The Latest Theme Park Reopening Guidelines for California

The golden state of California just released a new set of guidelines for reopening theme parks, like Disneyland and Universal Studios, which have been shuttered for over a year now. Disneyland has been experimenting with smaller-scale ticketed events, like A Touch of Disney, before their full reopening. So far, the experiment seems to be going well, and a late April reopening for the Anaheim park seems likely. Universal recently reopened as well, with limited access to certain attractions and food offerings.

This is the latest update to the reopening guidelines set in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy from California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Perhaps the biggest change is that when Disneyland DOES reopen, it will be limited to California residents only.

In-state visitors only. Information will be prominently placed on all communications, including the Reservation and Ticketing systems, to ensure guests are aware of Reservation and Ticketing Requirements. At the time a guest makes a park reservation and purchases park tickets, the park operators must obtain an attestation that when visiting the park, the guest’s party size will not contain more than 3 households and the guest, and all members of the guest’s party will be instate visitors.

Purple – Widespread – Tier 1
Closed

Red – Substantial – Tier 2

• Parks must limit visitors to a maximum of 15% capacity.
• Small Groups only – Limited to a maximum of 10 people or 3 household groups
  with no intergroup mixing
• Indoor capacity limited to a maximum of 15%
• No indoor dining
• Walk up ticket sales allowed. Park operators must collect complete name and
  contact information (including a phone number) of the ticket purchaser for
  necessary contact tracing.

Orange – Moderate – Tier 3

• Parks must limit visitors to a maximum of 25% capacity.
• Indoor capacity limited to a maximum of 25%
• Indoor dining limited to a maximum of 25% capacity
• Walk up ticket sales allowed. Park operators must collect complete name and
  contact information (including a phone number) of the ticket purchaser for
  necessary contact tracing.

Yellow – Minimal – Tier 4

• Parks must limit visitors to a maximum of 35% capacity.
• Indoor capacity limited to a maximum of 25%
• Indoor dining limited to a maximum of 50% capacity
• Walk up ticket sales allowed. Park operators must collect complete name and
  contact information (including phone number) of the ticket purchaser for
  necessary contact tracing.

Although not mentioned in the list above, the guidelines also clearly state the following:

• The theme parks are limited to in-state visitors only.
• Face masks are required for all Guests and employees.
• Indoor rides must be limited to no more than 15 minutes.
• All queuing must be performed in outdoor settings only and Guests from different households or parties must be at least six feet apart during queuing.
• Passengers from different parties must be separated on attractions.
• Theme park Guests can only eat or drink in designated areas. Eating or drinking is not allowed in attraction queues.
• Theme parks must develop a weekly optional COVID-19 testing program for employees.

We’ll let you know what else we hear about these updates and likely reopenings as they are confirmed.