Disneyland delays reopening due to coronavirus

Disneyland isn’t ready to open back up…just yet. Well, at least not in California, anyway. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney will not be opening the park back up by the proposed date of July 17.

Given the recent spike in coronavirus cases in California, this seems like the safest option for the time being. The happiest place on Earth should not be tainted or reopened hastily without the proper precautions and safety protocols in place. While the California theme parks will remain closed for now, the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district will open up as planned on July 9.

“We have had positive discussions and are very pleased to have signed agreements from 20 union affiliates, including the Master Services Council which represents more than 11,000 of our cast members,” said a Disney spokesperson. “The signed agreements detail plans that include extensive safety protocols that will allow us to responsibly reopen, and get thousands of our cast members back to work.”

"The State of California has now 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. Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date."

So when will the parks reopen? They’re not sure yet. Given that California has seen an uptick of over 7,000 cases of COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, it probably won’t be very soon.

On the other ocean, Florida has also seen a rise in COVID cases, but they haven’t announced pushing the reopening date for Walt Disney World back from July 11, with EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios scheduled to reopen on July 15. Hmmm, are we sure about that, Florida?

I wouldn’t be surprise if the Florida parks delay their openings, as well. According to Deadline, the numbers there are going up the day:

"Florida eclipsed its previous record by well over 1,000 cases, reporting more than 5,500 new infections in a day. The state has surpassed its rolling-average new cases for straight 17 days."

Meanwhile, a handful of the international Disneyland theme parks including Hong Kong and Shanghai have reopened with strict safety regulations in place, including requiring masks and temperature checks.

I’m certain these measures will be in place when Disneyland California eventually reopens, but for now, it looks like we’ll have to hold off on wishing upon a star in Anaheim.

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h/t SYFY Wire