After a year of shut down due to a global pandemic, Disneyland, other theme parks, movie theaters and recreation centers prepare to re-open after California moved into the Red Tier on March 14.
Per California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy safety restrictions, which shut down amusement parks for the past year, will be lifted effective April 1. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure had announced they will open again on April 30 at 15% capacity.
Disney will require that their Guests plan their visits through a theme park reservation system. A system of which the details have yet to be released. In lieu of the park’s plans for a safe reopen, only current California residents will be permitted to make reservations.
Knott’s Berry Farm has yet to release a specific date for re-opening. John Storbek, vice president and general manager of Knott’s, released an update on March 12 with plans to reopen the park sometime in May.
Around Fullerton, smaller recreation businesses have put forth safety guidelines to operate in the pandemic.
Wild Goose Escape, an escape room business in Fullerton, had managed to open its doors back in September of 2020. They had to halt the construction of two new attractions with the initial country-wide shut down due to the pandemic during March of last year, and have not been able to resume development.
To stay within COVID-19 safety guidelines, the business reduced their hours from originally 10 a.m.-10 p.m., to now 3 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Where there used to be a 30-minute window between games, there is now a 90-minute window so employees have more time to deeply sanitize and air-out the rooms.
Club Pilates, located in the Fullerton Metrocenter, has held its classes fully indoors since January 2021 and is still offering virtual classes through their app. Jenise Alvarenga, a staff member of Club Pilates, said the business had seen a 30% increase in its customers since the state moved into the Red Tier. While the studio had to cut a lot of their classes due to lack of attendance, Club Pilates has slowly been rebuilding its schedule as more people sign up to take classes.
The AMC Dine-In Theater in Fullerton was able to reopen its doors last Friday, March 19. They have a set maximum capacity of 25% and require that all movie-goers wear the proper mask, which excludes bandanas and masks with ventilators. They use a disinfectant to wipe down their seats, hand railings, and door handles every two hours as well as after every movie screening. The movie theater’s hours of operation are currently 3 – 8 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 – 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Orange county is currently at a 1.7% positivity rate in COVID-19 tests in a seven-day average, which is a 0.1% decrease from the prior seven-day average. Hospitalizations have also seen a 1.6% decrease in a 14-day average period.
These low numbers are foreshadowing a possibility of Orange County moving into the Orange Tier, which will allow for more expansive re-openings and capacities, in only a short amount of time.
