Disneyland reopening delayed

Disney will delay the reopening of its Disneyland theme park in California, the company said Wednesday. 

The park was originally set to reopen on July 17, but the reopening will now be postponed to an undetermined date as the company awaits further guidelines from the state, Disney said in a statement. 

“The State of California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4. Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” the statement said. 

Disney said it expects to be able to announce a reopening date once it has “a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released.” 

The Downtown Disney District will reopen on July 9 as previously announced and is in line with restaurant and retail openings throughout California. 

The company’s postponement comes just days after a coalition of unions representing thousands of workers at Disneyland said in a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that it was “not yet convinced it is safe to reopen the park” on July 17. 

California is one of nearly half the states in the country where coronavirus cases have peaked. 

Cases have also spiked in Florida, the home to Disney’s Orlando-based theme park Disney World. 

Last month, Disney said its Florida theme park is set to reopen in July. Of the four theme parks in Disney World, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom plan to begin reopening on July 11, while Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios plan to reopen on July 15. 

More than 8,000 people signed a petition as of Wednesday urging Disney executives and Florida officials to change their plan to reopen Disney World as coronavirus cases spike in the state.