Universal Orlando is partially reopening their shopping and restaurant district called CityWalk Today at 4PM. Ahead of that reopening they invited the Florida Department of Health to come in and see what they have done and hear what their plans are.

After the visit Dr. Raul Pino, FDOH Health Officer for Orange County, and an important member of  the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force, said it was a learning experience.

“They thought out the process. We came to realize the large number of surfaces that people will come in touch with — the handrails especially. The winding lines that we have for the rides”

I guess a lot of people wouldn’t think about that. Honestly, theme park reporters and fans have been discussing it for awhile. But when you’ve been in enough lines where kids are licking hand rails, windows, rocks, etc. you start to think about it. We have been taking hand sanitizer to the parks and making frequent hand washing stops prior to the COVID-19 issue, because of this. Getting sick from the parks isn’t a new idea or issue. Normally people worried about norovirus or the flu, but now it’s COVID-19.

Universal Orlando will be offering hand sanitizing stations throughout the area, as well as requiring employees and guests to wear masks and take a temperature check before entering the area.

Dr. Pino hopes that this could all lead to new theme park cleanliness standards. I too have wondered this. I hope that moving forward people will get less sick in general because we are all more aware of how viruses can transmit and how many surfaces we were thoughtlessly touching.

He said he’s hopeful this could help lay the groundwork for a new theme cleanliness standard. But like everyone he wonders “Is it going to be enough?” Like he also mentioned it comes down to the number of people and how well they follow guidelines.

What do you think? Comment and let us know.

Source: Click Orlando