The State of California has indicated that California theme parks, which includes the Disneyland Resort, will be able to re-open as early as April 1st.
Under the new guidance rules, theme parks will be able to operate at 15% capacity once the county they operate in are in the Tier 2 Category. Orange County, the home of the Disneyland Resort, expects to reach this level possibly next week.
According to the Orange County Register, initially entry will be restricted to California residents. It was explained that this is because of the statewide travel advisory that remains in place.
Ken Potrock, President, Disneyland Resort issued a statement –
“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. 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.”
It is important to mention that this means that the Disneyland Resort CAN open as early as April 1. It does not mean that it WILL
When do I think that the parks will open?
There are a number of things to consider. Some people have stated that the parks could open in early April. My guess is that it may not be until mid-May.
How do I come to this date…or period of time?
First of all, back on February 23rd Disney Vacation Club announced that the villas at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa would re-open on May 2nd. Now, I know that initial entry will be restricted to California residents, but it should be noted that a good portion of DVC Members at this resort probably are California residents. I believe that Disney would like to have the villas available for the re-opening of the parks.
More importantly, Disney needs to recall laid off Cast Members. And since they’ve not been working for nearly a year, they will need to be re-trained. This all takes time. I just don’t see this happening in the next 3-4 weeks.
I know there is pent up demand for the Disneyland Resort and that the resort will initially be restricted to California residents, but let’s look at the re-opening of Walt Disney World. Disney announced re-opening dates of July 15th on May 27th last year. That was about 6 weeks. The DVC resorts at Wall Disney World re-opened on June 22nd. That was about three weeks ahead of the parks re-opening. Granted, the DVC presence at the Disneyland Resort is much smaller.
Based on all of the above factors, I still think mid-May looks good to me. If I’m wrong and the parks in California open sooner, I’ll be happily wrong.
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