LOS ANGELES — Disneyland is aiming to open by late April following a yearlong closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek announced Tuesday.
“Here in California, we’re encouraged by the positive trends we’re seeing and we’re hopeful they’ll continue to improve and we’ll be able to reopen our Parks to guests with limited capacity by late April,” Chapek said in a statement.
An exact date has not been pinpointed yet, but should be publicized in the coming weeks, he added.
Disneyland, like all other large theme parks in the state, has been shuttered for nearly a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The closure likely would have extended longer had California not relaxed its restrictions for when the sector could welcome back visitors, something the state did just last Friday.
Under the new plan, amusement parks will be eligible to open once more with “very reduced capacity” beginning April 1.
But as Chapek noted, Disney will first need to gear up for the reopening of both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, something that will include calling back thousands of furloughed employees and getting them up to speed with the state’s coronavirus rules.
“The fact is it will take some time to get them ready for our guests — this includes recalling more than 10,000 furloughed Cast and retraining them to be able to operate according to the State of California’s new requirements,” Chapek said in the statement. “I am pleased to say the response has been great thus far, our Cast Members are excited to get back to work.”
Check back for updates on this developing story.