Coronavirus: Abigail Disney slams Disney World for holding 'farewell' party with hundreds of visitors before shutdown
Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Walt Disney Co's co-founder Roy Disney, on Sunday, slammed Disney World for holding a huge "farewell" party with hundreds of visitors before the park was shut amid coronavirus fears.
Disney, on Sunday night, closed its flagship theme park resort in Orlando, Florida after directives were issued amid a widespread coronavirus outbreak in the country, which has claimed 69 lives and infected 3,774 in the region. At least 130 people have been infected by the deadly virus in Florida alone.
Abigail took to Twitter after pictures of massive crowds were released at Sunday's showing 'Happily Ever After', a fireworks show. The 60-year-old shared pictures of the event and wrote: "Are you f****** kidding me??" questioning the gathering of large crowds at the Florida park.
COVID-19 has killed nearly 6,000 people across the world and has infected over 169,000. The rapid rate of infection has led Disney to shut its parks in the US, Europe, and Asia, in an attempt to avoid gathering of large crowds.
Reports state that Sunday night's celebrations were held in the Magic Kingdom in the Orlando resort which had 20 million visitors in 2018, making it the most-visited theme park in the world.
The images of the night were first shared by Walt Disney World News Today with the caption: "A whole cast of characters, from Mary Poppins to Stitch and even Cinderella were at the special farewell at the Magic Kingdom." The outlet is not affiliated with the resort.
Shortly after the pictures were shared, many social media users swiftly slammed Disney for their "irresponsible" behavior.
One user wrote: "Disney was irresponsible for doing this, they should've closed Friday morning." While another said: "It’s irresponsible. I just can’t believe we can’t come together on something so basic."
A third added: "This irresponsibility is disgusting. If Florida's healthcare system is overwhelmed, Mickey will have blood on his gloves."
Although the company has not yet released a statement on the event, the resort has said that it will remain open until Monday so that the guests already present there can make their travel arrangements before shutdown.