Note: this post will be continually updated as Disney releases new information and details regarding the reopening. All comments will go through admin moderation and political and/or rude comments will not be approved.
UPDATE: MARCH 9, 2021
Still no specific reopening date yet, but during today’s shareholder meeting, Chapek assured the public Disney is already working on bring back furloughed employees and planning for the reopening.
UPDATE: MARCH 5, 2021
The state of California just revised guidelines for its tiering system, some of which will allow theme parks to reopen April 1. The new guidelines are:
- counties in the red tier: limited to 15% capacity; in-state visitors only
- counties in the orange tier: limited to 25% capacity; in-state visitors only
- counties in the yellow tier: limited to 35% capacity; in-state visitors only
- no indoor dining
- limits on indoor rides
Disneyland is in Orange county, which is current in the purple tier (meaning parks must be closed), but under these new guidelines, would be able to reopen at 15% capacity once they move into the red tier. At the moment, Disneyland has yet to announce a reopening date, aside from the planned ticketed event A Touch of Disney.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: JANUARY 14, 2021
Today, the Disneyland Resort announced the indefinite suspension of the annual passport program. With no reopening date yet for the resort, combined with expected capacity restrictions upon reopening, the resort has opted to suspend the program to make it easier to reopen without added confusion.
All pass holders will receive pro-rated refunds on their purchases, and will be able to continue receiving discounts in Downtown Disney and at the Buena Vista Street shops.
For more information about this change, visit the announcement page here.
UPDATE: JANUARY 13, 2021
The Disneyland Resort will be using its Toy Story Parking Lot as a COVID-19 Super POD, a.k.a. a mass vaccination site.
This site will comply with California’s current tiered distribution system, and will require appointments. For more information about booking an appointment and what tier you fit into, please visit Orange County’s announcement page.
UPDATE: OCTOBER 23, 2020
Starting in November, the Disneyland Resort will open limited sections of California Adventure for shopping and dining:
Shops:
Dining:
Shoppers/diners do not need park tickets, and the rest of the park will remain closed.
UPDATE: October 20, 2020
The CHHS Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, provided an update for California theme park reopening guidelines today during a virtual press conference. In the graphic below, Ghaly explained that smaller parks will be able to reopen when the county is in the orange tier, while larger parks (both Disneyland parks are classified as larger parks) can reopen in the yellow tier.
As of Oct 20, Orange County is in the red tier – the scale from “worst” to “best” is: purple, red, orange, yellow. Here is the state of California’s breakdown of what each tier entails:
For more in-depth information about the new theme park guidelines/requirements, check out this fantastic post from Blog Mickey.
Here is Disneyland’s official response to the new guidelines:
UPDATE: September 29, 2020
UPDATE: June 24, 2020
ORIGINAL POST: JUNE 10, 2020
The Disneyland Resort closed its gates in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marking only the 4th closure in its history. For the last few months, we’ve been eagerly awaiting news of a reopening. Today, Disneyland announced a reopening plan that, pending state and local government approval, will allow for a tiered reopening of the resort.
On July 9, the Downtown Disney District will reopen its shops and restaurants. The two parks will open on July 17th, the 65th anniversary of Disneyland’s original Opening Day. And finally, on July 23, the resort hotels will begin welcoming guests once again.
A few important changes to note during this reopening:
- Theme park capacity will change dramatically. Like with Disney World’s reopening, reservations will be required for park visits, even for annual passholders. Disneyland has not yet opened or explained the reservation system, but will do so in the coming weeks.
- Currently, annual passholders cannot renew their passes, and potential passholders cannot purchase new ones. The resort has also halted ticket sales temporarily, in preparation for the reservation system.
- When the park first opens, there will be no entertainment designed for group gatherings, like fireworks or parades. Characters will be roaming the parks, but will not be available for up-close meet & greets. Disney anticipates this will be a temporary change, not a permanent one.
- Unspecified operational changes for “health and safety” will also be implemented, though at this time Disney has not offered details just yet.
To read the full reopening announcement, check out the parks blog here. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro also shared his thoughts on the park reopening here. And finally, you can read a message from the Disney Parks Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pam Hymel here.
“It’s time for magic – and we look forward to welcoming you back.”