Disneyland Will Reopen Soon Promises California Governor
Courtesy of movieweb.com:
California Governor Gavin Newsom promises that Disneyland will reopen its doors soon. It has been over six months since the park originally had to shut down, along with the rest of California theme parks. There were plans to open the world famous tourist destination back in July to correspond with Florida reopening Walt Disney World, but that did not happen, thanks to the ongoing public health crisis. California is still a hotspot and the area surrounding the Anaheim, California park is still seeing new cases.
Gavin Newsom spoke about Disneyland and other theme parks reopening during a press conference yesterday. Newsome said that he will make “announcements soon on theme parks and amusement parks.” He then went on to say that he will be “making public the fruits of those negotiations very, very shortly.” The California Governor has been urged by California Attractions and Parks Association (CAPA) over the past few weeks to reopen theme parks across the state in an effort to get people back to work.
CAPA executive Erin Guerrero released a statement that says, “California’s amusement parks urge the governor to issue amusement park guidelines expeditiously so these vital community attractions can reopen their doors in a responsible manner and get residents back to work.” Workers at Disneyland have been on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to reopening. But, it seems the majority want the park to reopen. You can read the rest of Guerrero’s statement below.
“Six months ago California’s amusement parks and attractions made the difficult decision to close voluntarily in response to COVID – and the impacts have been devastating. Tens of thousands of jobs have been weighing in the balance. Hundreds of millions of tax revenue that support critical local, state, and federal programs, lost. And local businesses that rely on amusement parks continue to struggle, with many closing permanently.”
When Disneyland originally announced plans to reopen in July, a union representing employees threatened to hold a protest against the idea. The protest never happened after Gavin Newsom revealed that theme parks in California were not going to be able to reopen. Since then, one Disneyland employee has started a petition to get back to work, which gained some traction late last month.
Disneyland has been ready to reopen with new safety protocols since July. They have just been waiting on Governor Newsom to give them the greenlight. So far, Walt Disney World has been doing okay with their implementation of new safety guidelines, though attendance has been down considerably, even with a portion of the capacity allowed into the park. With that being said, Florida relies more on out of state tourism than the California theme park, which has a lot of visitors from Southern California on a daily basis. For now, it looks like employees and Disney fans will have to wait just a little bit longer for Newsom’s decision. Blog Mickey was one of the first outlets to report on the Disneyland news.
