California to reopen theme parks, sporting events in April

The holiday surge of COVID-19 cases is finally trending in the right direction in California after it became the epicenter of the pandemic in the late fall and throughout the winter. Now that new cases are trending downward, deaths are down and vaccine rollout is taking off, Governor Gavin Newsom has turned his sights toward reopening the state with an eye on April 1 as the target date for theme parks and sporting events to welcome guests.

It’s slightly deceptive to say that the reopening will take place on April 1 because the state’s current tier system is still in place. Many Southern California cities are still in the restrictive purple tier and Newsom’s reopening plan is geared toward areas that reach the less restrictive red tier leading up to April 1.

According to Newsom’s statement, theme parks will be able to open at 20% capacity as soon as the counties in which they are located move into the red tier. At present, several Southern California counties are close to meeting the necessary benchmarks, which means theme parks like Disneyland, Universal Studios and Knotts Berry Farm will be able to open soon.

Disneyland, other theme parks have been shuttered for a year

These unprecedented times have seen theme parks closed for over a year. While the theme parks themselves aren’t the problem when it comes to COVID-19, it’s finding ways to manage guests and ensuring that they will observe safety rules amid so many people who refuse to wear masks.

California will limit theme park guests to state residents only to prevent people from traveling to the state on vacation. Now is not the time to have people travel en masse to the state just as it’s working to get out of the danger zone.

In order to limit capacity, theme parks are hosting special ticketed events that tie into their traditional food and wine festivals. That way, they can sell tickets in advance and know how many people to expect each day, which will help prevent overload at ticket booths.

Major League Baseball also got the green light to allow fans back into the ballparks when the season begins in April. At present, most teams are focused on limiting admission to season ticket holders to help manage attendance.

Before guests can get back into the theme parks and baseball games, though, the Southern California region must get back into the red tier and that could prove tricky with spring break beginning for many students in the area. With reopening so close, California residents are hoping that the trend in COVID-19 cases continues to go in the right direction so things can start getting back to normal.