Downtown Disney reopened to the general public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 9 after a four-month coronavirus closure.
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>>Long lines that would put Space Mountain to shame greeted shoppers returning to Downtown Disney on Thursday morning, July 9 after a nearly four-month closure of the outdoor mall next to Disneyland.
Socially distanced, mask-wearing crowds emphatically answered the question on the minds of Downtown Disney merchants: Will any shoppers come to the outdoor mall while Disneyland remains closed indefinitely?
An endlessly snaking line with parties 6 feet apart wound its way from the entrance of the World of Disney past the ticket booths, across the esplanade between the two parks, ran in front of the shuttered Disney California Adventure gate and continued to coil as the mall officially opened at 10 a.m. Thursday. World of Disney opened early just after 9:30 a.m. to accommodate the anxious crowd of shoppers.
The mall had been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The return of
Downtown Disney marks the first stage of Disneyland’s phased reopening plan — only no dates have been announced for those next stages.
Disneyland was
forced to postpone a proposed July 17 reopening of its Anaheim theme parks and delay a planned July 23 reopening of two hotels while it awaits theme park reopening guidelines from the state.
Disney decided to stick with the Thursday reopening of Downtown Disney after keeping the mall shuttered for more than six weeks since the state allowed shopping malls in Orange County to resume operations in late May. Since then, the state has reinstated prohibitions on indoor dining and close bars in O.C. back down again amid an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The orderly security checkpoint on Thursday now included a temperature check with a handheld contactless digital thermometer pointed like a gun by cast members at each shopper’s head. Then came a tent where a security dog sniffed each arriving visitor.
The now-familiar post-9/11 security checkpoint has now added plexiglass protection for guards and dispensed with having guests empty their pockets into a tray before walking through a metal detector. Crews were continuing to work on the cement next to one newly erected tent, cutting down the capacity for dealing with the crowds of shoppers ready to step foot on Disney property for the first time since mid-March.
The crowds extended to the streets around Disneyland where those arriving by car waited at least 45 minutes to enter the Downtown Disney parking lot.<<