Disneyland’s reopening will be delayed beyond July 17, Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday, saying it will wait for state guidelines before specifying a new target date.
The Anaheim destination, along with sister park Disney California Adventure, has been closed since mid-March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the newly announced delay, it was slated to reopen in time for its 65th anniversary.
But coronavirus infections have been rising, and park employees have pushed back against the mid-July date, citing safety concerns.
“California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4,” the company said. That would not give the company enough time to recall staffers and prepare the parks to reopen by mid-July, it said.
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel, which had been slated to reopen July 23, will also be closed indefinitely.
The Downtown Disney shopping and restaurant district adjacent to the parks is still slated to reopen July 9.
Disney reopened Shanghai Disneyland on May 11 and the shopping and dining district in Orlando, Fla., known as Disney Springs on May 20.
Hong Kong Disneyland reopened last week. Theme parks at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida are set to open July 11.
The postponement for the Anaheim parks comes as California and other parts of the nation are seeing significant increases in COVID-19 cases.
A dozen unions that represent about 17,000 Disneyland employees sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, saying that because of the coronavirus, opening the park would be unsafe. Disney’s Wednesday announcement alluded to the union apprehensions and said the company has reached accords that cover more than 11,000 of its workers.
Newsom’s office expressed support for the delay.
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