■ Disney World’s reopening takes another intense turn as passholders test its new reservations system,
Plans to reopen Disneyland Resort in California have been postponed, but the schedule for the phased reopening of Walt Disney World has not changed, a Disney World spokeswoman said Thursday.
Disney had proposed reopening Disneyland theme park and sister attraction Disney California Adventure on July 17. But Wednesday evening, the resort announced that the state of California will not release theme-park reopening guidelines until 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,” read a statement from Disneyland on Thursday.
A new target date for reopening the California attractions was not given.
Downtown Disney District, a shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to the Disneyland parks, will open July 9 as scheduled, Disney says.
Disney World’s theme parks begin the reopening process on July 11 with Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, followed by the July 15 reopening of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The Florida parks received approval of their reopening plans from state and county governments in early June.
There has been some pushback from labor groups as well as a petition to delay the reopening plan at Disney World.
“If Disneyland has postponed, it is unclear how Walt Disney World can responsibly move toward reopening when coronavirus cases are much worse in Florida,” Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, said in a news release Thursday. Her union, which represents about 600 of Disney World’s 78,000 workers, has been pushing for the company to conduct regular testing of its members.
“Now is the time for Disney to pause, focus on the science and put the safety of their actors and stage managers first by making regular testing available,” McColl said.