Doctors, Theme Park Visitors and More Weigh in on Disney World's Reopening

Vox has reported on the various opinions surrounding Disney World's reopening in the wake of the rising COVID-19 numbers in Florida, sharing opinions of medical health professionals, theme park visitors and more. While some say that the experience of going to Disney World in the middle of the pandemic is fun despite the stress of the pandemic, others feel that it is not safe to have the park open at all.

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Florida House Rep. Anna Eskamani, who serves the 47th District in Orange County shared:

"I've made it very clear in the past that I don't think any theme park should have opened at this moment whatsoever... We have some of the worst cases in Central Florida and in the state. Theme parks, to Disney's credit, are trying really hard to create a safe environment and have made it very clear of the risk. I think they're definitely taking it seriously, I just wish that we had leadership at the state level and county level that would balance these decisions with public health."

She continued to say that workers "don't feel like they have a choice but to go back to work. They might not feel safe going back to work, but they feel like the option is the only one to be able to pay their bills because they can't rely on the unemployment system,"

Infectious diseases attending physician and clinical epidemiologist Jade Pagkas-Bather, who works at University of Chicago Medicine said, "You probably could not pay me money to go to a theme park. I might consider it if someone says they'd wipe out my student loan debt from medical school, but that is not a place I would recommend going to."

However, others feel differently.

One Disney World visitor, Suzay McGarrah shared: "Nothing on this trip at all has made me scared. Nothing... It's a big decision to make, to travel into a hot spot ... but we're not traveling around Orlando. We're not going to Target. We're not going to restaurants in Orlando. We're not going to the grocery store. I feel like we're in a bubble. It's been Disney ever since we stepped off the plane, so we put all of our trust in their hands, and I feel like they've taken care of our trust."

Read the full story HERE.