Disneyland, Universal and other California theme parks can reopen April 1 - OCR/SCNG

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
>>California theme parks can reopen April 1 under updated guidelines from the state’s health department following a year of coronavirus closures that cost the parks billions and forced them to shed tens of thousands of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new California theme park guidelines and opening date are part of a “refresh” of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy.


California theme parks have been closed since March 2020 under COVID-19 health and safety reopening guidelines issued by the state. Many parks have partially reopened for special events and food festivals without rides.

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 as early as April 1 once the counties they are located in reach the red/substantial tier 2 risk status.

Starting on April 1, California theme parks can reopen at 15% capacity in the red/substantial tier 2. Capacity levels will shift in the orange/moderate tier 3 and yellow/minimal tier 4.

Theme park attendance will be limited to California residents. Updated guidelines will be worked out over the next couple of weeks in partnership with theme parks.

“We appreciate the administration’s willingness to work with the state’s theme parks on the finer details of the plan so parks can responsibly reopen soon, putting people safely back to work and reinvigorating local economies,” California Attractions and Parks Association executive director Erin Guerrero said in a statement.

Most California counties with major theme parks still remain in the most-restrictive purple/widespread tier 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 into the red/substantial tier 2 next week — meaning Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s, Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain could reopen on April 1.

Santa Clara County — home to California’s Great America — is currently in the red/substantial tier 2 risk level. The Santa Clara amusement park has already set a reopening date of May 22.

Under the revised theme park guidelines, capacity limits will be placed on indoor rides and attractions.

The move is an abrupt about-face from the “slow, stubborn and stringent” approach to reopening California theme parks taken by the Newsom administration last fall.

In October, California officials issued separate reopening guidelines for smaller and larger theme parks in the state — with small parks allowed to reopen in the orange/moderate tier 3 while large parks could return in yellow/minimal tier 4. Attendance capacity was set at 25% in both tiers.

The California Attractions and Parks Association said the initial guidelines issued in October would keep the state’s large theme parks “closed Indefinitely.”

The “Blueprint Refresh” no longer makes a distinction between large and small California theme parks.

The Newsom administration has been under pressure from the theme park industry to revise reopening guidelines for months.

The reversal by the Newsom administration comes just days before the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus closure of California theme parks in mid-March 2020. It also comes just weeks after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that outdoor amusement parks could reopen on April 9 — making it likely that California theme parks would be the last to return in U.S. A bi-partisan bill proposed in February by California assembly members would speed the reopening of theme parks and override state guidelines.<<

 
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D.Silentu

Well-Known Member
At such a reduced capacity it stands to reason that if the parks open at all, not all rides will be open, not to mention the entertainment.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
From the Blueprint...

>>RED:

Effective April 1, 2021: • Max 15% • Small Groups - Max 10 people or 3 household groups with no intergroup mixing • Indoor capacity max 15% with time restrictions • No indoor dining • Weekly worker testing program • In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect Online ticket purchases only<<

ORANGE:

Effective April 1, 2021: • Max 25% • Indoor capacity max 25% with time restrictions • Weekly worker testing program • With other modifications • In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect

YELLOW:

Effective April 1, 2021: • Max 35% • Indoor capacity max 25% with time restrictions • Weekly worker testing program • With other modifications • In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect<<




 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
So... Governor Newsom has "Refreshed" his science & data for the Four Tiers. And all the rules that come along with the Refresh are still just as restrictive, if not more so.

Foreigners and Oregonians need not apply.

It makes you want to cry, but instead I'll just laugh. 🤣

This will be a fun weekend to dig into all this new information, dissect it, and apply it to how it will work for Disneyland as a whole and our favorite attractions and experiences individually! 🧐
 

PostScott

Well-Known Member
When I first saw this I exploded with joy... then I started reading it and actually saw that not much has changed. We knew that parks got pushed into the red tier with a very very small capacity limit. All of the other modifications are the same so... yay I guess? All we got was a date but even so, no parks will open in April. The only one I could see would be Magic Mountain possibly.

They should stick with those, honestly. Better to get $50 from 25% capacity than $125 from 15% capacity and have to staff rides.
But hey, when you're Disney and can sell out a food festival for $75, I'm sure they can sell park tickets starting at $200 and they'd sell out faster than Touch of Disney.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member

I'm quoting Darkbeer here because I want everyone to click on that link he provided us.

It's a PDF file from Sacramento, and on Page 6 of that file is nicely summarized explanation of how this Refresh changes things for Disneyland and theme parks. It's not super detailed, but it's a good explanation of the changes and new rules.

Go check it out for yourselves, gang! I even saved it as a file, just in case Newsom "refreshes" it again. :)

We'll need to dig into the detailed info from Sacramento to figure out how things like this work at Disneyland though...

Orange Tier = "Indoor capacity max 25% with time restrictions."
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When I first saw this I exploded with joy... then I started reading it and actually saw that not much has changed. We knew that parks got pushed into the red tier with a very very small capacity limit. All of the other modifications are the same so... yay I guess? All we got was a date but even so, no parks will open in April. The only one I could see would be Magic Mountain possibly.


But hey, when you're Disney and can sell out a food festival for $75, I'm sure they can sell park tickets starting at $200 and they'd sell out faster than Touch of Disney.

Knott's has a major Hiring Day for both the Berry Farm and Soak City on March 13th.

They can easily start operating in April.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I really do think my favorite part is that even down in the Yellow Tier a theme park has to obey this requirement...

"In-state visitors only"

That's a new one, and wasn't part of the Yellow Tier reopening originally. So no tourists are allowed in to California theme parks.

Present your ID to get in!

twrSO9G.gif
 

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