Mayors of several major California cities have signed off on a letter asking Governor Gavin Newsom to allow large theme parks like Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and others to reopen in Tier 3.
- Mayors of eight different major cities have requested that Newsome amend his reopening guidelines for large theme parks.
- The eight mayors represent the following cities:
- Anaheim
- Los Angeles
- San Diego
- San Jose
- Fresno
- Bakersfield
- Riverside
- Santa Ana
- The letter expresses economic concerns but also stresses the importance of health and safety, saying:
- “The guidelines put forth by your Administration were released within the frameworks of prioritizing public health and safety for guests and employees. This is the right focus. However, economic and public health are not mutually exclusive goals. We are concerned that the state’s guidelines would push re-opening of large theme parks up to a year out, which would have significant negative impacts on hundreds of thousands of jobs, thousands of small businesses, and billions in operating revenues for our cities.”
- The letter specifically requests that they discuss the possibility of allowing theme parks to reopen with limited capacity in Tier 3 rather than Tier 4.
Reopening Guidelines
These are Tier specific guidelines that are required in addition to other control measures and screenings outlined in the full reopening guidelines.
Yellow – Minimal – Tier 4:
- Operations are permitted for all amusement park operators with the following modifications:
- Capacity must be limited to 25% of total facility occupancy based on the design/operating capacity or fire department occupant limit, whichever is fewer.
- Capacity on all indoor dining and drinking establishments within the park must be limited to 25%.
- Operators must follow the modifications in this guidance and must be prepared for inspections by public health officials to ensure adequate implementation of all required modifications.
- Operators must address and implement any resulting findings and recommendations.
Orange – Moderate – Tier 3:
- Operations are permitted only for smaller parks (see definition below) and those operators must implement the following modifications:
- Smaller parks are defined as parks with overall capacity fewer than 15,000 based on the design/operating capacity or fire department occupant limit.
- Capacity must be limited to 25% of total facility occupancy based on the design/operating capacity or fire department occupant limit – whichever is fewer – or 500 people, whichever is fewer.
- Only outdoor attractions are permitted to open; all other indoor attractions must remain closed.
- Ticket sales must be limited only to those visitors who reside in the same county as the park’s location.
- Operators must follow the modifications in this guidance and must be prepared for inspections by public health officials to ensure adequate implementation of all required modifications.
- Operators must address and implement any resulting findings and recommendations.
What This Means for Disneyland and Knott’s:
- With these guidelines, the soonest Disneyland could reopen would be November 24, however that would depend on a rapid decrease in cases in Orange County.
What About Universal?:
- And for those wondering about the other big park in Southern California, Universal Studios Hollywood, their opening will be even more delayed than Disneyland. The park is located in Los Angeles county which is currently in the Purple or “Widespread” tier.