Surprise! Red Tier Now Begins Sunday; Downtown Disney Restaurants???

unmitigated disaster

Well-Known Member
Sure. They are everywhere. Still doesn't mean it's in the same numbers as CA. In many parts of the country you can still dine inside.

Sure. They are everywhere. Still doesn't mean it's in the same numbers as CA. In many parts of the country you can still dine inside.
And does this mean that it's okay to dismiss closures in other states as being unimportant and trivial?
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Gavin Newsom’s elitism is crushing ordinary Californians – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)

>>My mom, newly divorced in the early 1960s, moved us out West when she was told California was where she could make a new start. There was plenty of housing and jobs; more than any other place, California had a spirit that welcomed new ideas, energy, and gave those that wanted to succeed a chance.

This was the California I grew up in.

Mike Learakos remembers it the same way. Mike is the owner and operator of Orange’s Katella Family Grill and executive director of Waste Not OC Coalition, a food recovery nonprofit. His father started the family in the restaurant business decades ago when they ran the Spires located where Katella Grill stands today.

Mike, who is a lifelong resident of Orange, says his dad’s business strategy was pretty simple: have a quality product, provide quality service, make sure you are part of the community, and take care of your employees. Mike has continued that tradition under his watch. And yes, there was a time in California’s history when you could be a successful business owner with that philosophy. Sadly, I wonder if that time has passed.

I saw the grief and worry in Mike’s eyes when I watched a Facebook video he recently posted. It spelled out what this last restaurant shut down might do to his family business and their staff. He spoke about wanting to keep his employees and long-time customer’s safe, and how his staff didn’t want a hand out, they wanted to work. Mike and his employees pivoted and started making and selling tamales through the holiday season. And the Orange community responded. Selling out in just days, they were even able to hire workers laid off from other restaurants. People were ordering and waiting days to get their tamales, some buying and donating them to those in need.

I am not sure if tamales are on the menu at the French Laundry but I find the comparison striking.

An unintended consequence of this pandemic is the magnification of the differences between the elitists in Sacramento and the rest of us. While Orange residents were spending $25 for a dozen tamales to keep a community champion and his staff working, Gov. Gavin Newsom was celebrating the birthday of a lobbyist friend at one of the most expensive restaurants in California, in violation of his own restrictive guidelines.

A dinner for two at the French Laundry can run upwards of $1,000, with the special white truffle and caviar dinner going for $1,200 per person. There is an arrogance about telling families not to gather together for the holidays and keeping thousands upon thousands of people from working all while dining with Sacramento insiders at an elite establishment in wine country.

Gov. Newsom, with his ever-changing pandemic goal posts, doesn’t seem to understand or care about the businesses that make up our local economy and keep our families employed.<<

More at the link

That French Laundry dinner party just keeps giving and giving. When it comes to Newsom's political future, that French Laundry dinner is truly Newsom's Chappaquiddick. Except instead of ending up with a dead blonde girl in a sunken Oldsmobile, Gavin had a nice dinner with a dozen friends and everyone lived. But the national political damage was the same. I hope he enjoyed that dinner, as he'll probably never go back there again, just like Ted Kennedy never could go back to Chappaquiddick.

I drove by the Katella Grill just a few days ago. Their big sign in front says "For Operating Hours Ask Governor Newsom or Check Katellagrill.com" 🤣

Nearby, I was happy to see the growing list of open restaurants in OC include some small franchised chains, not just the mom n' pop places. The Tutto Fresco a few blocks east of Katella Grill has expanded and opened their patio for dining again. You can dine outdoors, one of their patios has a big TV playing the game, and they have brought back their waitresses and busboys, etc. It's a normal restaurant again, but only for outdoor dining. I assume the other Tutto Fresco locations in OC are operating their outdoor dining patio, not just that one in Orange.

That's the shame about this outdoor dining ban; the big corporate players who could get sued or Twitter Shamed easily can't reopen, but the small mom n' pop places can reopen for outdoor or both indoor/outdoor dining. But now some of the local SoCal chains are also reopening for outdoor dining.

