THE last family to leave Disney World was applauded by staff, ahead of the park closing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Video shows the emotional moment the final guests departed before the world-famous park closed for at least two weeks.
The last family to leave Disney World was applauded out by staff
Disney World is pictured empty, as the parks are closed amid the coronavirus pandemic
The Porter family told ViralHog it was “an amazing experience.”
Workers at the park lined up outside the Florida hotel, smiling as the family walked with their bags toward a shuttle.
The employees from the park applauded and cheered while the family made their way toward the bus.
Workers smiled, waved, and one took pictures of the historic moment as the park said farewell to its final guests.
One employee handed a child a stuffed Daffy Duck toy as the family neared the bus.
The Porters told ViralHog they had debated about even going on the trip due to the outbreak – but ultimately decided to “press on and go on the vacation.”
“Once we arrived, we were told that all parks and hotels would soon be closing. This type of event had never happened in history,” the Porter family told ViralHog.
One worker handed a child a stuffed Daffy Duck toy as the family headed toward the shuttle
The parks will be closed through at least the end of the month amid the COVID-19 outbreak
Disney Parks announced last week that the theme park could close on March 15, and on Friday, March 20, at 5 p.m., all hotels at Walt Disney World Resort and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort would close.
Although many other parks around the country had closed amid increasing social distancing measures in the U.S. due to coronavirus, Disney was one of the last parks to close.
The video emerged as coronavirus cases soared past 43,000 in the U.S. on Monday, with at least 533 deaths confirmed.
“On our last day at Disney World, our resort manager at the Riviera Hotel told us that we were the last family in the resort and area to leave Disney World.
“As we were walking to our shuttle, the entire staff lined up outside of the hotel to wave goodbye to my family and thank us for being a part of history,” the family told ViralHog.
The park faced huge backlash, after throwing a massive “farewell” party amid the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of Disney World’s closure.
Abigail Disney, park co-founder Roy Disney’s granddaughter, was among those to criticize the park for allowing hundreds to gather at the park amid the deadly virus outbreak.
“Are you f*****g kidding me??,” Disney wrote, commenting on a picture that showed crowds gathered at the Magic Kingdom.
Disney World received backlash for hosting a ‘farewell’ party ahead of its closure due to the global pandemic
Abigail Disney, granddaughter of park co-founder Roy Disney, asked “Are you f*****g kidding me?” in response to the photos
Jeffrey Ghazarian died just two weeks after visiting two Florida theme parks
Days before it closed, the world-famous park was still packed with visitors
The parks are now empty, as cases have soared past 43,000 in the U.S.
Days after the park finally closed its doors, a California man who visited the Florida destination just two weeks prior died of the deadly virus.
Jeffrey Ghazarian, 34, visited Disney World and Orlando Studios in early March – and days later, was confirmed to have COVID-19.
As his symptoms worsened, Ghazarian went to the hospital, and sadly became the youngest person to die of coronavirus in the U.S. on Thursday.