‘We currently anticipate Disneyland resort will remain closed at least through the end of the fiscal first quarter,’ Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy says.
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>>Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are expected to stay closed for the rest of 2020 and not reopen until 2021 while large California theme parks remain shuttered under state guidelines, according to Disney officials.
“We currently anticipate Disneyland resort will remain closed at least through the end of the fiscal first quarter,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said.
McCarthy commented on the continued closure of Disney’s Anaheim theme parks during a conference call with analysts on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Large California theme parks such as Disneyland and Disney California Adventure remain closed and are unlikely to return to full operation until early 2021 or next summer under COVID-19 health and safety reopening guidelines issued by the state.
Disney’s first quarter for 2021 is expected to end in late December just before New Year’s Day with results reported in early February.
“Our parks and experiences business continues to be impacted by COVID-19,” McCarthy said on the call. “We do not have visibility into how long it will last.”
The Disney Parks, Experiences and Products division saw a $9.7 billion decline in revenue in fiscal year 2020, according to the quarterly report.
California officials issued separate reopening guidelines for small and large theme parks in the state. Small theme parks with a capacity of less than 15,000 visitors can reopen in the orange/moderate tier 3 while large theme parks can return in the yellow/minimal tier 4.
Orange County — home to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure — is currently in the red/substantial tier 2.
Under a best-case scenario, Orange County could move from the red/substantial tier 2, through the orange/moderate tier 3 and into the yellow/minimal tier 4 by mid-December. But O.C. Health Care Agency officials have said that the best-case scenario is unlikely.
Once the parks were cleared to reopen, it would likely take Disneyland and DCA another two to five weeks to prepare the parks for visitors — which would push the first potential reopening date into early to mid-January.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said on the call that he was “
extremely disappointed” that Disneyland and DCA remain closed after nearly eight months by an “arbitrary standard” in COVID-19 state guidelines established by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.
“Unfortunately, we’re extremely disappointed that the state of California continues to keep Disneyland closed,” Chapek said on the call. “Frankly, as we and other civic leaders have stated before, we believe state leadership should look objectively at what we’ve achieved successfully at our parks around the world, all based on science as opposed to setting an arbitrary standard.”<<
