A year ago, COVID-19 deprived the nation of a fun summer. Theme parks were forced to close until further notice to protect the safety of workers, cast members, and visitors.
Now this spring we are being graced with the opportunity to relive those magical moments we’ve been robbed of. We will soon be able to view the well-loved and missed attractions, rides, food, and more.
As of early January, Disneyland was not fully abandoned, but instead was used as a site for vaccination according to Today News.
With the constant rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and a 29 percent decrease within the U.S it has proven to be a good sign for theme park visitors to conjugate together in bigger crowds.
“I’m really excited for the parks to reopen again because I miss taking trips with my family and having fun during the summer instead of just sitting at home wanting to do something,” said Abigail Hardin, a frequent Disneyland attendant.
With Southern California holding a stable ground in the red tier, Governor Gavin Newsom adjusted the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In result the California Department of Public Health stated on March 5 that, “Disneyland, Universal Studios other theme parks, and sports stadiums in California can reopen beginning April 1,” with restrictions in place.
With the red tier being the second-highest risk category theme parks, “will be limited to attendance of 15 percent capacity. In the orange tier, the limit increases to 25 percent capacity and in the yellow tier, to 35 percent. Attendance will be restricted to in-state visitors. Disneyland is in Orange County, which is currently in the highest-risk ‘purple’ tier, but local news reports suggest it may soon move down to the red tier,” according to The Verge on the 6th of March.
According to NBC News LA Orange Count is in the orange tier, so in order to reopen, theme parks had to comply with a set of rules. The amount of reported COVID-19 cases in the county will determine the amount of people who may visit the parks, according to The Verge, an online American technology news website.
With theme parks being in high demand there is a high chance that theme parks will be filled to the brim with people not following COVID-19 restrictions.
SoCal resident Jasmine Enriquez expressed that she is, “not for [reopening parks] because if they start doing it so soon then we’re just going to keep moving backwards or just stay in the same place.”