Disneyland set to reopen with limited capacity on April 30
After a year of having been closed either partially or entirely, Disneyland will reopen on April 30, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced Wednesday.
Chapek said the park will reopen with a limited capacity and will take guidance from California officials, saying, “We’ll be able to operate at a point to maintain a great guest experience.”
The state previously advised the park operate at 15% capacity of its fire code occupancy.
“We’ve been able to prove that we can do this and welcome our guests back in a responsible way," Chapek said.
Chapek added that guests have been "very cooperative overall" when it comes to wearing masks, which they will be asked to continue doing for the time being.
"The day all of us have long been waiting for is almost here," Ken Potrock, president of the Disneyland Resort, said in a press release. "We’re excited to have more than 10,000 cast members returning to work as we get ready to welcome our guests back to this happy place."
To help promote social distancing, attendance will be managed through a new reservation system and, until further notice, only California residents will be able to visit.
All of Disneyland -- including the main park, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney District -- closed its gates indefinitely on March 14 of last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, Downtown Disney District has been opened in a limited capacity last July and Disney California Adventure is beginning a limited-capacity ticketed experience beginning March 18.
It was announced on March 5 that Disneyland could open as early as April 1 as Orange County, where the park is located in Anaheim, lowered to the red tier of coronavirus precaution.
Disneyland has been operating as a mass vaccination site since January.
Disney World -- located in Orlando, Florida -- has been open since last July.
When it comes to other aspects of the business, Chapek said the company hopes to see Disney Cruises return to operation later this year.
"We hope by the fall we’ll be operating our cruise line again," he said, adding that they will look to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for guidelines.
As for streaming, Chapek said the "demand and appeal for Disney+ has been universal," with subscriptions having recently topped 100 million worldwide. He also said the company is "very pleased" with how Premier Access, which has been utilized for the releases of "Mulan" in December and "Raya and the Last Dragon" earlier this month, has gone.
For more information on Disneyland's reopening, visit here.
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