As a crisis consumes his theme park in Orlando, Disney’s CEO is half a world away, overseeing the opening of the brand new Shanghai Disneyland.
It was supposed to be one of the most important launches in Disney’s history and one of the crowning achievements of Bob Iger’s career. And it still will be. But now, all eyes are on Iger as Disney responds to emergencies closer to home.
First came security concerns at Walt Disney World in the wake of Sunday’s attack at the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando. Then came a terrifying alligator attack at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort Tuesday night.
By Wednesday morning, the disappearance of a 2-year-old boy was dominating news coverage, hours ahead of Disney’s long-awaited grand opening in Shanghai.
Disney personnel helped with the search that ended Wednesday afternoon with the recovery of the boy’s body. It also closed all of its beaches “out of an abundance of caution” following the attack, a spokesman said.
Thursday’s celebrations in Shanghai — where 800 journalists are credentialed to cover the festivities — may be scaled back in light of the tragedies in Orlando.
Already, an outdoor gala on Wednesday night was canceled, and a smaller-scale event was held inside instead, avoiding the threat of rain but also the television cameras.
A Disney spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
But the P.R. hurdles are readily apparent.
Disney usually maintains tight control over its public image. It is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and the world’s biggest media company by market cap.
The Shanghai park is a huge area of growth for the company — a long-awaited and lucrative entrance into China. The $ 5.5 billion park has been in the works for years.
It is “a great opportunity to grow,” Iger told CNN last week.
Iger and many of his top executives have been in China for much of the month.
But on Wednesday morning, the top headline on The Disney Blog, a popular unofficial destination for news about the company, wasn’t about that at all. It was “Gator drags toddler into lake at Disney’s Grand Floridian.”
The second story is about Disney donating $1 million to the OneOrlando fund set up by Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer.
Although the Pulse nightclub is a half hour drive away from Disney’s sprawling resorts, Sunday morning’s attack set off alarm bells right away.
There were immediate questions about security measures at Disney’s parks, which the company sought to answer in a statement that said in part, “Unfortunately we’ve all been living in a world of uncertainty, and we have been increasing our security measures across our properties for some time, adding such visible safeguards as magnetometers, additional canine units, and law enforcement officers on site, as well as less visible systems that employ state-of-the-art security technologies.”
On Tuesday it was reported that the gunman “cased” Disney’s properties, possibly scouting locations for an attack, before deciding to target the gay nightclub instead.
The gunman even visited Disney Springs, an entertainment and dining area on the company’s Orlando property, hours before the massacre at Pulse.
CNN’s Matt Rivers contributed to this report from Shanghai.