California Keeps Theme Parks Closed, Extending Disney Rift

(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state’s theme parks have to remain closed for now -- a stance that has put him at odds with park owners like Walt Disney Co. and some legislators.

“We’re going to be led by a health-first framework and we’re going to be stubborn about it,” the governor, a Democrat, said at a press conference Wednesday. “We don’t anticipate in the immediate term any of these larger theme parks opening until we see more stability in terms of the data.”

In a statement Wednesday, Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer of Disney’s parks division, said all of the company’s other resorts in the U.S. and worldwide have reopened with health protocols developed in consultation with experts. “We absolutely reject the suggestion that reopening the Disneyland Resort is incompatible with a ‘health-first’ approach,” she said.

California, home to the original Disneyland and Comcast Corp.’s Universal Studios, is among the last states to reopen its theme parks. Florida began letting them reopen in June, and Disney parks from Shanghai to Paris have also opened their doors to guests after closing for several months this year due to the coronavirus.

Disney said last week that it’s laying off 28,000 U.S. employees, roughly a quarter of the workforce in its resorts division. The company said the move was “exacerbated” by California’s shutdown. The company’s parks, experiences and products division was its largest in the last fiscal year, with $26.2 billion in revenue.

An association of amusement-park operators in the state pushed back on proposed state rules that would have limited their guests to a 120-mile radius of the properties, among other restrictions. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services, said California was continuing to review its guidelines, which he originally planned to release last week.

‘No Big Rush’

That same group, the California Attractions & Parks Association, said Wednesday that it was “disconcerting” that the governor has no timeline for issuing guidance to theme parks.

“The governor’s ‘no big rush’ approach is ruining businesses and livelihoods for thousands who could responsibly be back at work,” Erin Guerrero, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

While California is home to the most U.S. virus cases, its outbreak has significantly improved since a surge in infections over the summer. The state’s average rate of positive tests over the past 14 days fell to 2.6% on Wednesday, the lowest since the pandemic began.

Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger stepped down from a state reopening task force last week, in part due to frustration over the continued closing of parks.

Iger’s move “didn’t come to me as a surprise at all,” Newsom said Wednesday. “There were disagreements in terms of reopening a major theme park.”

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