So now we know—more or less—when Disneyland could open, but what is the actual timeline for the reopening, considering the new guidelines just issued by the State of California? Well, in order to open, we now know larger theme parks can only open at the “Yellow” or Minimal Tier.
During last week’s update, Dr. Ghaly reiterated that Orange County, which includes Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort, was still under a Red “Substantial” tier code.
Currently, Orange County is at a 3.2% positivity rate, but needs a 2% positivity rate or less to reopen under Yellow. Orange County must meet these metrics and stay in that tier for two weeks before transitioning to a lower tier. That means we could not see a potential reopening date for Disneyland until around November, December, or even next year.
Here’s some input from Brady MacDonald from The Orange County Register:
At best, that means major California theme parks won’t reopen until November or December. At worst, reopening dates could be pushed to next year. Which makes setting a reopening date for Disneyland, Universal and other California theme parks difficult if not impossible. Without a firm reopening date, the parks can’t set staffing, training, ride testing and visitor reservation plans.
Disney has yet to make any follow-up announcements with regards to today’s issuing of theme park reopening guidelines—largely because it will depend on how COVID-19 rates progress in the county, something that, for all their political jockeying, is completely out of their control.
You can read full industry guidelines for theme park reopenings here. Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to chronicle the reopening of Disneyland in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
