A year after Disney closed its doors indefinitely, laying off tens of thousands of employees, Disneyland will reopen on April 30, the company announced today. That’s four days before Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth”) and, apparently, just in time for fans to grab the elusive Galaxy’s Edge spork. (The flagship “Rise of the Resistance” also barely debuted at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge before the pandemic started, so expect it to be popular.)
Remember that the COVID-19 coast is not yet completely clear: Disneyland and its neighbor, Disney’s California Adventure, will be operating at 15% capacity, CEO Bob Chapek told CNBC. Masks will be required for everyone over the age of two, there will be some temperature scans, Disney is also introducing “a new theme park reservation system” for each participant – and only California residents can visit, according to state guidelines.
Two weeks ago, California paved the way for theme parks like Disneyland to open on April 1, with only 15% or 35% of the maximum visitors allowed in the park, depending on how risky COVID-19 is in the area. Orange County, where Disneyland is located, is at the “purple” level of greatest risk. Technically, Disneyland will offer some limited guided tours, dubbed “A Touch of Disney”, starting tomorrow, March 18.
Why is Disneyland reopening when major geeky gatherings like San Diego Comic-Con, E3 and Anime Expo were canceled? Well, the company has been arguing for months that Disneyland is less risky because it is largely outdoors, which makes sense. Nor does it hurt that California Governor Gavin Newsom is under tremendous pressure to reopen Disneyland, among other businesses, in large part because he was spotted having dinner at an expensive, unmasked restaurant last year.
“It’s a great time for Disney to return to normal,” my colleague and Border Disney-resident expert Julia Alexander told me, pointing out how Disney parks are the “safe” recipe for the company. In February, Disney said it believed its park division lost $ 2.6 billion due to COVID-19 in the last quarter alone.