Am I surprised? Not really. I really didn’t think Newsom’s Team going to FL was going to change anyone’s mind in CA government’s ivory towers. It was just a tax payer’s funded expense. I don’t think Newsom or any officials gave an explanation as to why the COVID opening protocols in FL won’t work in CA.
If smaller theme parks can open at 25% or 500 capacity, I don’t get why larger theme parks and sporting arenas cannot open at the same capacity. Instead of “small” and “larger”, perhaps they can use square footage and assign a capacity. And Disney and Universal are much more capable of implementing COVID protocols consistently than a smaller park, I would think.
Right, we are CA. We do things the best.
Then again, Newsom has changed CA’s tiering a number of times. Who knows anymore.
I, too, really appreciated his approach in the early days. But as science and data have been collected and we know more, he has become more unreasonable.
(psst. They probably didn’t get a boarding pass or else they would have been in a much better mood)
Sorry, while I appreciate the gravity of the situation, I left CA exactly because I was tired of paying a premium in taxes and land value just to be treated like a child.
CA has a bit of a learning curve. While it’s clearly busy ,ahem, “protecting” it’s people by holding the theme park industry hostage, the Silicone Valley Techies are all quietly packing up and moving to Utah.
The government had carte blanche for a very long time because of it’s natural resources. What happens when that’s not enough anymore.
Speaking of resources…Newsom made sure to veto a bill that had zero contention in legislature. I only bring this up because on my last trip to DL/DCA I had a very, confused, daresay sick woman grab my child and try to walk away with him. A few trips before that we were stepping over literal homeless bodies just trying to get down Harbor to the Main Gate.
While he lacks data to open theme parks, he has more than enough to call any accountability “duplicative” when it comes to his spending.
But Kurt Stocks, President, Legoland California Resort was less hopeful.
“The guidance issued today by the state is arbitrary and unacceptable to the industry,” said Stocks. “Not allowing theme parks to open until Tier 4 will destroy the industry in California and the economic impact to industries that rely heavily on theme parks will be catastrophic. The administration’s actions to this point have cost tens of thousands of jobs across the industry, and today’s announcement will all but confirm that thousands more will be lost.”
Again, the mental health is glossed over but none the less important. Both from everyone who lost/will lose their jobs to the strain of having all the families forced together under tight quarters with no hope of respite.
I found this that summarized the “guidance” better and laughs at the conclusions of the Team that went to FL. Impressed with protocols but appalled with how many people weren’t wearing masks.
Did the Team do to touristy areas in CA? I was in a number of touristy spots last month in CA. Only about 80% mask compliance, without the 6’ social distancing in many places. Since we are pointing fingers…
I was in California last month as well (San Diego) and it was a mad house! We went to Legoland Hotel, the beach, a couple of shopping centers, fast food restaurants, etc. There are SO many people in CA. It’s hard to effectively distance no matter what the activity is. Mask compliance was decent but not 100% (of course, no one was wearing one on the beach since it’s not required, and there was usually a fair amount of distance between parties). Compliance, distancing, and protocols are much better at WDW from what I’ve seen.
CA would be best off opening up as much as they can safely just to disperse the crowds. As much as I want to go to DL, I’d be happy if they opened Disneyland only to locals because people need jobs and residents need to get out of their homes. (But opening to everyone would be better!)
