Following the announcement of new California guidelines for reopening of theme parks, Disneyland Resort President, Ken Potrock has fired back on the new policies with an official statement.
We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world. Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities.
Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community.
— Ken Potrock, Disneyland Resort President
Disney has been on aggressive offense leading the charge to reopen its California parks reinforcing the urge to reopen with quotes from Dr. Clayton Chau, Director, Orange County Health Care Agency. Chau is on record saying
“I think for a large county like us, especially a county with institution of higher education where folks [are] coming in from outside the county and outside the state, I think it’s going to be very hard to achieve the yellow tier… Personally, I think that we can look forward to a yellow tier by next summer, hopefully. Hopefully.”
— Dr. Clayton Chau, Director, Orange County Health Care Agency
Chau is also on record saying “It depends on when the vaccine will come as well as how many doses [are] available for our populations as well as how many of our residents will readily accept the vaccine – those are the three factors that will determine how soon we can get to the yellow tier.”
Offering further support, Erin Guerrero, Executive Director, California Attractions and Parks Association, is on record saying “This plan prolongs unemployment for tens of thousands of people, hastens bankruptcy for families and small business owners adjacent to parks, and contributes to insolvency for local governments whose budgets rely on parks as an anchor economic driver… Responsibly reopening amusement parks on a reasonable timeline can and should be done while we fight this pandemic – the two are not mutually exclusive.”