The forecast for Anaheim this weekend is Sunny and 85 Degrees. And yet Downtown Disney restaurant patios are all still closed, while hundreds of other OC restaurants openly violate Sacramento's orders and are operating indoor and outdoor.
 
Last edited:

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
That French Laundry dinner party just keeps giving and giving. When it comes to Newsom's political future, that French Laundry dinner is truly Newsom's Chappaquiddick. Except instead of ending up with a dead blonde girl in a sunken Oldsmobile, Gavin had a nice dinner with a dozen friends and everyone lived. But the national political damage was the same. I hope he enjoyed that dinner, as he'll probably never go back there again, just like Ted Kennedy never could go back to Chappaquiddick.

I drove by the Katella Grill just a few days ago. Their big sign in front says "For Operating Hours Ask Governor Newsom or Check Katellagrill.com" 🤣

Nearby, I was happy to see the growing list of open restaurants in OC include some small franchised chains, not just the mom n' pop places. The Tutto Fresco a few blocks east of Katella Grill has expanded and opened their patio for dining again. You can dine outdoors, one of their patios has a big TV playing the game, and they have brought back their waitresses and busboys, etc. It's a normal restaurant again, but only for outdoor dining. I assume their other OC locations are operating their outdoor dining patio, not just that one in Orange.

That's the shame about this outdoor dining ban; the big corporate players who could get sued or Twitter Shamed easily can't reopen, but the small mom n' pop places can reopen for outdoor or both indoor/outdoor dining. But now some of the local SoCal chains are also reopening for outdoor dining.

The forecast for Anaheim this weekend is Sunny and 85 Degrees. And yet Downtown Disney restaurant patios are all still closed, while hundreds of other OC restaurants openly violate Sacramento's orders and are operating indoor and outdoor.

Saturday night, had an Amazing 16oz Prime Rib Eye beautifully aged. Lisa had Beef Tartare and seared Scallops, then we rode the High Roller. Earlier we rode both the Canyon Blaster and El Toro. Alas, after getting Lisa's permission, took a business call between dinner and dessert. It was important, but earned brownie points from the caller, since it was our 11th BD. And our server was awesome in handling the situation.

Bugsy & Meyers Steakhouse - Updated COVID-19 Hours & Services - 375 Photos & 92 Reviews - Steakhouses - 3555 S Las Vegas Blvd, The Strip, Las Vegas, NV - Restaurant Reviews - Phone Number - Yelp

Too bad Orange County didn't get the money we spent, even though much of it was comped. But even the tips would be appreciated by the employees, or should I say, the would-be employees, if things were open.

We are lucky, Lisa is getting OT and comp time due to being a OCHCA worker, aka essential worker. My income was up in 2020 due to dealing with all the planning and financial logistics COVID created. And my chartable giving was also up. I had fun on Giving Tuesday, as I could do more of my list than normal. (I only give to those charities with low overhead!)

Alas, in hindsight, when the crisis is over, we will find out the Massive damage that was done, from the renters who will owe so much back rent, to the landlords forced to sell, to all the business that went out of business. All the mental health issues. The drug and alcohol problems. And all the tax increases to pay for the government agencies. I see a lot of cities going bankrupt and pensions lost, or reduced. Not pleasant at all.

And trying to explain this to Lisa, so we can do our own planning... That is TOUGH!!!
 

TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
The forecast for Anaheim this weekend is Sunny and 85 Degrees. And yet Downtown Disney restaurant patios are all still closed, while hundreds of other OC restaurants openly violate Sacramento's orders and are operating indoor and outdoor.

I'm coming to stay at your place this weekend, because I would gladly trade for 85 degrees right now considering it is 30 degrees in Dallas. Ugh.

I haven't been able to keep up with everything going on in CA, but is there any indication of things improving from the government lockdown standpoint?
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
I'm coming to stay at your place this weekend, because I would gladly trade for 85 degrees right now considering it is 30 degrees in Dallas. Ugh.

I haven't been able to keep up with everything going on in CA, but is there any indication of things improving from the government lockdown standpoint?
Based on what the Governor said yesterday No.
 

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
I'm coming to stay at your place this weekend, because I would gladly trade for 85 degrees right now considering it is 30 degrees in Dallas. Ugh.

