Disneyland Postpones Planned July 17 Reopening Date

Disneyland will not reopen its California based theme parks and resort hotels as scheduled on July 17, the company announced Wednesday.

The resort, located in Anaheim, California, was set to receive guests on July 17 after being closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a statement, the company said that the State of California had indicated it would not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4. The company did not give a new reopening date for the Disneyland Resort. However, Disney stated that its next steps include a smooth transition.

“Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials. Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date,” Disneyland Resort said in a statement.

The news of Disneyland’s delayed reopening comes as there is an increase in the coronavirus cases across the country, especially in California.

According to data from the state Department of Public Health, coronavirus cases spiked in  California by its previous single-day high with more than 7,149 cases reported Wednesday,

Disney still must negotiate agreements with its unions to return employees to work, before the park can be open.

Walt Disney Co. announced the closure of Disneyland in March, curtly after California Governor Gavin Newsom’s news conference on his executive order advising against any gatherings of more than two hundred and fifty persons.

Jason Schultz, a supervisory archivist at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and unofficial historian of Disneyland who wrote “Jason’s Disneyland Almanac, said that the park had closed only a handful of times in 65 years and never for more than a day.

The last closure was following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.