Disneyland reopening day: It’s back after COVID closure

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure reopen this Friday after an unprecedented 13-month shutdown, welcoming guests to tour Main Street USA, pay a visit to the Haunted Mansion and scream down Splash Mountain as the COVID pandemic -19 loosens its presence in the state.

In Disneyland’s 66-year history, the theme park has been closed by extreme circumstances only a few times – after the assassination of President Kennedy and after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, for example – but before the pandemic struck in March 2020, none of those closures lasted more than one day.

Now, with a series of coronavirus security adjustments, Anaheim parks are welcoming their fans.

Among other precautions, assistance to parks is limited to 25% of their capacity. Visitors and employees must wear masks and people who do not live in the same home must maintain physical distance in lines and at attractions.

Don’t expect any parades or fireworks displays – those tend to cause park goers to huddle together. Costumed characters like Mickey Mouse and Goofy won’t be handing out hugs, but they will pose for photos and wave from balconies and stages.

The changes don’t seem to deter die-hard fans. Tickets for Disneyland are already sold out for six weeks after opening day, according to Disneyland’s online reservations page. Tickets for Disney California Adventure are sold out for six days during the first month. There are still some dates left in May for visitors who purchase a park hopper ticket to visit both parks on the same day.

The parks only admit California residents. Visitors must attest that they are Californians when purchasing tickets online, and Disney representatives suggest bringing a photo ID as confirmation of support.

By allowing theme parks to reopen this month, California initially prohibited the parks from accepting out-of-state visitors, but has since ended that restriction. Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld San Diego are among the parks that have started selling tickets to people living outside of California and are fully vaccinated, but Disney has chosen to keep the previous restriction for longer.

Most of the Disney park attractions will be open. Some will be closed for pandemic safety reasons, including the Disneyland Monorail, the Finding Nemo Underwater Journey and the Columbia Sailing Ship, as well as the Disney California Adventure Red Car and the Golden Zephyr. Some, like Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise and the Matterhorn Bobsleds, will be closed for maintenance and upgrades. See the full list of open and closed attractions.

MaxPass and FastPass, the systems that allow visitors to avoid long lines by scheduling when to ride an attraction, have been discontinued, but a virtual queuing system using the Disneyland app will be required for Disney’s newest attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

To avoid crowds at park restaurants, most food stalls and restaurants accept orders through the Disneyland app. Park goers can use the app to make payments and receive an alert when their food is ready.

With the exception of this spring’s A Touch of Disney dining event, Disney parks – a jewel in the crown of California’s travel and tourism industry – have been closed since mid-March 2020. State sanitary guidelines released Last month they allowed the parks to reopen in order to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.

Before the pandemic, California theme parks collectively generated $ 1.5 billion annually in federal, state and local taxes, according to a parks trade group.

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