Disneyland Ready Be Part Of Reopening Solution In Orange County
ANAHEIM, CA —Anaheim officials have repeatedly asked the state for "guidance on theme parks to reopen safely and responsibly when it is right," city spokesman Mike Lyster said. "We actually need a roadmap for recovery."
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the state plans to make announcements "soon" relating to reopening guidelines for theme parks.
This week marks the six-month anniversary of the shutdown of large venues such as theme parks, Anaheim officials appealed publicly to the state for some kind of guidance on the reopening of Disneyland so they can better prepare. The state shutdown order of March 14 also affected the Anaheim Convention Center, the Honda Center and Angel Stadium.
"I'm not here today to make that presentation, but want folks to know we are actively working in a number of sectors and will be making public the fruits of those negotiations and those efforts very, very shortly," Newsom said.
Buena Park Mayor Fred Smith, Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones and Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu held a news conference Wednesday to invite the governor to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm to judge for himself if the theme parks are ready to open. They appealed to the governor to give them more insight when the parks can reopen.
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, president of the California State Association of Counties, toured Downtown Disney on Wednesday with Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa.
"I was extremely impressed with the level of protocols in place from temperature checks to face coverings, to the restriction of the number of persons in the stores and restaurants," Bartlett said. "They're being very, very diligent in Downtown Disney to ensure everyone's respective health and safety whether it be the cast members or the public. They're doing a great job to keep the public safe and to keep the cast members safe."
Bartlett said Disneyland was "ready to reopen and should be allowed to reopen at this point."
Bartlett said she believes state officials are considering theme parks like large convention centers or concert halls, but the main difference is most of the entertainment at the theme parks is outdoors, where experts say the virus does not spread as easily as it does indoors.
Bartlett said she is part of a "kitchen cabinet" of CSAC officials recently assembled and she plans to lobby state officials to reconsider the category theme parks fall into.
Orange County was upgraded from the most restrictive purple tier to the red tier in California's coronavirus monitoring system one week ago, and has the opportunity to move to the orange tier next Tuesday if numbers continue in a positive direction. The move allowed for churches, theaters and other businesses to resume indoor operations, but with strict limits on capacity and other health measures in place.
Theaters, restaurants and churches are restricted to 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less. Museums, zoos and aquariums also were allowed to reopen indoor activities at 25% capacity.
Shopping centers were given the green light to expand from 25% capacity to half-capacity under the red tier, while gyms were allowed to reopen at 10% capacity.
"In order to reopen our theme parks we need to negotiate agreements with our unions to return employees to work," a Disneyland Resort spokesperson said in July. "We have had positive discussions and are very pleased to have signed agreements from 20 union affiliates, including the Master Services Council, which represents more than 11,000 of our cast members. The signed agreement details plans that include enhanced safety protocols that will allow us to responsibly reopen, and get thousands of our cast members back to work."
What is the first thing you'll do when you return to Disneyland? Tell us in comments, or by emailing your Patch editor.
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This article originally appeared on the Lake Forest Patch
