Disneyland is not celebrating Christmas Day this year

At Disneyland, holiday time is not what it used to be. The winter rise of the pandemic has filled ICUs almost to capacity across much of California, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to issue a stay – at – home order for most of the state, including Orange County, home of Disneyland.

In response, Disneyland is closing its doors on Christmas Day for the first time in more than 60 years.

The stay-at-home order has been restricted to a version that was already a retrospective of the Disneyland holiday celebration. Usually at this time of year, the park is packed to the fullest, sometimes cutting off tickets for the day in the morning. This year, Disneyland and almost all of Disney California Adventure’s sister parks are closed. No tours work (except routine testing and maintenance that sometimes lights up the park at night) and guests have not taken a step inside Fantasyland since March, when it closed the pandemic, affecting its three hotels.

Just before Thanksgiving Day, Disneyland opened Buena Vista Street, the very beginning of California Adventure which faces U.S. High Street in a Disneyland park. While tours and amenities were still closed, and Hollywood Mickey and Minnie did not welcome guests, stores and restaurants were open in that part of the park, as an extension of the downtown Disney shopping and shopping area.

For many, it felt like a step towards normalcy in a year when nothing has felt normal. I spent Thanksgiving Day on Buena Vista Street, having lunch at Carthay Circle, an Old Hollywood restaurant in California Adventure that is one of Disneyland’s best eateries. There were limits to the amount of time I could spend at the table and the menu was restored from its previous version, but moreover (and, of course, wearing a mask at her every time he could) he felt like a calm, relaxed man. holidays. Even my waitress said, “I’m just happy to be back,” saying it was the first Thanksgiving Day that she volunteered to work in her big years at the restaurant .

Not everyone had the same experience, however. Todd Martens an Los Angeles Times visit the same day, and feel the other way. “I found myself again inside the Disney theme park, a place I would often see and once planned to do again. That day, however, feels more distant now than it has ever been in the last nine months, ”Martens wrote. “I don’t regret going, but my time at Disney California Adventure … felt uncertain, a half-step that everyone was trying to get ourselves into. into your deceptive comfort. ”

The only thing that surprised me about Thanksgiving Day at Disneyland was how sparse the population was. Just the week before, I had spent hours standing in to get through the gates on the opening day of Buena Vista Street – so I was expecting much the same on Thanksgiving Day, traditionally a high day. presence in the park. This year, however, I walked directly through security, temperature screening and baggage checking, and into Buena Vista Street without waiting. There were not even lines to access the stores, which usually have to wait an hour in a virtual queue to get in.

The stay-at-home order for Southern California was executed on Dec. 6. Since then, Disneyland has not allowed eating or drinking in the building, even down to sipping bottled water. All Disney-run restaurants, both sit-down and fast-paced, are closed (although some third-party operators are still open for outdoor dining) . Attendance has been low ever since – prompting the closure of Christmas Day.

“For six decades, Christmas Day has always been a special time at the Disneyland Tourist Information Center, where members of our team welcomed generations of guests to create fascinating memories,” said President. Disneyland, Ken Potrock, in a letter to Cast Members. “But of course this year is different. With the closure of our parks and hotels, and the usual Christmas work at other malls and shopping centers, we have decided to close the Disney Downtown Area, including Buena Vista Street. , on Christmas Day. ”

Governor Newsom’s reopening plan puts big theme parks in the final stage, when Southern California is in the yellow line, when COVID-19 emissions are “very small. “Many news organizations have speculated that Disneyland may not open until the summer.