, resulting in the non permanent furlough of 43,000 employees.
Final fall, the corporate introduced layoffs for 28,000 employees from its parks division in Florida and California because of limits on attendance and different pandemic-related points. Disney officers mentioned final November that income at its parks, experiences and merchandise enterprise fell 61% to $2.6 billion.
Earlier than the pandemic, Disney World employed round 77,000 employees.
Disney World has excessive hopes the fiftieth anniversary celebration offers Disney followers sufficient motive to return to the theme park resort throughout a time when vaccines will likely be extra broadly distributed.
For starters, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and different costumed characters will likely be getting glowing garments that embrace iridescent material and embroidery with renderings of the Cinderella Fortress. The resorts’ iconic constructions — the citadel at Magic Kingdom, Spaceship Earth at Epcot, the Hollywood Tower Resort at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom — will likely be glowing with particular lighting through the celebration. The Cinderella Fortress additionally will likely be revamped with gold bunting and different golden elaborations.
“It’s going to be the world’s most magical celebration,” mentioned Dana Carlson, an affiliate broadcast producer for Disney Reside Leisure.
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