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Disneyland has delayed its reopening following an increase in coronavirus cases in California and concerns over safety guidelines. The Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park were set to open on July 17 but the reopening date has been set back.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Disney said: "California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4."
Unions representing 17,000 Disneyland Resort workers said they were not convinced the park would be safe enough to reopen by Disney's planned date.
In a statement, the coalition of unions said that they were not convinced by Disney's guidelines. The unions claim Disney has rejected or not responded to the unions' safety proposals.
Additionally, a petition to delay the reopening of the Disneyland resort has reached 50,000 signatures.
On June 24, Disney announced that the Downtown Disney District will still reopen on July 9 as planned. Guests at the Downtown Disney District will experience limited parking, temperature screenings before entry, and physical distancing measures.
Downtown Disney District guests will be required to wear face coverings and locations will be operating with reduced hours, while some entertainment will be suspended. Disney said it will open with an increased focus on cleaning and sanitation, with hand-washing stations and hand sanitizers placed in key areas.
However, the Disneyland hotels and theme parks will remain closed and will reopen at a later, unspecified date, pending state and local government approval.
Once the hotels and Disneyland parks reopen, they may have limited capacity and reduced availability. The parks and hotels will also be subject to closure depending on advice from health experts and government officials.
Some experiences at the parks will be modified, have reduced capacity, or will be suspended and Disney says park admission and offerings will not be guaranteed.
Disney has told its future guests that by visiting the Disneyland Resort, they voluntarily assume all risks related to the exposure of COVID-19.
California has seen its coronavirus cases increase by 69 percent over two days. On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state had reported 7,149 new COVID-10 cases.
On Monday, before the increase in reported cases, the governor said he was prepared to revert back to more strict restrictions and go back on some reopenings.
At a conference, Gov. Newsom said: "We don't intend to do that, we don't want to do that, but I want to make this clear—we are prepared to do that if we must.
"Clearly we have the capacity, individual and collective capacity, not to have to go in that direction by just being a little bit more thoughtful about how we go about our day-to-day lives."
California was the first state to tell its residents to stay home but Newsom began easting restrictions on May 8. Newsom allowed counties to reopen at their own pace once meeting the governor's six benchmarks.
As of June 24, there have been 190,222 positive cases, 4,095 confirmed hospitalizations, 1,268 confirmed ICU hospitalizations, and 5,632 deaths, in California, according to the state's department of public health.
