LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Walt Disney World theme park has frozen hiring as jitters over a potential war between the United States and Iraq slows travel, Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday.

Disney, the world's largest theme park operator, was scrutinizing all expenses at Florida-based Walt Disney World and California-based Disneyland, although Disneyland has not frozen hiring outright, spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said.

Seasonal jobs at the Florida parks are not covered by the freeze, she said.

Disney has 53,500 positions at Orlando, Florida-based Disney World and about 20,000 at Disneyland.

"We think it is the prudent and precautionary step that we need to take in the face of uncertainty -- not just the threat of war, but even the dialogue and the concerns about war are things that impact our business," Goodman said.

The threats of terrorism and war have cast a pall over travel worldwide, which in turn has hurt business at Disney and other destinations.

Disney executives for months have said that travelers were waiting until the last minute to book vacations and that European travel had slowed, remarks they repeated during the company's earnings conference call January 30.

Disney has targeted local theme park visitors as international attendance has flagged, and its stock has moved strongly in reaction to the perceived threat of war.

Shares fell 45 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $16.85 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.

Disney rival amusement parks Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, and SeaWorlds in Orlando and San Diego have not instituted freezes, said a spokesman for Busch Entertainment Corp, the parks subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc..

"It's pretty hard at this point in the year to tell what our business is gong to be like," Busch spokesman Fred Jacobs said.

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