Disneyland Resort is ready to reopen its theme park as soon as California guidelines allow.
Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, spoke with Roger Dow recently about Disney’s approach to reopening its theme parks. Dow is the President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association in case you’re wondering.
Even though no reopening date for Disneyland has been set, Disney is waiting patiently for California to give the thumbs up. D’Amaro told Dow:
“We don’t have any California guidelines for opening. As soon as a date and those guidelines are set, I can tell you, we’re ready,”
Disneyland, which closed mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was set to reopen on the 17th July. However, as cases rose in California, the 17th July reopening date was scrapped.
Disney has reopened its theme parks in Florida however. Walt Disney World’s theme parks have been open since July, with numerous health and safety measures in place.
Health and safety measures include face mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing protocols, enhanced cleaning procedures, and capacity limits.
During the interview, D’Amaro also talked about how Disney has used technology to help with new protocols.
In case you’re unaware, the parks are now using Disney Park Pass (DPP). DPP is a new system that requires guests to reserve their park visits in advance. D’Amaro said:
“So you think about things like reservation systems in the parks that we can manage capacity and therefore the guest experience [is] a little better,”
Parks at Disney World have also expanded mobile ordering at restaurants and contactless payment at shopping locations.
Many of these measures are a way to make visiting the parks much safer, however, D’Amaro suggested these measures are likely to stick around for a while:
“And so these things are helping us now, but I they’re here to stay.”
H/T Spectrum News, Blog Mickey
