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Today, CAPA (California Attractions and Parks Association) hosted a press conference to react to new park guidance released by Newsom. California park heads are discussing the legal actions they could possibly take to reopen the parks against Newsom’s blessing.
When asked whether the parks will take legal action or change reopening guidelines, California Attractions and Parks Association Executive Director Erin Guerrero stated, “All options are open at this point. We’re going to continue to explore our options. Our #1 goal is to reopen responsibly…at this point any options are viable.”
Disneyland President Ken Potrock also chimed in and said, “The concept of trying to come up with a collaborative solution I think is the end goal for all of us, one that is fair and balanced and takes in all of the factors…we all gladly and willingly would roll up our sleeves and work with the administration to do so, but it has to be a back-and-forth dialogue, not just a ‘you told us what to do, and we’re doing that with intent.”
It seems that Disneyland and the CAPA would still like to work with Newsom and the state of California to reopen the theme parks in a way that is safe but ensures theme park survival. This is an olive branch that Disneyland President extended to Newsom weeks ago, and one that was never fully met.
Newsom has now released the guidelines for theme park reopening which would for Disneyland, Universal, and all other CA theme parks and amusement parks that have a capacity of over 15,000 to not reopen until each park’s respective county is in Tier 4, which could take months and possibly lead us into 2021.
This will destroy many businesses that rely on tourism, and considering many major CA theme parks such as Disneyland Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood have had state officials green light their safety measures already — the news of a Tier 4 reopening seems shocking.
Stay tuned to ITM as we continue to follow this ongoing news story.