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Disneyland cast members speak in support of delaying July reopening
Late this evening, Disneyland Resort officials announced that it would be delaying its theme parks and resort hotels July reopening. This comes after over three months of closure for Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom shuttered its gates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and it affecting visiting guests.
While that hasn’t stopped the reopening plans of other Disney Parks and Resorts around the world and even domestically at Walt Disney World, there was a steady growth of opposition to reopen in California so soon due to the increase of infection cases being reported due to other industries reopening in the state.
Many of those opposing voices came from Disneyland cast members themselves. As the people who would be serving guests on-stage (or on the front line), these cast members would be the first in getting exposed to these mid-COVID conditions – even with physical distancing and mask wearing applied.
Prior to tonight’s announcement, we did hear from a few Disneyland cast members who were open to sharing their thoughts. You can read from a selection of them below, and please note that some identities were hidden per request.
Disneyland Cast Members Comments On Delayed Reopening
“Nobody misses the magic of bringing joy to others more than me but I am also aware that our eagerness to return to a sense of normalcy can have repercussions that set us back even further. Orange County specifically, as well as California as a whole is still seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases and the reality is that no preparation can prevent people from grouping in a park that was built in 1955.
Basically the pathways are narrow and so are the queues. So, either people are dangerously grouped together OR the efficiency of the park takes a drastic nose dive to a point where the experience we are known for suffers. I know we all miss Disneyland but it’s too soon and just think how disastrous a second wave of COVID would be if it led to a SECOND theme park shut down. All the money spent retraining cast members will be completely wasted.” – TourGuide Ryan
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Disneyland has yet to provide an alternate reopening date, pending guidance from the California state government and approval from their cast member unions.
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