A Followup to Our Earlier Guest

 Brady MacDonald at the OC Register:

California theme parks and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration are once again at odds just as it seemed like a reconciliation was in the works and COVID-19 health and safety guidelines for reopening the major tourist destinations were about to be issued.

Initial draft guidelines reviewed by theme park operators prompted Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and their counterparts to ask Newsom’s administration to hold off on finalizing the reopening plan until modifications could be made to key protocols.

As a result, state officials tapped the brakes on plans to issue theme park reopening guidelines this week in order to seek more input from industry officials on proposed protocols.

“Given the size and operational complexities of these unique sectors, we are seeking additional input from health, workforce and business stakeholders to finalize this important framework — all leading with science and safety,“ California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said in a statement issued Friday.

Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, SeaWorld San Diego, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Legoland California and other California theme parks closed in mid-March as the COVID-19 pandemic forced business across the U.S. to shutter their operations and society to adjust to the “new normal.”

California theme parks have been left waiting on the sidelines while other segments of the economy have reopened under Newsom’s four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy -— which proceeds from the most-restrictive “widespread” risk level through “substantial” and “moderate” before reaching the least-restrictive “minimal” tier.

Most California counties with major theme parks currently fall into the second-most restrictive “substantial” risk level — including Orange (Disneyland and Knott’s), San Diego (SeaWorld and Legoland), Solano (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom) and Santa Clara (California’s Great America). Los Angeles County — home to Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain — remains in the most restrictive “widespread” risk level.

Frustrated theme park operators like Disney, Knott’s and Legoland have been demanding for weeks that Newsom allow California theme parks to reopen. In a classic case of “be careful what you wish for,” theme parks didn’t like what they saw in the draft guidelines.

The initial draft guidelines from the state for reopening California theme parks reportedly call for:

• Individual theme parks can reopen only once their county reaches the least-restrictive “minimal” risk level
• Operate at 25% of attendance capacity
• Limit visitors to residents living within a 120-mile radius of each theme park

The state’s draft guidelines present two key problems for theme parks:

Placing theme parks in the final tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy means the severity of the guidelines never change until the pandemic ends

Reaching the least-restrictive “minimal” tier could be difficult to nearly impossible for California’s most-populous counties

The draft guidelines likely would prevent California theme parks from reopening for weeks or months.