Disneyland likely to reopen with 66% more capacity than expected – Deadline

The happiest place on Earth can be even happier than expected when it reopens in April.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that the state is close to meeting its goal of inoculating 2 million Californians in underserved communities. This milestone, according to a recent state order, triggers a relaxation of the requirements to move from the more restrictive purple layers of the governor’s reopening plan to less. In addition, Newsom announced last week that theme parks could reopen – with very limited capacity – on April 1.

However, it doesn’t matter in Orange County. Officials there say they are on track to reach the red level by possibly March 17. “We expect Orange County to open to the red level next week,” said Orange County CEO Frank Kim.

Dr. Clayton Chau, director of health and director of the Orange County Health Agency, told reporters on Wednesday that the health department “expects to have two weeks at the red level on Tuesday and on Wednesday we will have an application official for the red layer. “

The county already has credit for meeting red level metrics for a week, and if the region continues to do so starting on Sunday, it will be eligible for a graduation up to red level. (California requires that counties be in a new tier for two consecutive weeks before they can implement that tier’s reopening protocols.) Tier announcements are made on Tuesdays.

The lower thresholds triggered by meeting Newsom’s vaccination program target, however, will help Orange County move to the orange level even earlier than expected, said Kim.

This is important for county parks, such as Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. In the red layer, they can reopen at 15% capacity, without internal meals or out-of-state guests. Internal capacity is also limited to 15%.

But at the orange level, the parks increase to 25% of capacity, an increase of 2/3 in the service that will probably be music to the ears of residents closed last year. The internal capacity is also 25% in orange, according to the most recent classification table in California.

Chau agreed with Kim’s prediction, but noted that once Orange County reaches the red level, it will have to remain stationary for at least three weeks.

“It will be easier for us to move to the orange level,” said Chau. While county figures may qualify them before that, Chau said, “the fastest we can get to the orange level will be after the first week in April.” That’s because counties must stay on one level for 3 weeks before moving on to another.

This early April window is important because Disney CEO Bob Chapek said this week that Disneyland will reopen in “late April”. If that is the case and the predictions of the Orange County authorities are true, the park will be able to reopen not at 15% of capacity, but at 25%.

The positivity rate for the county test improved from 3.9% to 3.2% last Tuesday, and the rate of adjusted cases per 100,000 people on an average of seven days with a seven-day lag improved from 7, 6 to 6. The county’s Health Equity Quartile rate, which measures positivity in hotspots in disadvantaged communities, increased from 4.9% last week to 4.1%.

The county is in the red layer with case rates per 100,000 and the orange layer for positivity rates. To reach the red level, the county must have a case rate per 100,000 inhabitants of 4 to 7, a positivity rate of 5% to 8% and a quartile health equity rate of 5.3% to 8%. To reach orange, the case rate must be less than 4 per 100,000.

The red layer allows many more businesses and organizations to reopen. For example, retail stores can allow half capacity instead of 25%, and museums, zoos and aquariums can reopen for indoor activities at 25% capacity, as well as cinemas, gyms and restaurants.