Eric Clinton, president of UNITE HERE, Local 362 on Wednesday told The Hollywood Reporter that park staff have a "mixed bag of emotions" about returning to work: Potential infection is a major concern, but so is not being able to pay rent. 

"Some are anxious to get back because the unemployment system [in Florida] is completely broken," Clinton said. On May 20, only sub-contracted shops will be open in the Disney Springs shopping and dining complex at Walt Disney World. The next phase will start seven days later when Disney retail shops, such as World of Disney Store, and Disney eateries reopen, the union president said. For that, an additional 59 custodians will report back to work on May 24. 

Disney is treating the safety of both guests and employees with the utmost seriousness, explained Clinton, highlighting some of the precautions that will be put in place. All guests and employees will be required to wear masks. Disney will provide employees three washable masks. Guests will have their temperature checked, and plexiglass dividers have been installed at registers. Guests will swipe their own payments cards, as they will no longer be handled by employees. And custodians will be retrained to pay attention to high-touch areas. 

Clinton would not speculate about when the rest of the resort, namely the theme park itself, might reopen, but he did point to the Monday reopening of Shanghai Disneyland Park, noting "what you see there is a lot of what you'll see here." The sprawling China park requires all guests and staff wear masks, has line queues and rides marked for one-meter social distancing and is allowing far fewer guests daily (below 24,000) than the maximum capacity, which is 80,000. 

Related

Employee Union: Disney Owned Shops, Restaurants Will Open May 27 at Disney Springs

Walt Disney World Begins Phased Reopening May 20th with Disney Springs

Darren Wittko