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An overhaul of California’s COVID-19 safety regulations announced on Friday could allow Disneyland, Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain and other theme parks to reopen their outdoor rides and attractions as early as April 1 if they are in counties with sufficiently low transmission of the coronavirus. .
Another caveat: In most states, parks will need to maintain attendance at 15% of capacity – a rate so low that industry experts say the parks would certainly not turn a profit.
Still, they say, parks are likely to embrace this money-wasting mode for some time, as they will need time to speed up their operations.
“Fifteen percent are unsustainable as an operational level,” said John Gerner, a theme park expert and managing director of Leisure Business Advisors. “But as a transition to full openness … it makes sense.”
Under the new rules announced on Friday, amusement parks will be allowed to reopen on April 1 with 15% capacity in counties that are in the red level – the second most stringent in the four-way reopening roadmap. California levels. A county is placed in one of four tiers based on its number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, the rate of positive coronavirus tests, and a measure of fairness.
Under the new regulations, the attendance cap increases to 25% of capacity once a county moves up to the third strictest level, orange, and to 35% when it reaches the most forgiving level, yellow. Previous rules prohibited parks from reopening until their home county reached the yellow level and capped attendance at 25% of capacity.
In November, Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk became the state’s first theme park to reopen under previous rules, but it closed after a weekend when COVID-19 cases spiked again in County of Santa Cruz.
Los Angeles County (home to Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood) and Orange County (home to Disney Parks and Knott’s Berry Farm) remain in the most restrictive level, purple, but they look on the verge of dying. ‘enter the red level.
Theme park operators hailed the state’s rule change, saying the nearly-year-long shutdown has been a brutal financial blow to parks, their workers, neighboring businesses and cities that depend on revenue taxes generated by the parks.
Since the parks closed last year, most have laid off or laid off large numbers of their workers. The Anaheim Disneyland Resort laid off approximately 10,000 of its nearly 31,000 employees after the closure of its Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks. More than 1,000 people have been rehired to help organize a food and shopping event scheduled for March 18.
Gerner and other experts say theme parks will need time to rehire and retrain workers before they reopen. Starting with crowds that are only 15% of full capacity will make the transition easier, they said.
Many of the workers who have been laid off have landed other jobs, so theme parks will need to hire and train people who have never operated an attraction or served food in that setting, experts say.
“Everyone’s rusty,” said Martin Lewison, professor of business administration and theme park specialist at Farmingdale State College in New York. “They have to remove the rust from things.”
Lewison agreed that most theme parks won’t make a profit by operating at 15% capacity, but said all income is better than nothing. Additionally, he noted that parks continue to incur costs – taxes, utility bills and maintenance – even when they are closed.
Disneyland insiders say the 100-acre park has a capacity of around 80,000 people per day. New state regulations would allow around 12,000 visitors a day once Orange County reaches red level.
One question is whether theme park fans will rush to the parks when the doors open or hesitate, fearing the risk of catching COVID-19 while riding the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland or taking the streetcar to Universal Studios Hollywood. .
“I think a lot of people are going to think twice,” Gerner said.
Ryan Temple, a Disney fan from Phoenix who visited Disneyland a few times a month before the pandemic, said he missed the park and often remembered looking at photos from his past visits.
Still, he says, he probably won’t be there the day the park reopens.
“Even if it would be at 15% of its capacity, it would still be a sudden shock to be around so many people again,” he said, adding that he could wait to be vaccinated against COVID. -19.
“I hope this will happen as soon as possible,” Temple said.
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