I haven't been able to keep up with everything going on in CA, but is there any indication of things improving from the government lockdown standpoint?

ICU Capacity in Southern California remains at 0% as we're still in the midst of the Christmas/New Year surges. Realistically I don't see regions getting out of the order until mid or late February or March at the latest.

So short answer: No...Not yet
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm coming to stay at your place this weekend, because I would gladly trade for 85 degrees right now considering it is 30 degrees in Dallas. Ugh.

I haven't been able to keep up with everything going on in CA, but is there any indication of things improving from the government lockdown standpoint?

We got two inches of rain in one day just after Christmas, otherwise it's been a very sunny and mild winter so far. This weekend it's warming up a bit into the mid 80's. Perfect for outdoor dining, especially after all the business owners invested a ton of money into their patio dining operations last year.

Then two different court cases were ruled by Superior Court judges that outdoor dining was allowed, because the government legal teams could provide absolutely no Science & Data to show that outdoor dining spreads Covid. But Governor Newsom had his attorney general overturn both court rulings due to his emergency powers.

That outdoor dining (at the very least) is still illegal in California is not only criminal, it seems just vindictive at this point on the part of our Sacramento betters and elected "leaders". So now you've got the current situation where smaller chains and mom n' pop restaurants are operating their patios and sometimes their indoor dining rooms in open defiance, and local police/governments are doing nothing to stop it.

But the big corporate chains have to follow the rules and stay closed entirely, or restaurants at malls owned by major property management firms, like Downtown Disney, all have to stay closed entirely. And thus... this thread.

Based on what the Governor said yesterday No.

But it took him two and a half hours to say that. He has a lot of words to use, and they are tax-free! 🤣
 
Last edited:

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ICU Capacity in Southern California remains at 0% as we're still in the midst of the Christmas/New Year surges. Realistically I don't see regions getting out of the order until mid or late February or March at the latest.

So short answer: No...Not yet

That 0% figure is the "Adjusted" number after bureaucrats change all the actual numbers to reflect the Equity Metric and other Ignore-The-Man-Behind-The-Curtain sorcery that only makes sense in Sacramento.

The "Unadjusted" number, or the actual number just based purely on available ICU beds, is currently 9.2% of ICU beds available in the SoCal Region. It has been hovering around 9% to 10% for weeks now.

 
That 0% figure is the "Adjusted" number after bureaucrats change all the actual numbers to reflect the Equity Metric and other Ignore-The-Man-Behind-The-Curtain sorcery that only makes sense in Sacramento.

The "Unadjusted" number, or the actual number just based purely on available ICU beds, is currently 9.2% of ICU beds available in the SoCal Region. It has been hovering around 9% to 10% for weeks now.


9.2% is still extremely low. Warranting taking action. I don't get your personal vendetta for Newsom for trying to save lives and your love for the orange man promoting a coup on our democracy.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Newsom’s vaccination plan bogs down – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)

>>Although California had spent months planning the vaccination rollout and had adopted a seemingly bulletproof priority list, with health care workers at the top, in practice it has lagged behind expectations.

One factor, apparently, is a software program that isn’t working as expected.

“California’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is being at least partially slowed by technical problems with a software program used by the state to coordinate vaccine distribution,” the Los Angeles Times reported last week.

“The online software system, PrepMod, is a vaccine management tool used to coordinate waitlists and inventory as well as send email proof of vaccinations to patients. It is unclear how widespread the problem is, but some providers, ranging from public clinics to nursing home operators, say the system is at times limiting access to the much-needed vaccines. The software is hosted on the state’s CalVax website.”

That a state technology glitch is impeding the vaccination program should not surprise anyone because California is notorious for high-tech systems that promise better and faster services, but fail to deliver — such as those in the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department. In fact, snafus in the state’s infectious disease reporting system led to underreported COVID-19 tests last year.

The stumbling vaccination program is — as it should be — highly embarrassing for Newsom.

