Later in the day, Disney's stock ended down 13 percent, on a day when all of the major Wall Street indexes showed a downturn of about 10 percent. Disney fans reacted to the decision marking the first shutdown of its theme parks in nearly 19 years, after 11 September 2001.
Netizens shared their opinions on social media, criticizing the decision or praising rightly-timed actions by the company to tackle the contagious disease. Most comments expressed a deep disappointment with the latest developments.
This month’s theme. pic.twitter.com/5bpwgLlFIm
— Traveling With Minors (@TravelingMinors) March 13, 2020
Find it hard to believe no cases at Disney, that’s means it’s a hoax.
— Airport Drive (@Mrridiculous9) March 13, 2020
We had planned our first trip with our daughter to head there Monday. Feel better now about our decision to postpone but still bummed. 😭 We were so excited about this trip.
— Stephanie Schofield (@srschofield1) March 13, 2020
NOOO I was going on March 18th and now I’m crying so much right now 😭
— xXzShanShanzXx (@XzShanz) March 13, 2020
They should have been two of the first places closed.
— hummer (@chintimini9) March 13, 2020
Yeah, they're going to be anxious to give discounts after losing tens of millions of dollars
— Chris Kelley (@ChrisKelleyUSA) March 13, 2020
This virus is now officially a tragedy
— Big Body Bugatti (@djmaarz) March 13, 2020
At the end of January, both Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland closed amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. According to Disney’s financial officer, company losses will depend on how long the theme parks remain closed and how fast they can resume operations following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
