food IS a theme park
Disneyland has been closed for almost a full year.
Sleeping Beauty Castle
While Disney World was able to open last summer, strict theme park reopening guidelines in California have kept Disneyland closed. Now, lawmakers in California are looking to change that.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has implemented a system where “Stay-at-Home” orders are put in place in regions within the state once that particular area falls below 15% ICU capacity.
Buena Vista Street
Earlier this month, some regions, including Southern California — where Disneyland Resort is located — fell below this capacity level, triggering the stay-at-home order to be implemented in that region. The stay-at-home order is then set in place for a minimum of three weeks, at which point the situation can then be reevaluated. The order was set to expire in Southern California on December 28th, but as California’s ICU capacity continues to fall, Governor Newsom has announced that the stay-at-home order will remain in place in Southern California.
With the first round of vaccines arriving in California this week, the focus of discussion has largely shifted on the distribution and prioritization of these vaccines.
Buena Vista Street
During today’s news conference with California Governor Gavin Newsom, a reporter asked a question about vaccine prioritizations, and if there was any flexibility that counties had in distributing the vaccine.
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.Â
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.
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