After a week of increasingly aggressive calls for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue guidelines to allow the state’s theme parks to reopen, Disney has scheduled a panel discission for Tuesday on its parks and resorts.
As reported by Mouseplanet, the Sept. 22 panel panel discussion will provide an update on company’s parks and resort operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will feature the chairman of Disney’s parks division, Josh D’Amaro, who was spotted by vlogger Best Life & Beyond walking through Disney California Adventure last week. The event will be invitation-only and will not feature a Q-and-A session.
Disneyland fans have been analyzing clues for weeks on whether the park’s COVID-19 shutdown is near its end. Disney-centric news sites called reopening “imminent” a month ago — which doesn’t fit the definition of the word — or even predicting reopening dates.
The panel discussion has fueled even more social media discussion about whether a reopening announcement will be made. However, it’s important to note that reopening depends on Newsom and California state government releasing reopening guidelines, and there’s no mention of any government officials being involved in the panel. Furthermore, Disneyland isn’t the only California theme park publicly pushing for reopening, and a government announcement would likely involve representatives of multiple parks, such as Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood.
In Florida, the announcement of Disney World’s reopening plans came during a virtual meeting in which SeaWorld Orlando also announced a reopening date.
UPDATE: WDW News Today has since reported that Disney will not announce a reopening date for the Disneyland Resort, according to a company statement. Disneyland’s media relations team did not respond to Theme Park Tribune’s request for comment.
Cedar Point bringing back reservation requirement in October
Guests to Ohio’s Cedar Point will once again need to make a reservation in advance starting Oct. 3.
The park had a reservation requirement when it reopened on July 9, but it was scrapped just 12 days later when crowds were lower than anticipated. Now, the park is open only on weekends.
“Reservations will be implemented to maintain the reduced in-park capacity due to COVID-19 during our popular fall season,” Cedar Point spokesperson Tony Clark said in a statement. “We will continue to operate with 50 percent of our normal guest capacity within the park.”
Face masks and physical distancing are also still required at the park.
The park’s popular HalloWeekends event will not be held this year, instead being replaced by the family-friendly Tricks and Treats Fall Fest. The park’s last day of operation for 2020 is scheduled to be Nov. 1.
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