While Walt Disney World has not made any change in its plan to open its four theme parks on July 11 and 15, the company announced Wednesday it’s pushing back its planned July 17 reopening of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim.
Disney said it wouldn’t get state clearance in time to open by then because the State of California indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4.
“Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” Disney said in a statement. “Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date.”
However, the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district, part of the Disneyland Resort, will reopen July 9. Walt Disney World opened its Disney Springs on May 20 and began opening some resort hotels this past Monday.
On Tuesday, California saw 7,149 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which marked a record for the state. Florida had 5,511 cases reported Wednesday, its all-time high. The virus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause serious symptoms leading to death.
A number of unions have planned a protest caravan around the Anaheim theme park on Saturday to express their concern over health and safety. Here in Florida, Disney workers started an online petition to have the company push back the opening dates for the parks.
