Recently, California’s theme park reopening guidelines were released, but they only allow large theme parks, like Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park, to reopen if the county they are located in reaches the lowest of California’s tiers, Tier 4.

Several leaders have expressed their frustration over the current reopening guidelines, including Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu. And now, a number of California mayors have reached out to Governor Gavin Newsom to ask him to reconsider the criteria for theme park reopenings.

Today, the California Attractions and Parks Association shared a letter written by the mayors of the Big City Mayor’s Coalition, which represents some of the largest cities in California.

CA Mayors agree: we can fight the pandemic and responsibly reopen California's major theme parks at the same time. Let’s get people back to work and revive local economies! #ReadytoReopenResponsibly pic.twitter.com/YPmHBIXk9X

— CA Attractions & Parks Assoc. (@CaAttractions) November 2, 2020

 

 

 

 The letter acknowledges that the guidelines created by the state prioritize public health and safety, which the mayors agree is the correct focus. “The guidelines put forth by your Administration were released within the framework of prioritizing public health and safety for guests and employees. This is the right focus.”

It then goes on to address the potential economic impacts of the ongoing closure and states that economic and public health are not mutually exclusive. “However, economic and public health are not mutually exclusive goals. We are concerned that the state’s guidelines would push re-opening of large theme parks up to a year out, which would have significant negative impacts on hundreds of thousands of jobs, thousands of small businesses, and billions in operating revenue for our cities.”

The letter references union support for reopening, and points to this as a sign of their approval of theme park health and safety protocols. “As you may have recently seen, labor unions and employee groups representing many of the workers at these theme parks have joined in calls for a timely, safe reopening. This call is a result of their direct knowledge of the health and safety protocols, and their need to get back to work.”

The mayors then go on to request the guidelines be modified to allow large theme parks to reopen with limited capacity when their county reaches Tier 3, rather than Tier 4 as the guidelines currently state. “We therefore respectfully request that your Administration work with our most impacted coalition members — Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego — to continue the discussion of how we can maintain a health-first focus while modifying protocols to allow large theme parks to open in Tier Three with reduced capacity, rather than Tier Four.”

The letter is signed by eight California mayors, including Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu. It concludes by requesting a briefing with the Administration to discuss the impact of the new guidelines on public health and economics.

Why can’t California theme parks reopen despite reopenings elsewhere? California Governor gives his thoughts

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Have you been to Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort since it reopened to guests? Let us know in the comments.