California's Governor Gavin Newsom spoke again at a news conference yesterday on the subject of reopening the state's popular amusement parks. While he remains "stubborn" about keeping theme parks shuttered until he's confident that the science and data support a responsible reopening and refuses to set a timeline, Newsom revealed that he's dispatched his own reconnaissance team to explore out-of-state parks that have already reopened.
Newsom said: "This week...we have supported an effort to actually find out directly by sending our own team to these sites as it relates to theme parks to get a better sense of what's going on," Travel + Leisure reported. "While we absolutely take people's word for information that they provide us, we want to see things for ourselves."
For several weeks now, frustrated Disneyland executives have been needling Newsom to allow theme parks to resume operations under state-approved health and safety reopening guidelines, which he has yet to establish.
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park are the only Disney parks in the world that remain closed since they first shut down on March 14 amid the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. The others have reopened with new protocols in place and at limited capacities, which, considering the scale of their operations, have proven overwhelmingly successful.
Newsom isn't convinced, saying he sees theme parks as "small cities", which host everything from conferences to parades. "There's people from all around the world that descend, not just people that are proximate to these theme parks that come together and mix," he said. "We are California-we have values, and we have an approach, and we have a new frame of discipline, and we're going to be stubborn in terms of keeping people's health front and center."
Disney Chairman Bob Iger (who resigned from Newsom's economic recovery task force over the disagreements), Walt Disney Parks and Resorts' Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pamela Hymel and Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D'Amaro-in concert with the California Attractions and Parks Association and the state's other major theme parks-have all expressed their mounting dismay over the governor's refusal to budge on the issue.
"We absolutely reject the suggestion that reopening the Disneyland Resort is incompatible with a 'health-first' approach'," Hymel wrote on Twitter. Last week, she'd pointed out: "Our health and safety protocols were developed in consultation with epidemiologists and data scientists, and after considering guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and experts in local government and health agencies. All of our other theme parks, both in the United States and around the world, have been allowed to open on the strength of our proven ability to operate with responsible health and safety protocols."
D'Amaro sent a plea to Newsom back in September: "I encourage you to treat theme parks like you would other sectors. Help us reopen." He stated that roughly 80,000 regional jobs depend on Disneyland Resort's ability to operate and that, the longer reopening is delayed, the more devastating the impact on workers and the economy.
The ongoing closure of the California parks and limited capacities elsewhere have already forced the company to lay off around 28,000 employees.
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