California’s theme parks may reopen on April 1 according to updated state health department guidelines, after a year of coronavirus closings that cost parks billions and forced them to lay off tens of thousands of jobs during the COVID pandemic. -19.
California’s new theme park guidelines and opening date are part of an “update” on Governor Gavin Newsom’s four-tier project for a safer economy.
California’s theme parks have been closed since March 2020 in accordance with state-issued COVID-19 health and safety reopening guidelines. Many parks have been partially reopened for special events and food festivals without tours.
The Newsom administration’s “Blueprint Refresh” allows Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, SeaWorld San Diego, Legoland California and other California theme parks to reopen on April 1, as soon as counties in that are located reach level 2 red / substantial risk status.
As of April 1, California theme parks can reopen with 15% capacity in red / substantial level 2, 25% capacity in orange / moderate level 3 and 35% capacity in the least restrictive yellow / minimum level 4.
Participation in the theme park will be limited to California residents. The updated guidelines will be developed in the coming weeks in partnership with the theme parks.
“We appreciate the administration’s willingness to work with the state’s theme parks on the more subtle details of the plan so that the parks can reopen responsibly soon, putting people back to work safely and reinvigorating local economies,” said the director. California Attractions and Parks Association executive Erin Guerrero in a statement.
Most California counties with large theme parks still remain at the most restrictive, purple / generalized, level 1 risk level – including Orange (Disneyland and Knott’s), Los Angeles County (Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain), San Diego (SeaWorld and Legoland) and Solano (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom).
Orange and Los Angeles counties are expected to move to red / substantial level 2 next week – that is, Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s, Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain may reopen on April 1.
Santa Clara County – home to California’s Great America – is currently at the red / substantial risk level of level 2. The Santa Clara amusement park marked its reopening on May 22.
According to the revised theme park guidelines, indoor rides and attractions must maintain 15% capacity in the red layer and 25% capacity in the orange and yellow layers, while outdoor rides and attractions can accommodate more passengers, as long as the rules of social distance are followed.
The move is an abrupt turnaround from the “slow, stubborn and rigorous” approach to reopening California’s theme parks adopted by the Newsom government last fall.
In October, California authorities issued separate reopening guidelines for smaller and larger theme parks in the state – with small parks allowed to reopen at level 3 orange / moderate, while large parks could return at level 4 yellow / minimum. The service capacity was fixed at 25% in both layers.
The California Parks and Attractions Association said the initial guidelines issued in October would keep the state’s major theme parks “closed indefinitely.”
The Blueprint Refresh no longer distinguishes between large and small California theme parks.
The Newsom government has been under pressure from the theme park industry for months to revise the reopening guidelines.
The reversal by the Newsom administration comes just days before the one-year anniversary of the closure of California theme parks by coronavirus in mid-March 2020. It also comes just weeks after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that outdoor amusements could reopen on April 9 – making it likely that California’s theme parks will be the last to return in the U.S. A bipartisan bill proposed in February by California assembly members would speed up the reopening of theme parks and override state guidelines.
Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock said the announcement provides a path for the reopening of California’s theme parks.
“We are excited that the theme parks now have a way to reopen this spring, bringing thousands of people back to work and helping a lot of neighboring businesses and our entire community,” said Potrock in a statement. “With responsible Disney security protocols already in place around the world, we can’t wait to get our guests back and we look forward to sharing an opening date soon.”
The prolonged closure of Disneyland had a “profound and devastating” impact on Anaheim workers, according to city officials.
“It will mean a lot to our working families and small businesses that have suffered so much while our largest companies were closed last year,” said Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu in a statement. “Disney went to great lengths to be ready for a safe and responsible reopening, and everyone should feel comfortable and confident to return to Anaheim.”
United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents Disneyland’s cast members, applauded the Newsom administration’s initiative.
“Our Disney cast members are excited about the good news that Disney parks will reopen in a month,” said UFCW Local 324 president Andrea Zinder in a statement. “They have been on leave or unemployed for a year and are looking forward to getting back to work to offer Californians a little more magic in their lives.”
Universal Studios Hollywood president Karen Irwin said the park is looking forward to returning.
“We are ready to reopen, ready to bring our team members back to work, ready to help stimulate the local economy and ready to welcome guests,” said Irwin in a statement.
Six Flags Magic Mountain plans to announce an opening date soon.
“We are pleased with the governor’s announcement and look forward to welcoming our guests back to Six Flags Magic Mountain with a full complement of our world-class roller coasters in a safe outdoor environment,” Magic Mountain officials said in a statement. . “An official opening date will be posted on our website and social channels in the near future.”
The team writer, Alicia Robinson, contributed to this report.