The past week has been full of public statements from both the state of California and Disney regarding reopening, the back and forth has been enough to give someone whiplash. However, earlier today we got word that Disneyland (and its sister park Disney California Adventure) has added even more safety measurements in the empty parks as they wait for official word from the Governor’s office.
Last week public health officials for Orange County, the county where Disneyland is situated, toured the Disneyland Resort and made further suggestions to make the parks even more safe. While they were impressed with the safety measures already taken by Disney, they did suggest a few additions, these included:
- adding Spanish language health and safety signs,
- additional markings outside of the restrooms to avoid cross traffic, and
- adding even more hand sanitizing stations inside the queue and exit areas of attractions.
Disney officials expressed appreciation for the cooperation of the county and have since added these recommendations into both of their parks. On top of these additions, Disney has already installed many changes to promote health and safety and plan to add thousands more.
Orange County health officials are working with California Health and Human Services, California Department of Public Health, and Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration to draft safe and reasonable reopening guidelines for theme parks in the state. County officials have been advocating for theme park reopening in Tier 3 (aptly labeled the “orange tier”) and stress that this recommendation takes into consideration public health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, along with mental health concerns associated with financial hardship.
Disney has continued to show a good faith effort to follow health and safety guidelines from government officials, we will see if this will be enough to persuade the Governor to provide a timeline for reopening.
The DisInsider is following this story closely and will update you with any new developments.
