Orange County officials: Airport travelers feel safe visiting theme parks

ORLANDO, Fla. - With the Thanksgiving holiday just days away, travelers are packing their bags, putting on their face masks and flying to Central Florida.   

“We’re coming to visit our two daughters that live in Orlando,” said Kevin Arceneaux of Louisiana.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says over the last few days, OIA has become the second busiest airport in the nation when usually, it ranks between fifth and seventh.  

“In spite of the travel warnings if you will – there are still people traveling here and they’re going to continue to come here,” Demings said during a news briefing Monday.

Both Mayor Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer say they’re concerned about travelers spreading COVID-19 in our community, however they believe the theme parks are a good option for vacationers.   

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“People flying in and going to Disney or Universal – those are two of the safer places I can think of to go and not worry as much about whether you might contract COVID because of social distancing and other practices they’ve put in place,” Dyer said.

“We are extremely proactive, as you can see, in being safe,” said traveler Stacy Deitelzweig, who was wearing a mask and face shield at OIA Monday.

She says after researching places to go on a family vacation – her family felt like their best option was Disney.

“Disney is requiring and enforcing mask wearing,” she explained.

“We’re balancing this as best as we can. It may be a good thing that people feel safe traveling here. It speaks to the type of community we have,” Demings said.

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest coronavirus news.