This past week the State of California released their long-awaited guidelines on how and when theme parks can reopen. Disney executives, along with other California theme park operators, were not happy with the announcement. Additionally, fans of Disneyland were also extremely disappointed – including their annual passholders.
Large theme parks – such as Disneyland – can reopen when their county enters the yellow or “minimal” tier. When they are permitted to reopen it will only be a 25 % capacity. Currently Orange County (where the City of Anaheim is located) has been in the red or “substantial” tier since September 8. It has yet to meet the metrics to move into the orange or “moderate” tier. Once they move into the next tier the county needs to remain at or below acceptable levels for three consecutive weeks.
Immediately after the announcement city officials, Disneyland executives, and the California Attractions and Parks Association issued statements condemning the plan.
Mayor Sidhu said these guidelines “fail working families and small businesses” and although Disney and the city would “survive” many other businesses “will not survive another year of this.”
Disneyland President Ken Potrock issued a statement that called these guidelines “unworkable” and said the State of California is “mandating arbitrary guidelines” and is “hold us to a standard that is vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities.
“To say today’s announcement on theme parks is disappointing would be a grave understatement,” said Erin Guerrero, California Attractions and Parks Association Executive Director, in a statement. Later Guerrero said that “all options are open at this point,” referring to the possibility of California theme parks exploring legal action.
Disneyland’s attendance is made up mostly of annual passholders and on Thursday, October 22, Disneyland began reaching out to them to inform them what could be coming up.
Disney told passholders that it has been “an already incredibly difficult month” and they are “heartbroken and disappointed, and understand you may feel the same.” The assured passholders that they are continually thinking of them and value their loyalty.
As Disney tries to figure out what they are going to do in trying to get Disneyland reopened as soon as possible and “understand the implications of this” they are also determining ” what it means for our Annual Passport program. Disney did not give any details but informed their passholders that they will have more to share on the future of the AP Program soon.
As has been stated before under the current guidelines and given the current state Orange County is in – the red or “substantial” tier – it is possible Disneyland would not be able to reopen until December and possibly early 2021.
Dear Valued Annual Passholder,
You may have seen that theme park reopening guidelines were released by the State of California and that parks like Disneyland® Resort were placed in the most restrictive tier. Despite our proven ability to operate with responsible health and safety protocols in place for our Cast Members and Guests, this news from the governor’s office means that our theme parks will not be reopening as soon as we had hoped.
After an already incredibly difficult month for the Disneyland Resort, we are heartbroken and disappointed, and understand you may feel the same. We want to thank you immensely for your patience since our closure and let you know that we continue to think about you as our valued Annual Passholders.
While we work to understand the implications of this and determine what it means for our Annual Passport program, we know that you have many questions and given the latest guidance from the state, we will have more to share with you on the future of our AP Program soon. We also want you to know that the efforts to reopen Disneyland Resort will continue as we work to seek solutions to bring our Cast back to work, get our local economy moving and share the magic and joy of our theme parks once again.
We thank you for your patience with us during this incredibly challenging time and for being important members of our Disneyland Resort community. We will be in touch with you as soon as we can to share more details. If you have any questions, please contact Annual Passholder Member Services at (714) 781-PASS (7277).
Disneyland Resort Annual Passport Team
Recently the Oriental Land Company, which owns the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, informed their annual passholders that as of the end of December 2020 all annual passes will be cancelled. They were extending expiration dates and allowing passholders to enter a lottery for up to five visits per month. Passholders were told that the future of annual passports will be announced by March 2021.
