Reopening of Disneyland in California Delayed Beyond July 17

Walt Disney Co.’s reopening of theme parks and resort hotels in California will be delayed until Disneyland receives approval from the state, the company said on June 24.

Disney had originally planned to reopen the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park on July 17.

“California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4,” Disney said in a statement, of one reason for the delay.

The company had also received pushback from unions representing 17,000 workers at its Disneyland Resort in Southern California, who said they were not convinced the theme park would be safe enough to reopen by the company’s target date.

Disney began closing its theme parks around the world in January in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Disney in early May said that measures to contain the pandemic had cuts its profits by $1.4 billion, most from its shuttered theme parks.

Disney began reopening its theme parks in May, starting with Shanghai Disneyland, and last week reopened Hong Kong Disneyland. In Florida, it has partially reopened its Disney Springs entertainment and shopping complex.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)