California has loosened restrictions on theme parks clearing a path for Disneyland to reopen as early as April 1st. The long saga between the California government and theme parks took another turn this week as the rules to get the parks to open were changed. In this post, I’ll cover the revised restrictions and what it means for park goers moving forward.

Throughout the state theme parks are allowed to open when the counties they are located in are in the second tier (Red Tier). This is a drastic change from the previous restrictions of the fourth tier. These changes take effect on April 1st. Once in the second tier, theme parks will be allowed to reopen in at 15% capacity. The following rules will be in place for each tier according to the CDPH website:

Red Tier (Tier 2)

• Max 15%
• Small Groups – Max 10 people or 3 household groups with no intergroup mixing
• Indoor capacity max 15% with time restrictions
• No indoor dining
• Weekly worker testing program
• In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect
• Online ticket purchases only

Orange Tier (Tier 3)

• Max 25%
• Indoor capacity max 25% with time restrictions
• Weekly worker testing program
• With other modifications
• In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect

Yellow Tier

• Max 35%
• Indoor capacity max 25% with time restrictions
• Weekly worker testing program
• With other modifications
• In-state visitors only, check for current CDPH Travel Advisory in effect

While these are the current restrictions and rules, I do expect them to change and evolve over time. As COVID rates continue to drop and vaccine percentages go up, having such strict capacity rates will not make much sense as we move towards the latter half of the year. For now, I’m guessing it was a compromise but that does seem ripe to change.

Likewise, I don’t think keeping the parks in-state visitors will last extremely long either. California is obviously a popular tourist destination and keeping the current restrictions statewide through the summer seems like it would be fought by many places (including theme parks) barring a spike in cases. While I don’t expect those restrictions to be gone by April 1st, I think May is a realistic timeline. Of course, this is all speculation (with a good amount of reading done) on my part.

With the United States shooting to have vaccines available to everyone by the end of May, I’m fairly optimistic that tourism and theme parks will be getting back to normal before long. I don’t know exactly what the nationwide demand will be for that but I can more or less guarantee that Disneyland Resort will have an extreme amount of pent up demand and will be a tough ticket to get for at least the first few months of opening. In other words, if you want to experience Disneyland at 15% capacity then you better be on top of getting tickets the second they become available. You’ll need faster fingers than getting into the Rise of the Resistance queue.

Disneyland Resort has not announced a reopening date as of yet and it remains to be seen how this will affect Taste of Disney. I’m not sure I would count on the Disneyland Resort Theme Parks being open exactly on April 1st. There are Cast Members to call back and train as well as plenty of details to sort out. There’s a chance that by April 6th Orange County could be moving into the third tier and 25% capacity for theme parks. That seems like a realistic target date, or the following weekend. We will be sure to update the blog when there is an announcement.

For now, this is great news not only for Disney Parks but just the world in general. Things are getting back to normal and that is both beautiful and reassuring. Disneyland feels like home to a lot of people and we’re not far from getting it back.

What are your thoughts on these new California restrictions? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! Planning a trip to Disneyland Resort? Check out our Disneyland Trip Planning Guide to help you out. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends and like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!