As of mid-November, it looks like both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are expected to stay closed for the remainder of 2020; with possible reopening to come in 2021. The Disney Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy, had this to say on the matter during a conference call on November 12, 2020:
“We currently anticipate Disneyland resort will remain closed at least through the end of the fiscal first quarter.”
The first fiscal quarter for Disneyland ends in late December. California’s reopening guidelines for small and large theme parks vary somewhat, with Disneyland and DCA falling into what is known as the red/substantial tier 2 at the moment.
Disneyland Resort has remained closed for much of 2020 and no reopening is in sight.
This means that until Orange County moves into the yellow/minimal tier 4 that is outlined in the reopening guidelines, they can’t reopen. This tier is the standard for all large theme parks in California that have a capacity of more than 15,000 visitors.
On the same conference call with McCarthy, Disney CEO Bob Chapek also had this to say:
“Unfortunately, we’re extremely disappointed that the state of California continues to keep Disneyland closed. Frankly, as we and other civic leaders have stated before, we believe state leadership should look objectively at what we’ve achieved successfully at our parks around the world, all based on science as opposed to setting an arbitrary standard.”
Walt Disney World’s Increased Capacity
Recent news tied to Walt Disney World’s operating capacity is also out! Upon reopening over the summer, the parks in Orlando were allowed up to 25% visitor capacity. In a recent statement by Disney CEO Bob Chapek, this capacity has shifted. Walt Disney World parks are now allowed to reach up to 35% total capacity now.
Crowds have steadily increased at Disney World since July.
This capacity increase was overall quite silent until this week. Just a month ago, Chapek said that Walt Disney World parks were still capped at 25% capacity. The increased capacity might be in part due to certain innovations that have been seen in the parks, like plexiglass dividers that have been installed on a number of attractions.
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