NEWS: Mayor Demings Reveals Re-Opening Plan for Florida's Orange County

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, along with representatives from Florida’s Orange County Task Force, announced plans for a gradual reopening of the county in a press conference today.

Disney Springs

With Florida set to begin opening some of their businesses on Monday, May 4th, Demings led a press briefing that included several representatives from the Orange County Task Force, outlining recommendations made thus far on how industries can move into “Phase One” of re-opening. Demings also spoke to a phased re-opening of theme parks when asked he expected them to reopen.

Demings said that he cannot say precisely when the Orlando theme parks will re-open, but that they will likely re-open in phases. While he did not single out any specific theme park, he noted that the parks have various business sub-units, such as hotels and restaurants, that could be phased back in gradually. Demings did say that the “major parks” will probably lag in terms of a phased opening.

Spaceship Earth

He noted that, while the theme parks will make their own decision regarding re-opening, he reiterated that they “have been good partners” with the committees and task forces. Demings also recognized that the monumental task of getting tens of thousands of furloughed employees back will take a considerable amount of time.

Magic Kingdom

Beyond speaking about theme parks, Demings also announced that the county-wide curfew of 11PM to 5AM would extended into next week, with the county continuing to reexamine the curfew on a weekly basis.

We will continue to provide updates as this story develops in the coming days and weeks!