Disneyland, other California theme parks get guidelines for reopening

California health officials issued long- awaited guidance for reopening theme parks in the state Tuesday, setting targets for when attractions like Disneyland Resort, in Anaheim, and Universal Studios Hollywood, in Los Angeles, can open their doors. For the big parks, it could be a long road: their counties must reach the least- restrictive “yellow” tier of the state’s four-tier COVID- 19 economicreopening plan.

In terms of coronavirus cases, Orange County, home to Disneyland, is in the “red,” or second, tier and Los Angeles County, Universal Studios’ location, is in the most restrictive “purple” tier. It could be months before either county meets the guidelines for the “yellow” tier, which requires there be fewer than one case a day per 100,000 residents and a testing positivity rate of less than 2%. The parks have been closed since March.

The secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency, Dr. Mark Ghaly, issued the guidelines in a video conference Tuesday and said that he believes that the tier guidelines can be reached. He said San Francisco County had already met them.

“There’s lots of work we can do together — both state, local, business leaders, community leaders, individuals — to do what we can to make sure that we reduce transmission throughout our county and there is a path forward there,” Ghaly said.

However, Disneyland Resort’s president, Ken Potrock, said in a statement that the guidelines are “arbitrary” and “unworkable.”

“We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science- based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world,” Potrock said. “Nevertheless, the state of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state- operated facilities.”

When parks do reopen, they will have to implement a reservation system allowing guests to book visits ahead of time. They will also have to screen guests for symptoms and mandate masks everywhere inside the park, except when people are eating and drinking. Larger parks, like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, will have to limit capacity to 25%.

Disney World, the company’s Orlando, Fla., park, reopened in July with strict social distancing and capacity requirements. There have been no major outbreaks associated with the park. But low attendance has led to layoffs there.