ORLANDO, Fla. _ Universal CityWalk will begin its partial reopening at 4 p.m. Thursday, Universal Orlando announced Tuesday. That will mark the first step by an Orlando theme-park company to emerge from the shutdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Visitors and employees will be required to wear face coverings, Universal says, and temperature checks will be performed. People with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or greater will not be allowed to enter CityWalk.
Restaurants opening Thursday include Red Oven Pizza Bakery, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., the outside seating area and Lone Palm area of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Voodoo Doughnut and Auntie Anne's. Each will have limited menus and seating available.
Also operating will be the Universal Studios Store, the retail shop for Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company and some merchandise carts.
The complex is scheduled to be open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Hours of operation may change, and more venues may be added later, Universal said.
Universal CityWalk, nestled between the resort's parking garages and its Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios theme parks, includes national and local restaurants, nightclubs, retail outlets, a 20-screen movie theater and other venues. All businesses there have been closed since mid-March.
The company has not yet said when it will reopen its theme parks, Volcano Bay water park or its hotels, which also connect to CityWalk. In a news release Tuesday, Universal said those attractions would be closed "at least" through May 31.
Disney Springs, the shopping and dining complex at Walt Disney World, last week announced that some of its tenants would reopen, with restrictions, on May 20. Disney also has not announced a reopening date for its other attractions.
