The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors want Disneyland to reopen sooner rather than later, adding more support for the theme park to open up again ahead of estimation.
Just remember — Disneyland is located in Orange County, California, and not Los Angeles County. So there may not be a huge impact. But the board’s decision is the latest effort to help the park open its doors amid the pandemic.
So let’s begin in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that it supports Assembly Bill 420, which has called on California to reopen theme parks like Disneyland sooner than Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom has wanted, Deadline reports.
The bill — from Assembly members Sharon Quirk-Silva and Suzette Martinez Valladares — would change the state’s guidance to allow amusements and theme parks to open sooner than the current standards, per the Orange County Register.
The current guidelines allow parks to reopen when it hits the moderate or orange tier rather than the yellow tier, which is the lowest of all tiers, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
Per Deadline, Supervisor Kathryn Barger sent a recommendation to the bill’s sponsors, supporting the movie. She wrote: “With full outdoor operations and the ability to maintain physical distancing, theme parks across the country have proven that they can safely reopen. Large theme parks nationwide began reopening last summer and there (have) not yet been any outbreaks or spread from these establishments.”
All of that said, Disneyland is located in Anaheim, California, which is in Orange County. Dr. Clayton Chau, the director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, said in a statement to the Deseret News that he doesn’t think Orange County will reach the yellow tier until sometime in 2021. He said it could take some time to get there. He said next summer might be a realistic date.
“It depends on when the vaccine will come as well as how many doses (are) available for our populations as well as how many of our residents will readily accept the vaccine — those are the three factors that will determine how soon we can get to the yellow tier.”
“Personally, I think that we can look forward to a yellow tier by next summer, hopefully. Hopefully.”
Disneyland is already making moves to reopen. The park will have a new event called “A Touch of Disney,” which will be a new, limited-capacity ticketed experience at Disney California Adventure Park beginning March 18.
The reopening will happen from March 18 to April 5 for the event. This gives Disney fans a chance to visit shops and stores, as well as eat at dining locations at Disneyland and California Adventure Park.
Disney Parks said the event “will operate with limited capacity and enhanced health and safety measures in place based on guidance from health authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and appropriate government agencies.”
So while the park awaits a full reopening, the upcoming event serves as a preview of what could happen in the near future.