food IS a theme park
A couple of weeks ago, Orange County in California re-entered the most restrictive reopening tier, the Purple Tier, due to a rise in positive case rates. Since then, the county has had to close indoor dining operations, as well as reduce capacity at indoor retail locations to 25%.
Disney California Adventure Park
Now, 11 counties across Southern California, including Orange County where Disneyland is located, will enter a new stay-at-home order.
The state of California released the long-awaited theme park reopening guidelines yesterday, which calls into question when large theme parks like the Disneyland Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood can actually reopen. The guidelines dictate that larger theme parks with capacities of above 15,000 may not reopen until the county in which it resides enters the Yellow “Minimal” tier.
Disneyland Gate
But what does that actually MEAN in terms of a reopening timeline? And how is that timeline affected when you take into consideration what health experts are saying about a rise in cases? We’re breaking it down for you.
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Yesterday, the state of California released the long-awaited theme park reopening guidelines, which signaled what could be a longer than anticipated wait before guests can visit the Disneyland Resort once again.
Smoke Above Disneyland
Now, we’re learning about another prominent institution with the Disney name in Southern California that is further delaying when its doors can open once again, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of back and forth happening between Disneyland Resort and the state of California.
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland
Disney executives continue to make their case for Disneyland to reopen soon, but California Governor Gavin Newson has stated he is in “no hurry” to release theme park guidelines. That statement came after Disney Chairman Bob Iger stepped down from the California Economy Recovery Task Force.
Today, Orange County in California hosted a news conference to provide an update on the county’s reopening initiatives in the wake of the global pandemic. The news conference follows what has been several rocky days between the state of California and the Disneyland Resort, after Governor Gavin Newsom noted that he is in “no hurry” to release theme park guidelines. Disney promptly issued a response to the governor’s remarks later that evening.
©California Governor Gavin Newsom
During a question and answer session with reporters, Dr. Clayton Chau, County Health Officer, was asked about the reopening of theme parks and if there was any concern that the parks could become a “super-spreader site.” His response highlights the work that he and Dr. Mark Zahn, Dr. Mark Zahn, Medical Director of the Division of Epidemiology at the County Health Care Agency have done with Disneyland over the past several weeks and months.
After weeks of back and forth between California theme parks and Governor Gavin Newsom’s office regarding safe reopening guidelines, we continue to see significant disagreements between the two regarding readiness.
Sleeping Beauty Castle
Today, Governor Newsom noted in a press conference that there’s “no hurry” to put out guidelines, and “we’re going to be stubborn about it.” Newsom’s reasoning for this stubbornness is a focus on being “led by a health-first framework,” and “let[ting] science and data make that determination.”
Tonight, Disney has reacted via their twitter account through a statement from Disney’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pamela Hymel.
It’s been quite the week for The Walt Disney Company.
Walt Disney Company Logo
Following the news that the Parks, Experiences, and Products department would be laying off 28,000 people, Disney executive chairman and former CEO Bob Iger has QUIT California Governor Gavin Newsom’s economic recovery task force.
Disneyland has been closed for over six months due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there’s still no reopening date or plan.
Sleeping Beauty Castle
And there’s been mounting pressure from Disney officials, California legislators, trade associations, and coalition of Anaheim, Buena Park and Garden Grove city leaders and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce for Governor Newsom to issue theme park reopening guidelines that these locations need to properly reopen.
While Downtown Disney has been open for Guests for two months, we still have no word on when Disneyland will reopen its two theme parks. No updates have been provided from Disneyland since they delayed the reopening of the parks, originally scheduled to take place on July 17.
Downtown Disney District
In a news conference today, California Governor Gavin Newsom commented on the ongoing progress being made in conversations with the theme park industry in the state, and noted that there are still some open-ended areas in their negotiations.
Not too long ago, we told you about a Federal Aid plan that included a $25 billion airline rescue package to bail out the hard-hit travel industry due to the country’s recently shut down.
Orlando International Airport
And now Disney along with top industry leaders of several major companies are moving forward with a plan to seek over $1 trillion in government aid.
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