What Hong Kong Disney’s Closure Means For Disneyland
If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog then you know that yesterday we announced that Hong Kong Disneyland would be closing to the public due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 virus. It joins Disneyland Paris who made a similar announcement in October.
A recent piece in the Orange County Register asks what impact these recent closures will have on the Disneyland in California which has NOT been given permission by the state of California to reopen due to continued cases of coronavirus in the state.
The OC Register highlights, “The stop-start restrictions seen at Disney’s Asia and European theme parks could become the norm for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as well once the Anaheim theme parks eventually reopen.”
As we’ve previously reported here at MickeyBlog Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are unlikely to reopen before early 2021 or next summer according to COVID-19 guidelines put in place by the state. In the meantime, Disneyland has reopened their Downtown Disney shopping district which they recently extended to encompass Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure.
Disney officials have become increasingly vocal over the last few months about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s restrictions when it comes to reopening the theme parks. They have pointed to successful reopenings of the company’s other theme parks around the globe as evidence that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure should be given the greenlight to reopen after nearly 8 months of coronavirus closure.
The news that Hong Kong DIsneyland is closing for the third time this year along with the fact that half of DIsney’s theme parks around the world continue to remain closed due to Covid doesn’t help Disney’s case when it comes to reopening in California.
Also across the pond, DIsneyland Paris, reopened in July only to have to reclose in late October. This means that Disney’s theme parks in Florida, Japan and Shanghai are the only parks open.
So the long and short of it is that we are unlikely to get a Disneyland reopening anytime soon. The state of California remains stringent in their reopening requirements as part of their blueprint for a safer economy with large theme parks being required to wait out the pandemic until exposure rates for Orange County are in a yellow/minimal tier.
Some smaller theme parks were given permission to reopen (in a move that angered Disney) but in the case of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk have been forced to close again due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the county.
As the OC Register points out, the California Attractions and Parks Association unsuccessfully lobbied on behalf of Disney and Universal to reopen the parks. The wanted California to grant permission for the theme parks to open in the Orange/Moderate tier rather than wait it out until the yellow tier. However, this is unlikely to have an impact as according to the Governors guidelines, heavily populated counties like Orange County where Disneyland is located continue to be in the purple/widespread tier because of a consistency in new cases.
The fact that Hong Kong has had 6,300 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began and has been ordered by the government to shut down does not bode well for Disneyland. California alone has had 1.2 million cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic- 81,000 of those in Orange County where the theme parks are located.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely. Keep checking back with us for further news and updates.
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Source: Orange County Register