This week, as we all know, the governor of California put out guidelines for theme park re-openings.  The guidelines are onerous, disappointing, and poorly conceived.  Governor Newsom sent a small delegation to Disney World Florida roughly three weeks ago to see the policies, procedures, and implementations Disney and other operators have put into practice during their re-opening under Covid-19 guidelines.  In my opinion, this was a 9^th inning move, far too late in the ball game.   If analysis was required, the California Government should have had staff in Florida 3 months ago to see the initiatives Disney and the others put in place, and how well they were executed by the parks and received by the guests.

Valuable time, which the California parks do not have, was lost due to this errant approach toward analyzing theme park re-openings, policies and practices, by the Florida theme park industry.  It is estimated that Orange County, California has lost over $5 billion USD in revenues as a result of poor governmental planning relating to theme park closures.  Disney alone in Orange County has lost over $2 billion USD and is estimated company-wide to lose $10+ billion USD by the end of 2020.  Disney, Universal, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Legoland, and SeaWorld live by the Industry motto, “safety and security first”.  None of these organizations would jeopardize their company’s reputations for revenues, nor would they jeopardize their employees’ or guests’ safety for revenues. 

For 65+ years, the Disney organization has “set the bar” for our industry standards, and the other major operators have contributed as well towards setting these high industry safety standards.  California is remiss in realizing the importance theme parks play throughout the state in employment, taxation, and family recreation.  These overdue guidelines are unacceptable, irresponsible, and inappropriate, considering the global precautions and measures these operators have developed and put into force.  Shame on California.

—Dennis L. Speigel, Founder & CEO, ITPS

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