Disneyland Resort is ready to reopen its theme parks as soon as California guidelines allow.


What You Need To Know

  • Disneyland is "ready" to reopen, Disney Parks chairman says

  • Disney waiting on reopening guidelines from California officials

  • Disney World parks reopened in July with new measures, protocols

Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products recently taked with Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association about Disney's approach to reopening its theme parks.

Although no new reopening date for Disneyland has been set, Disney is waiting for California to give the go-ahead.

"We don’t have any California guidelines for opening, D’Amaro said. “As soon as a date and those guidelines are set, I can tell you, we're ready."

Disneyland, which closed in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was scheduled to reopen July 17. However, as cases surged in California, those plans were put on hold.

Disney has, however, reopened its theme parks in Florida.

Disney World’s parks have been open since July, with a number of new health and safety measures in place, including face mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing protocols, enhanced cleaning procedures and capacity limits.

In the interview, D’Amaro also talked about how Disney has relied on technology to help with the new protocols. The parks are now using Disney Park Pass, a new system that requires visitors to reserve their park visits in advance.

“So you think about things like reservation systems in the parks that we can manage capacity and therefore the guest experience a little bit better,” D’Amaro said.

Disney World parks have also expanded mobile ordering at restaurants and contactless payment at merchandise locations. Many of these measures are a way to make visiting the theme parks safer, but D’Amaro said they are likely to stick around for a while.

"And so these things are helping us now, but I think they're here to stay," he said.