Disneyland Resort California has delayed its reopening. The theme park had previously hoped to begin a phased reopening from July 9 with its two theme parks opening on July 17.
However, this has now been delayed as the State of California has said that it will not release theme park reopening guidelines until after July 4.
Not enough time to bring cast members back to work
This would not give the company enough time to restart and bring its cast members back to work. In a statement, Disneyland said that this means they “have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials.”
This reopening date will be released as soon as the company has “a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released”.
In its statement, Disneyland highlighted that the health and safety procedures it will use have been approved at Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.
— Disney Parks News (@DisneyParksNews) June 25, 2020
Downtown Disney will still reopen on July 9
Downtown Disney will reopen on July 9 as planned with the previously announced safety precautions in place. This reopening has already been approved as being in line with retail and restaurant openings in California.
The Master Services Union represents cast members at Downtown Disney, and has already signed an agreement for these cast members to return to work.
Union agreements being signed
Agreements need to be agreed with unions to allow the theme park employees to return to work. Disneyland said that they have 20 signed agreements from union affiliates so far. These agreements outline the “enhanced safety protocols that will allow us to responsibly reopen, and get thousands of our cast members back to work.”
According to The OCR, two Disneyland unions were calling on more than 17,000 Disneyland cast members to protest the July 17 reopening. The unions did not feel it was safe to reopen the parks.
Disneyland Resort California will now be the last Disney theme park to reopen in the world, as Disneyland Paris announced it will reopen from July 15, and Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will reopen July 1.
