Today, Mark Ghaley of California Health and Human Services has made the announcement: guidelines have been issued for not just small amusement parks, ALL amusement parks! While this is very exciting news, we don’t have to rush to the gates of Disneyland quite yet. The guidelines specific to Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, along with some of the other large theme parks, have been allowed to reopen with the following restriction: their county has to achieve and maintain a “minimal” risk tier.
Los Angeles County - “widespread”
Universal Studios Hollywood
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Santa Clara County - “moderate”
California’s Great America
Gilroy Garden
Hollow Park
Orange County - “substantial”
Disneyland
Knott’s Berry Farm
San Diego County - “substantial”
SeaWorld
Legoland
Solano County - “substantial”
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
There is currently no reopening date for the parks at this point. If everything operates perfectly, Disneyland could reopen in November or December. More likely, we are looking at a 2021 reopening date. Given the level of uncertainty, the parks cannot properly staff, train and otherwise prepare the parks for visitors.
The pandemic has cost the theme parks between millions and billions of dollars and every day they are shut is that much more loss. And it isn’t just theme parks. The surrounding businesses are also stalled and struggling. Since Disneyland has been closed, Anaheim has face a deficit of $100 million and unemployment has gone up to 15%.
Responses to the update in guidelines:
“We should be in Tier Three, along with other industries that have proven they can reopen responsibly. Our employees are ready to go back to work and the fact that they won’t be able to do so until well into next year is shameful. Pushing us into Tier Four behind other businesses that have already reopened makes no sense. It ignores science, reason and the economic devastation this will bring to the thousands of our employees, the indirect businesses that rely on us and our industry overall. The health and safety of our guests and team members has always been our top priority. We have designed detailed health and safety protocols that allowed us to open our theme parks in Orlando, Osaka and Singapore. We have collaborated with L.A. County health and government officials on a comprehensive plan to move forward safely here, and we are prepared and ready to reopen. Our theme parks are controlled primarily outdoor businesses that we have proven we can operate responsibly.” - Karen Irwin, President & COO, Universal Studios Hollywood
“I think for a large county like us, especially a county with institutions of higher education where folks [are] coming in from outside the county and outside the state, I think it’s going to be very hard to achieve the yellow tier. 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.” - Orange County’s Health Officer, Dr. Clayton Chau
“The guidance issued today by the state is arbitrary and unacceptable to the industry. Not allowing theme parks to open until Tier 4 will destroy the industry in California and the economic impact to industries that rely heavily on theme parks will be catastrophic. The administration’s actions to this point have cost tens of thousands of jobs across the industry, and today’s announcement will all but confirm that thousands more will be lost. Legoland California Resort has developed a comprehensive and robust reopening plan, taking every precaution to meet and exceed guidelines given to other businesses and industries since voluntarily closing seven months ago. All seven other Legoland Parks around the world have reopened safely with millions of guests and twenty thousand employees going through the gates without any COVID-19 incidents. The guidance from the Governor is grossly inconsistent with the guidelines given to other industries and lacks any scientific basis that can be supported by the CDPH.” - Kurt Stocks, President, Legoland California Resort
“Cedar Fair is extremely disappointed and frustrated with the lack of reasonable consideration given to the opening of California’s most popular theme parks. Our company has safely operated 7 of its 13 parks across the U.S. this year with zero cases of COVID-19 being traced back to our properties. Our safety protocols have been proven effective, exceeding state requirements where we’ve opened. Following capacity parameters, we feel strongly that both Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park and California’s Great America in Santa Clara should be allowed to open under the same guidance afforded smaller parks such as Gilroy Gardens, which also operates under Cedar Fair management.” - Raffi Kaprelyan, Regional Vice President, Cedar Fair, Knott’s Berry Farm, California’s Great America, and Gilroy Gardens
To say today’s announcement on theme parks is disappointing would be a grave understatement. The Governor has not used science or data to inform his decision. Theme parks have opened and operated safely around the world for months. Data and science prove that theme parks can operate responsibly anywhere – there is no rational reason to believe they can’t do so in California. No one cares more about park employee and guest safety than the parks themselves. “Let me be unequivocal– the guidance issued by the Newsom Administration will keep theme parks shuttered for the foreseeable future. By forcing amusement parks to stay closed until their home county reaches Tier 4, the Governor has issued a “Keep Theme Parks Closed Indefinitely” Plan which will devastate California’s major theme park industry. - Erin Guerrero, executive director of the California Attractions and Parks Association
All we can do is hope the pandemic can look favorably upon our state and we can start to heal from the damages that have been wrought all over the Golden State. As always, keep checking in for the latest news on this important story.
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