CALIFORNIA—On Wednesday, March 17, it was announced that Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure Park will reopen on April 30 for the first time since closing on March 14, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a March 17 tweet, Disneyland stated:
“Just announced! Magic is finally returning to the Disneyland Resort theme parks! Disneyland Park & Disney California Adventure Park are planning to officially reopen to California Residents on April 30, with limited capacity.”
The city of Anaheim, where Disneyland is located, tweeted on March 17:
“The Anaheim comeback is here! This morning @Disneyland announced it will welcome guests back to the parks on April 30. We’re excited to see Anaheim families and small businesses get back to work as we start on our road to recovery!”
The park is only open to California residents. People age 3 and over are required to have a “park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date,” according to Disney Parks Blog.
The blog also noted that on April 29, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will reopen with limited capacity and on May 2, Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will reopen as well.
In addition, Disney said “certain experiences that draw large group gathering — such as parades and nighttime spectaculars — will return at a later date.”
Guests will see “new magic” once Disneyland reopens. Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Disneyland’s “only ride-through princess attraction,” has been “reimagined and renamed as Snow White’s Enchanted Wish.”
On the same day Disney announced its reopening, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a tweet that the state has “administered 13.1 million vaccines” and hit a “new record” by administering one million vaccines “in the last 48 hours.”
According to the California Attractions and Parks Association (CAPA) website, “economic recovery will be slow-going” and it will “take time for consumer confidence to return and for struggling families to plan a trip to an amusement park.”
CAPA said that according to Visit California, “travel-related spending” is “not expected to recover until 2024,” which is in three years. CAPA also said that parks in CA employ more than 135,000 people “at every socio-economic level.”
Disneyland announcing it will reopen comes after the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said on March 5 that ballparks, stadiums, and theme parks are permitted to reopen starting April 1.
According to Tampa Bay Times, Disney World (which reopened in July 2020) closed in the past due to hurricanes. Both Disneyland and Disney World closed on the day of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
