Disney chairman says visitors’ temperatures might be checked when parks reopen

The executive chairman of Disney said the amusement parks may require visitors to have their temperatures checked as a safety precaution when the parks reopen. 

Disney’s top executive, Bob Iger, said the precaution is one measure the company is weighing to help customers feel safe when the parks open after closing amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“One of the things that we’re discussing already is that in order to return to some semblance of normal, people will have to feel comfortable that they’re safe,” Iger said in an interview with Barron’s published Tuesday. 

“Just as we now do bag checks for everybody that goes into our parks, it could be that at some point we add a component of that that takes people’s temperatures,” he added. 

Iger likened the potential changes to security updates that were made post-9/11. 

“Just as the case after 9/11 where people ultimately lived with the notion that in order for them to enter a building, if you’re in an office building you have to show a picture ID or get your picture taken and be screened. Or in order to enter a park you have to put your bags out there to be checked and you go through some kind of metal detector,” he said. 

Last month Disney announced its Disneyland and Walt Disney World parks would be closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Disney later said it would furlough employees “whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time,” starting April 19.