That is the million or billion dollar question for hordes of Southern California Magic Castle fans. It is also one of the questions of the 28,000 Disney employees that were recently laid off.
According to CNET, Governor Newsome said Disneyland and similar large theme parks can only open once their county reaches the yellow tier of infections. This means that no more than 1 new case of covid per 100,000 people living in that county. Currently, Orange County is in the red tier at 4.6 new cases per 100,000 people. Once Orange Country reaches that yellow level, then Disneyland can reopen, but park capacity will be capped at 25%.
Disney forcefully rejected that notion. All of their theme parks around the world are open from China to Paris to Florida. Only California remains closed.
The Governor's fear is that large theme parks with tens of thousands of visitors would act like super spreader locations like the week-long 365,000-person Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last August that did spread infections across the US.
So what happened when Walt Disney World (WDW) opened in July?
According to Eric Clinton president of one of the unions for cast members as reported by CinemaBlend, said very few if any cast members have had a work-related coronavirus infection at WDW since the reopening.
Attendance is down due to limits on attendance. However, the Orlando Sentinel said on a recent day 19,000 people visited WDW down from a typical 60,000. Still 19,000 tourists plus cast members are a lot of people all in one place together.
WDW has instituted a number of wellness measures including temperature screenings, wearing masks, enforcing social distancing, and limiting capacity. Fireworks, parades, and other activities have been curtailed.
Those few commonsense safety changes seem to be keeping coronavirus in check. It all goes back to wearing a mask, social distancing, and sanitizing. The rule of 3 once again appears to be effective in keeping the virus at bay in yet another big venue.
As I have said all along, I am personally concerned that a vaccine, if there is one, will not be ready until well into next year. Another vaccine trial (the third) has been suspended after a trial subject died in Brazil. If there is no safe vaccine for the next year or two, how long will California remain shutdown? Schools closed? Theaters shuttered? Winter is when flu season is the worst.
I know many people who have stated that even if there is a vaccine, they will not get it.
The US just reported a 70,000-new-infection case day. The virus is not going away anytime soon.
It appears that California, at least Orange and Los Angeles Counties, will remain shutdown through at least the end of the year.
So my musketeers, you will have to make the long journey to the other side of the country to ride a boat on the Pirates of the Caribbean before 2020 ends, maybe even 2021. Crazy, right?
Take care and be safe.
Posts Tuesday
2 comments:
If all other Disney Parks are open with little to no issues, I think Disneyland should be able to open with similar restrictions. I’ve no idea how they handle rides like Pirates or Buzz and Star Tours May be our but some would go. Disney has spent months planning and getting supplies. I see no reason to keep the closed. All of those families need work as much as anyone. Everyone should call the Governors Office. There is hope for plane travel though. I just read a study about flying in a plane when people are required to mask, and it was hopeful. On some planes where people had COVID but all were masked, no one caught it.
I like your suggestion Cindy. That is great to hear about the effectiveness of masks on airplanes.
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