“I don’t think Californians can understand why we have hundreds of thousands of doses sitting there, and they’re not being administered,’’ Garry South, a Democratic strategist who advised Newsom’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, told Politico. “California’s been through nearly 10 months of hell, and now there’s potentially a light at the end of tunnel with these vaccines — but it doesn’t do anybody any good if they’re not administered.”<<
 

1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

Well-Known Member
Newsom’s vaccination plan bogs down – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)

>>Although California had spent months planning the vaccination rollout and had adopted a seemingly bulletproof priority list, with health care workers at the top, in practice it has lagged behind expectations.

One factor, apparently, is a software program that isn’t working as expected.

“California’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is being at least partially slowed by technical problems with a software program used by the state to coordinate vaccine distribution,” the Los Angeles Times reported last week.

“The online software system, PrepMod, is a vaccine management tool used to coordinate waitlists and inventory as well as send email proof of vaccinations to patients. It is unclear how widespread the problem is, but some providers, ranging from public clinics to nursing home operators, say the system is at times limiting access to the much-needed vaccines. The software is hosted on the state’s CalVax website.”

That a state technology glitch is impeding the vaccination program should not surprise anyone because California is notorious for high-tech systems that promise better and faster services, but fail to deliver — such as those in the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department. In fact, snafus in the state’s infectious disease reporting system led to underreported COVID-19 tests last year.

The stumbling vaccination program is — as it should be — highly embarrassing for Newsom.

“I don’t think Californians can understand why we have hundreds of thousands of doses sitting there, and they’re not being administered,’’ Garry South, a Democratic strategist who advised Newsom’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, told Politico. “California’s been through nearly 10 months of hell, and now there’s potentially a light at the end of tunnel with these vaccines — but it doesn’t do anybody any good if they’re not administered.”<<
Even in the future, nothing works
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Newsom’s vaccination plan bogs down – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)

>>Although California had spent months planning the vaccination rollout and had adopted a seemingly bulletproof priority list, with health care workers at the top, in practice it has lagged behind expectations.

One factor, apparently, is a software program that isn’t working as expected.

“California’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is being at least partially slowed by technical problems with a software program used by the state to coordinate vaccine distribution,” the Los Angeles Times reported last week.

“The online software system, PrepMod, is a vaccine management tool used to coordinate waitlists and inventory as well as send email proof of vaccinations to patients. It is unclear how widespread the problem is, but some providers, ranging from public clinics to nursing home operators, say the system is at times limiting access to the much-needed vaccines. The software is hosted on the state’s CalVax website.”

That a state technology glitch is impeding the vaccination program should not surprise anyone because California is notorious for high-tech systems that promise better and faster services, but fail to deliver — such as those in the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department. In fact, snafus in the state’s infectious disease reporting system led to underreported COVID-19 tests last year.

The stumbling vaccination program is — as it should be — highly embarrassing for Newsom.

“I don’t think Californians can understand why we have hundreds of thousands of doses sitting there, and they’re not being administered,’’ Garry South, a Democratic strategist who advised Newsom’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, told Politico. “California’s been through nearly 10 months of hell, and now there’s potentially a light at the end of tunnel with these vaccines — but it doesn’t do anybody any good if they’re not administered.”<<

Local talk radio crucified Newsom yesterday for California's failing vaccine distribution system.

If it helps any, there are other states that are also failing at this, while some states just get on with it and start vaccinating the old people first and work their way down.

Today the Trump administration told the CDC to stop trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be, and just give doses to those 65 and older until the doses run out. Then wait for the next shipment, vaccinate the old people as fast as possible again, rinse and repeat.

This is not rocket science. Covid kills old people, so vaccinate the old people first as fast as you can. Worry about Equity Metrics and convicted felons in State Prisons later.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
Local talk radio crucified Newsom yesterday for California's failing vaccine distribution system.

If it helps any, there are other states that are also failing at this, while some states just get on with it and start vaccinating the old people first and work their way down.

Today the Trump administration told the CDC to stop trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be, and just give doses to those 65 and older until the doses run out. Then wait for the next shipment, vaccinate the old people as fast as possible again, rinse and repeat.

This is not rocket science. Covid kills old people, so vaccinate the old people first as fast as you can. Worry about Equity Metrics and convicted felons in State Prisons later.

