Disneyland Urges Governor to Reopen, Hong Kong Disneyland Re-Opening, Water Parks Delayed & Much More!

Disney News on Parade September 22nd, 2020

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Disneyland Urges for Reopening

Here are the headlines for today:

• Yahoo News: Disney Parks Chief Begs California to Let Disneyland Reopen.”
• Variety: “Disney Parks Executive Pleads with California to Allow Disneyland Reopening.”
• Orange County Register: “Disneyland Demands Newsom Reopen California Theme Parks Now: ‘It’s Time'”
• LA Times: “Disneyland Presses for Reopening, Proposes COVID-19 Safety Measures.”
• Disney: “World Rhino Day Brings Big News for Disney’s Animal Kingdom”

Here are some sound bites from Josh D’Amaro:

“To our California government officials, particularly at the state level: I encourage you to treat theme parks like you would other sectors and help us reopen,” D’Amaro said. “We need guidelines that are fair and equitable so we can better understand our future and chart a path toward reopening.”

“I encourage you to treat theme parks like you would other sectors…Help us reopen.”

“The longer we wait, the more devastating the impact will be to the Orange County and Anaheim communities and to the tens of thousands of people who rely on us for employment. With the right guidelines and our years of operations experience, I am confident that we can restart and get people back to work. As you can see from this discussion today…we’re ready. And more importantly, it’s time.”

“Though we remain nimble and shift our operation as needed, we are taking a deliberate thoughtful approach here in Downtown Disney,” said Patrick Finnegan, vice president of California Adventure Park and the Downtown Disney district.

California Governor Gavin Newsom promised last week that news about Disneyland’s reopening would be coming “very soon.”

Disney California Adventure Park & Downtown Disney District Vice President Patrick Finnegan offered one new bit of information: “We’re pleased to announce today that we are in the process of finalizing a plan that would allow our cast members to have access to [Covid-19] testing in their own communities. We’ll have more information to share with our cast members soon.”

“Our team and safety team proactively developed a very thorough process for supporting contact tracing. This includes notifying any close work contacts and placing them on leave until they’re medically ready and cleared to return to work. Our processes are thorough and guided by Disney’s team of health and safety professionals, as well as other experts, including physicians and epidemiologists. Additionally, in order to make testing convenient and accessible for our cast members we’ve worked with local health authorities in Florida to allow them to set up testing facilities on our property that are open for both cast and the public.”

Other officials have shared their concerns: “It’s a disaster right here,” Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu said at a Wednesday news conference last week, joining the mayors of Buena Park and Garden Grove on a hotel rooftop overlooking Disneyland. “How long are you going to keep us closed?”

Disney Water Parks

While Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park remain closed at this time, pending state and local government approvals, we currently plan to reopen one of the two Disney water parks on March 7, 2021.

While you’re waiting to return to the water parks know that we have posts and podcasts about what we love most for both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.

Hong Kong Reopening on September 25th, 2020

Hong Kong Disneyland park will officially reopen to the public on Sep 25, 2020. In alignment with the latest guidance from health and government authorities, the resort will continue its measured approach with health and safety measures.

During the initial reopening stage, the park will implement a new five-day per week operation and will be closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays (except public holidays and special days designated by the resort from time to time) until further notice. The park will also continue to control capacity as required by the government. The online reservation system will remain in place, with all guests being required to reserve their visit date with valid tickets or membership cards through the Hong Kong Disneyland Park Visit Reservation website prior to arrival.

Character experiences will be offered in a new way, including selfie spots around the park to allow guests to take photos with their favorite characters with appropriate social distance. Meanwhile, in compliance with the government’s latest regulations, live performances will be restricted to outdoor venues during the initial reopening stage until further notice.

Ticket and hotel offers to preview the transformed castle prior to opening. A variety of special hotel and ticket packages are now available for guests to see the reimagined Disney castle in its final stage of transformation and enjoy a long-awaited Disney staycation. The Castle of Magical Dreams is slated to launch in celebration of the resort’s 15th anniversary in late 2020.

To provide greater flexibility in planning the visit, free cancellations for park tickets and hotel bookings are available to guests through Dec 31, 2020. For more details on tickets, hotels, dining and transportation, please visit www.hongkongdisneyland.com.

Hong Kong Disneyland looks forward to its guests returning to enjoy the magic of the park. For more about what we love about Hong Kong Disneyland, check out our post and podcast!

Tokyo Disneyland’s Newest Realm

The Tokyo Disney Resort has announced that on September 28th, they will open their largest Tokyo Disneyland expansion, which will impact, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Toontown. Included are:

• A Big Hero 6 Happy Ride with Baymax in vehicles similar to Alien Swirling Saucers and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.

• Minnie’s Style Studio in Toon Town–a new meet ‘n’ greet location with a design studio theme.

• The Big Pop, a specialized popcorn shop.
• A Beauty & The Beast Village with Maurice’s Cottage, a Gaston Taverne and village shops.

• A Fantasyland Forest Theater with a new stage show (which will await opening after the pandemic)
• The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. This is set inside a replica of the castle that is nearly 100 foot high. This one-of-a-kind attraction allows guests to spin through in dishes as they see scenes made famous from the film, such as “Be Our Guest”, “Something There” winter scene and the infamous “Beauty and the Beast ballroom scene.

For more about Tokyo Disneyland, visit our post and podcast about what we love most!

There’s Much More!

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