With a lot of places with stay-at-home ordinances, it’s safe to say that we are all ready to get back to “normal”. This pandemic has shut down our everyday lives because it’s a virus that we have no answer to. Restaurants, theaters, theme parks, and so much more have been shut down until further notice. Movies are keep getting pushed back and massive events like Comic-Con have been canceled for 2020.

One of the places we never thought we’d see shut down for this long is the so-called happiest place on Earth, Disneyland. It makes sense as travelers know that when you are there you are shoulder to shoulder with other people in tight lines. Then you board cramped vehicles that another group had just been on seconds before. There are touch screens used by hundreds if not thousands daily. The point is that there are a lot of places that could transmit the virus from one person to another.

Like with many other places, the million-dollar question is, when are they going to be allowed to re-open? One possible date is quite depressing.

ALSO SEE: BOB IGER IS BASICALLY CEO OF DISNEY AGAIN, WORKING TO CREATE A NEW POST-VIRUS COMPANY

The Los Angeles Times stated in an article today that Swiss banking giant UBS told clients this week that Walt Disney Co. is likely to wait until January 1st of 2021 to open it’s theme parks. They are also predicting that with the new health precautions that will most likely be in place, Disneyland will only see about 50% of the 2019 attendance.

Every decision that is made by Disney will be dictated by changes in the stay-at-home ordinances placed by local governments. Local and federal governments are continuing to try and figure out a way to allow businesses to re-open. Theme park operators have been busy behind the scenes figuring out ways to make their patrons feel safe.

Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger had mentioned in an interview before that their parks would require more restrictions to make people feel safer. One possible idea was to take the temperature of each visitor before allowing entrance. This is something that is already being done in parks in Asia. Another idea was to open the park with limited capacity as well as sign a form clearing Disney of any liability. Social distancing would still need to happen in attraction queues and hand sanitizer would be set up around the park.

ALSO SEE: COMING SOON: TEMPERATURE CHECKS AT DISNEYLAND?

The reason there may be a long wait for theme parks like Disneyland to re-open according to Martin Lewison, a business administration professor and theme park expert at Farmingdale State College in New York, is that it wouldn’t make sense financially to open with so many restrictions. The attendance restrictions, additional employees to take temperatures, and sanitize rides could make these parks unprofitable.

Not to mention that you pay a premium price for the Disneyland experience. If you restricted by the number of rides available, no shows, or parades along with social distancing protocols, then you might think twice about even making the trip.

The idea of keeping all kinds of social distancing and stay-at-home ordinances throughout the year is frustrating. But the dangers of the virus are real. We all need to do our part to avoid infection even if you believe you’ve already had it. With a little patience we will be back to planning our weekend get-aways to Disneyland in no time.

ALSO SEE: DISNEYLAND’S AVENGERS CAMPUS WILL BE CONNECTED TO THE MCU – TAKE OUR MONEY NOW!

Do you think the idea of keeping Disneyland closed for the rest of the year is good or bad? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Source: Los Angeles Times