USA: A Ray of Hope for Californian Theme Parks – Gradual Reopening Permitted from April 1st

For the international leisure and attractions industry, the past twelve months have literally been like a roller coaster ride with ups and downs: In most parts of the world, facilities had to shut down completely at the beginning of the pandemic, but were subsequently allowed to reopen for a few months under strict hygiene conditions and capacity regulations. Today, the policy for reopening varies from country to country and region to region – in some European states, theme parks have already been given a specific date for resuming operations, while elsewhere (including Germany) there is still uncertainty as to when parks will be able to welcome visitors again.

An economically extremely challenging year lies behind the theme parks and attractions businesses in California, which had to remain completely closed the entire time despite having developed detailed safety concepts. Now, there is a first ray of hope for the industry in the “Golden State“: Following a strict four-stage reopening “roadmap“, theme and amusement parks will be allowed to reopen their outdoor areas and put their attractions into operation as of April 1^st. Operators must take into account comprehensive safety concepts that include a significantly reduced visitor capacity: Depending on local incidence, 15 to 35 percent of the respective venue’s maximum capacity may be received as guests.

Among the parks that have already announced a specific reopening date are the two Californian Six Flags parks Magic Mountain and Discovery Kingdrom (both April 1^st). Disneyland Resort plans to open Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure on April 30^th, around which time the associated Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is expected to welcome back overnight guests, while the other hotels of the resort will remain closed. SeaWorld San Diego, which being a registered zoo is already receiving visitors in its animal areas, will take its rides and roller coasters back into operation as of April, too. Later this year, the park hopes to unveil its new “Emperor“ roller coaster to guests. Universal Studios Hollywood has not yet communicated a specific reopening date but considers a date later next month.

On the East Coast on the other side of the country, the state of New York also recently announced possible reopening dates for amusement facilities (both indoor & outdoor), so limited operations will be possible there as well starting late this month/early April (cf. EAP News of 23 Feb 2021). (eap)