California has dropped the ball on covid response measures every step of the way. From ever changing goal posts, unreasonable lockdowns, and zero nuance- are we at all surprised they've butchered the vaccine distribution also?

The fact other states have been able to find a balance between 'completely open' and 'completely locked down', reopening theaters, theme parks, etc with measures intended to significantly mitigate the risk of transmission while California still relies on just a 'shut it all down' approach is absurd.

Honestly, it's ridiculous Disneyland is still closed.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
California has dropped the ball on covid response measures every step of the way. From ever changing goal posts, unreasonable lockdowns, and zero nuance- are we at all surprised they've butchered the vaccine distribution also?

Agreed.

What I find most disappointing from a long-term perspective is how Newsom and Sacramento, but also a few local governments like the LA County Board of Supervisors who oversee 10.2 Million people, have completely destroyed the concept of honest and forthright communcation.

They issue "mandates" that have language like "Stay-At-Home Order", but then design them to not actually mean stay at home. Because Target is open and Drive-In movies are open and Knott's Berry Farm is open and In-N-Out is open and state parks are open and intra-state trains and buses are operating, etc. So... it's not really a Stay At Home Order at all, is it? So why call it that in the first place?

Or how about the currently existing Statewide Curfew of 10PM??? What a joke! Any business that wants to can stay open as late as they want. During Christmas all the malls and big box stores were open past 10PM. Once a week I go down the hill for an In-N-Out chocolate shake, and I've gotten into the habit of waiting until 10PM exactly to leave the house just for the rebellious thrill of it. In-N-Out is open until 1:00AM, and does gangbuster business.

My point and my fear? When a real emergency arrives, like a major earthquake or volcanic eruption or something worse, and Sacramento tries to impose an actual curfew or stay-at-home order it will now be nearly impossible to get widescale compliance. Because everyone's point of reference now is when Governor Newsom mandated a Statewide 10PM Curfew and Stay-At-Home Order that everyone openly ignored and disobeyed. And we all know that Sacramento knows that everyone is disobeying their orders. It's no secret. It's worse than Prohibition.

That's gonna be a problem when we eventually really need that type of obedience from the population.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
You first start by saying that California has dropped the ball on vaccine roll out, and then double down on the completely illogical conclusion that Disneyland is safe to be open? Really?

No it's not safe to be open, and thankfully it is still closed.

How would Disneyland, a primarily outdoor venue, with reduced capacity, social distancing in queues and ride vehicles, masks, increased cleaning, hand sanitizing stations everywhere, mobile ordering, and no indoor dining be at all a significant risk?

And in addition to those measures they could say it's only open to those who have already had covid, further decreasing the risk of it acting as a venue of mass transmission.

No one's saying it should be open and operating like it's a 24 hour party in 2015.

I mean we could get into the discussion on whether or not it's worth going with all of those precautions, but the idea that having Disneyland open in any form will contribute to covid spread in any meaningful capacity is foolish. There has to be nuance, and most states realize that.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I mean we could get into the discussion on whether or not it's worth going with all of those precautions, but the idea that having Disneyland open in any form will contribute to covid spread in any meaningful capacity is foolish. There has to be nuance, and most states realize that.

Florida realized that very quickly and got Disney World and its tourism industry reopened many months ago.

What I will be interested to see is if Disneyland still has to go through the hassle of reopening with all the rules that Governor Newsom said they would have to comply with before he changed the rules again and we went to the Regional Stay-At-Home Order that isn't actually a stay at home order, nor is it regional.

As a reminder, the old rules that Governor Newsom rolled out to great fanfare last October for Disneyland's reopening were the following using the previous Blueprint For A Safer Economy rules;
  • Remain Closed Until Orange County Gets To Yellow Tier
  • Reopen in Yellow Tier With Only 25% Capacity
  • Don't Allow Anyone Who Lives More Than 120 Miles Away To Enter Theme Park
  • Bans The Use Of Indoor Queues, Theaters, Entertainment, Etc., Etc.
Is that really still a thing? Is that how Disneyland still reopens later this year? Or will the rules change again?
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom