California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort will expand outdoor dining and indoor shopping next month.
Disneyland president Ken Potrock made the announcement on Monday, commemorating the 20th anniversary of Disney California Adventure Park. The move comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the stay-at-home order last month for several counties that he put in place in December as cases of COVID-19 skyrocketed throughout the state.
California Adventure’s tentative, mid-March, partial reopening will bring 1,000 employees back to work, Potrock noted. Downtown Disney reopened for outdoor dining and indoor shopping last July. California Adventure also initially opened for indoor shopping and outdoor dining last November. The stay-at-home put in place shortly thereafter caused a major kink. Now, California Adventure will open for a “limited time ticketed experience” for food and beverage offerings “multiple days per week” at the park, according to Potrock.
More than 200 union employees were recalled last month as outdoor dining was again made available at Downtown Disney.
The California Adventure news comes days after two state lawmakers announced legislation that could help Disneyland, as well as the other major theme parks in Southern California, open sooner.
Assembly members Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Buena Park, and Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, seek to co-sponsor AB 420, which would place all major theme parks in tier 3 (orange), or moderate, of the state’s COVID-19 Industry Guidance for Amusement Parks and Theme Parks. Gov. Newsom previously placed the major theme parks in tier 4 (yellow), or minimal. Theme park officials collectively called that move “unworkable.”
Erin Guerrero, executive director of the California Attractions and Parks Association, praised the proposed legislation. CAPA represents Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, SeaWorld San Diego and Legoland California, among others.
“Worldwide, theme parks have proven they can reopen responsibly while protecting the health of guests and staff,” she said in a statement last week. “Nearly a year after parks closed in response to the pandemic, tens of thousands of employees remain out of work, while local businesses, communities surrounding theme parks, and local governments face ongoing negative consequences.”
A lawsuit was floated by officials from all the major SoCal theme parks to push back against Newsom’s guidelines.
