food IS a theme park
After the U.S. (and Walt Disney World) closed due to the global health crisis, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis coordinated the Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step. Plan for Florida’s Recovery. effort. This plan introduced phases of reopening for the state.
Florida Sunset
Much of the state entered phase 2 in March, which allowed the reopening of select bars and movie theaters, along with several other venue types. However, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties were ordered to remain in phase one.
The global health crisis has brought about many challenges for bars and restaurants in Florida.
Dockside Margaritas at Disney Springs
Although Walt Disney World began reopening this summer, many of its bars had to shut down due to a statewide ban of on-premises alcohol consumption at bars. This applied to any locations that received more than 50% of gross revenue through alcohol sales.
Disney World has been open for almost two months, but Florida continues to face the global health crisis.
Florida Palm Trees
The state was placed under a State of Emergency beginning March 9th. The State of Emergency order has been extended twice since its initial filing and was set to expire tomorrow. Now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has filed a new executive order to extend the State of Emergency by another 60 days.
2020 has already shaped up to be a historic year for more than one reason! So why not add on a record-breaking hurricane season to spice things up?
Rain, rain, go away!
We previously reported on Florida’s own hurricane season being upgraded from “active” to “hyperactive,” and now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has upgraded their predictions for the 2020 hurricane season nationwide. This update comes just after Tropical Storm Isaias, the ninth named storm already this season, moved its way from Florida up the East Coast.
Florida has recently been a hot spot for the novel Coronavirus that’s been spreading globally since the beginning of the year, with cases and positivity rates soaring in early July, just as Walt Disney World opened the gates to its theme parks for the first time in four months.
Cast Members welcoming guests back to Magic Kingdom
Following this spike, public officials ordered various mandates to stop the spread, including closing bars and requiring masks in public spaces. And now we’re starting to see a bit of hope in the recent numbers.
Earlier, Tropical Storm Isaias was upgraded to Hurricane Isaias and the eastern coast of Florida remains in its potential path.
©Fox35
With Hurricane Isaias pressing northwest in the Atlantic, the U.S. National Weather Service has just issued a Tropical Storm Warning for Orlando, Florida in effect until Saturday, 1:00 AM EDT.
Back in early spring, analysts were predicting Florida’s hurricane season could be extra-active this year. Experts predicted an above-average number of storms would impact the Atlantic from June 1st through November 30th.
©WESH
So far, the 2020 hurricane season is well ahead of what experts consider to be a “normal pace.” Nine named tropical storms have already developed as of July 29th — and now that Tropical Storm Isaias has been strengthened to Hurricane Isaias, we’ve just learned Accuweather has updated its forecast for the 2020 hurricane season.
Today, the storm known as Isaias has been officially declared a tropical storm. We’re watching closely as the storm inches closer to the Florida coast.
Florida Palm Trees
The National Hurricane Center has claimed that Isaias has formed over the Caribbean Sea and could possibly head towards the Florida coast. Florida has already closed COVID-19 testing centers in preparation for the storm. The storm is sustaining 60 mph hour as of 8:00AM and is roughly 100 miles west-southwest of Ponce, Puerto Rico. [Read more…]
States across the country are implementing various travel advisories that typically include an advised or mandated self-quarantine upon entering the state if the traveler is coming from a region with high positivity rates.
Orlando International Airport
Already, we have seen states such as New York add fines associated with breaking those mandated quarantines. Other states, such as Ohio, are currently advising a fourteen-day self-quarantine.
Well, here we are. All of the Disney World parks have reopened and we’ve been exploring the changes for over a week now.
Train Station
It certainly can be easy to want to settle back into “the parks are open” mode, but just because the parks are open doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily stay that way. Hong Kong Disneyland recently became the first park to RE-close due to the global health crisis…is it possible that Disney World could do the same?
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