Covid-19: Disneyland will be kept shut for ‘foreseeable future’

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): The US authorities have issued guidelines for the reopening of theme parks on Tuesday (Oct 20), allowing smaller parks to reopen soon but large theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood might take another few weeks or months to resume operations, foreign media and newswires reported.

According to USA Today’s report, large theme parks were not allowed to reopen until the county they are located in reaches the yellow tier, the highest tier of the state’s colour-coded, four-tier reopening process.

Disneyland which is located in Orange County is currently in the state’s red tier, the second most restrictive tier. Meanwhile, Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles County is in the most restrictive purple tier.

The guidelines said even though the theme parks were allowed to be reopened, there will be limited to 25% capacity.

According to a Reuters’ report, other affected theme parks includie Legoland and Knott’s Berry Farm, which have been closed since mid-March.

Disneyland president Ken Potrock criticises the guideline and expressed his concerns that the prolonged shutdown will cause more job cuts.

“These state guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community,” he said in a statement.

In September, Disneyland slashed 28,000 jobs in California and Florida, and the city of Anaheim. The company also expects a fiscal-year deficit of at least US$75 million (RM311 million), said USA Today’s report.

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