The Orange County Register is reporting that Disneyland is ready to reopen but is stuck “in limbo” while waiting for the state to provide reopening guidelines.
The Disneyland Resort theme parks have been closed for more than 6 months due to COVID-19. California governor Newsom has promised that a reopening plan will be released “soon”.
“Without those guidelines, we’re quite honestly in limbo,” Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock said. “We are ready to open responsibly, it is the time to open responsibly and it’s important to open responsibly.”
Potrock met with the Southern California News Group editorial board where he discussed reopening Disneyland.
The city of Anaheim relies on the Disneyland Resort for jobs and revenue. The city’s budget deficit has risen to $100 million and the unemployment rate is at 15%.
“I was walking the streets of Anaheim earlier this week and unfortunately it’s a ghost town,” Potrock said. “The same thing could be said for many of the surrounding towns as well. There’s just no one there. It’s just so incredibly heart wrenching.”
Potrock says they are just waiting on the governor’s office to release reopening guidelines. “We’ve made many, many, many recommendations as to what those protocols should be. We’ve offered to help with guidance so that we can get to a place that would be reasonable for us to open. Unfortunately we haven’t received that guidance.”
Disney has already taken steps to limit capacity and follow social distancing guidelines at the Downtown Disney District. Potrock says they can also diffuse density throughout the theme parks. He also expressed his disappointment with the state’s failure to issue guidelines for theme parks to reopen safely.
“The governor used the term ‘negotiating’ with the amusement park industry in one of his quotes and I hope it’s not a negotiation,” Potrock said. “I hope it’s a good collaboration and that’s what we’re attempting to achieve.”
Disney fans and officials alike are getting impatient for Disneyland to reopen. Hopefully the governor will allow that to happen soon!
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