While the Disneyland Resort awaits reopening guidelines from the state of California, a rally is being planned to put pressure on Governor Gavin Newsom.
The “Open Disneyland” rally will be held on Saturday, October 17th at 8:00 AM local time. Disney fans, executives, Cast Members and California state legislators are expected to gather at the resort’s main entrance on Harbor Boulevard in the hopes of getting the state and Newsom to release the reopening guidelines. The event has been organized by a group looking to recall the governor. The group is funded by the California Patriot Coalition, a conservative-leaning organization. A Facebook page for the event describes its purpose as follows:
To stand in unity with the magic makers and all of those who believe in the magic for the reopening of Disneyland.
We will be standing for all the 28,000 castmembers who were laid off and with more to come if the gates stay closed.
Standing for the community and businesses that have been affected.
Standing for all the guests from around the world who need joy and inspiration that comes from the magic makers.
Both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have remained closed over the COVID-19 pandemic since March. While the state is currently working on finalizing the guidelines, visiting places including the resort and Universal Studios Hollywood along with sending strike teams to Walt Disney World, they have stated that there’s no formal timeline to release the guidelines, with California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly saying that they “will come out when we’re ready.” In an interview on CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Chapek has called the previously-drafted guidelines, which would’ve restricted the parks to 25% capacity and kept visitors to residents who live with 120 miles of the resort, “stringent,” “arbitrary,” and a “mandate that we stay closed.”
As part of the interview, Chapek also said, “we’d like to put our cast members back to work — as many of them as possible — as soon as possible if the government will let us.” Disney has reached return to work agreements with 11 Cast Member unions to help get the parks reopened as soon as possible once the finalized guidelines are announced.
Keep reading WDWNT and Disneyland News Today as we learn more about the reopening process.
