Disney Delays Reopening Parks in California

Walt Disney has announced that the reopening of its theme parks and resort hotels in California will be delayed, following a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state in recent weeks. A previously announced phased reopening for Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park was scheduled for July 17.

California broke a record Tuesday with an increase of more than 7,000 cases in a day. That was a huge increase from the record high a day earlier, when more than 5,000 new cases were recorded.

“The State of California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4,” Disney said in a statement on Twitter. “Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials.”

“Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date,” the company added. Both parks have been closed since mid-March.

The Downtown Disney District is still scheduled to reopen on July 9 with new health and safety protocols. That’s in line with restaurant and retail openings throughout the state.

Internationally, Disney has already reopened resorts in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando is also set to reopen on July 11, Tokyo Disneyland Resort is reopening on July 1 and Disneyland Paris is reopening on July 15.

Breaking: @Disneyland will not be reopening on July 17th. #Disneyland #DisneylandResort #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/1pm57UelJI

— Park Journey (@Park_Journey) June 25, 2020