BREAKING NEWS: Some Disneyland Experiences Could Be Opening Sooner Than You Think!
So we have some interesting news out of California on this Friday afternoon. Reports are coming in the Governor Gavin Newsom is updating his COVID-19 social distancing policies. Under the plans, select outdoor activities will resume. This applies to sports as well as the theme parks and could go into effect as soon as April 1st.
Under the new guidelines, theme parks would be allowed to reopen at 15% capacity when their county enters the state’s red tier designation. According to a recent piece by ABC7, this was confirmed by Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services. This is already being hailed by CA residents as having a positive impact on Disneyland operations specifically shows, parades and other events held outdoors that have been on hiatus for over a year due to COVID-19.
Disneyland President Ken Potrock released a statement about these changes expressing excitement but also showing that Disneyland isn’t ready to reveal additional reopening plans just yet:
In the statement, Potrock says, “We are encouraged that theme parks now have a path toward reopening this spring, getting thousands of people back to work and greatly helping neighboring businesses and our entire community. The statement continues, “With responsible Disney safety protocols already implemented around the world, we can’t wait to welcome our guests back and look forward to sharing an opening date soon!”
However for those hoping to hop on the The Haunted Mansion or enjoy “It’s a small world.” sadly the news we have to share is its unlikely to happen just yet! Ghaly told reporters during today’s press conference that the April 1st re-opening will be limited and WILL NOT include indoor rides. He also advised that the reopening will be restricted to California Residents ONLY.
California Attractions and Parks Associations Executive Erin Guerrero said in a recent piece to the OC Register, “We appreciate the administration’s willingness to work with the state’s theme parks on the finer details of the plan so parks can responsibly reopen soon, putting people safely back to work and reinvigorating local economies.”
Most of California’s theme parks including Disneyland Resort are located in Orange or LA Counties. Both of these areas are expected to move into the red tier next week. That means that under the NEW guidelines Disneyland and Disney California Adventure can re-adjust some of their offerings beginning on April 1st.
As the OC Register tells us, the policy will have new guidelines that will focus on building capacity limitations and time limitations. Some indoor rides that meet the minimum requirements could reopen but Disney has YET to announce anything official regarding these plans.
We do know that indoor dining will continue to be banned for the time being.
As the OC Register points out, the news is a bit of an about face from Governor Newsom’s administration which has been under increased pressure from the theme park industry to relax reopening guidelines. The policy change also comes just days before the 1 year anniversary of the the Disneyland theme park closures which happened last March.
Here at MickeyBlog we are excited regarding the news that the theme parks are reopening. However, we also want to make sure those planning a Disneyland visit have all of the necessary and correct facts. So keep following along with us. We promise to keep you posted of further developments!
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Source: ABC News, OC Register