Under California's revised reopening guidelines, beginning April 1, theme parks located in a county that's been categorized as "red tier" or below may operate at just 15 percent capacity. Not only that, but indoor attractions must remain closed and only in-state residents will be allowed to enter the parks.
But, how exactly will Disneyland, Universal, Knott's, Six Flags and other California theme parks be able to enforce the ban on out-of-state residents?
The current California Department of Public Health travel advisory strongly discourages visitors coming from other states, but advises those who do so to self-quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. Even within the Golden State, the advisory urges residents to restrict their movements within 120 miles of home.
East Bay Times reported that California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly and California Business and Economic Development Director Dee Dee Myers briefed members of the media earlier this month regarding the details of recent updates to Governor Gavin Newsom's 'Blueprint for a Safer Economy', and how they would apply to theme park reopenings.
Ghaly and Myers said that state officials will be working directly with theme parks to further define guidelines for restricting admissions to "California Residents Only".
"Through restrictions around how ticket sales are handled, we can really target who's able to buy tickets," Ghaly said. "We will be hearing from operators in these sectors who will be putting forward plans on how exactly some of these restrictions and mitigating factors will be implemented."
In the same way that advanced reservations are currently required for guests' admission on a specified date to ensure that capacity restrictions are not exceeded on any given day in Florida, for example-where major theme parks have been open for months now-California's parks will utilize also online reservation systems for ticket sales.
Those reservation systems will track geocoding and GPS data to determine where potential visitors reside. "Because they are required to make reservations online, they will be able to determine where people are coming from," Myers explained. "That will be an important tool for the operators to use." This same technology will also provide a means of contact-tracing, in case it's ever determined that new COVID-19 cases are tied to a certain park.
"If we can find a way to make sure that the venues are gathering information about people, there will eventually be an option so that people can walk up and buy a ticket where that's appropriate and where there's capacity at the venue," Myers said.
Plus, limiting visitors according to their geography isn't entirely uncharted territory for theme parks. Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park, for example, have run a special offer for Southern California residents for years, with visitor eligibility determined by zip code. To take advantage of the discount, guests must provide proof of residency when purchasing tickets and present a valid government-issued photo ID for admission.
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