Disneyland receives reopening guidelines from California, but still won’t reopen for a while
The state of California has finally released its reopening guidelines for Disneyland and other theme parks, but Disneyland will remain closed until Orange County, California’s COVID-19 designation changes.
According to the guidelines, announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly during a press conference, Disneyland can operate under Tier 4 “Yellow” (minimal) with a limited capacity of 25 percent. Orange County is currently in the “Red” (substantial) tier.
California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy has four designations for counties based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward.
The four tiers are:
- Tier 1 – Purple – Widespread
- Tier 2 – Red – Substantial
- Tier 3 – Orange – Moderate
- Tier 4 – Yellow – Minimal
Once Orange County gets to Tier 4, Disneyland will need to follow a large list of safety recommendations, including:
- Required use of a reservation system
- No day of ticket sales.
- Capacity must be limited to 25% of total facility occupancy based on the
design/operating capacity or fire department occupant limit, whichever is
fewer. - Capacity on all indoor dining and drinking establishments within the park
must be limited to 25% - The use of face coverings by guests and cast members.
- Social distancing.
- Enhanced sanitary practices.
The majority of the requirements announced are what Disney has been practicing at its other parks around the world. However, it is unknown when Orange County, where Disneyland is located, will be reduced to Tier 4 – Yellow.
Disney and the rest of the theme park industry has been at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom over the reopening of the parks. When Newsom did not announce guidelines last month, Disney announced massive layoffs at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
