(KGTV) — Disneyland cast members, fans, and local officials rallied outside of Disneyland to call for California to reopen shuttered theme parks throughout the state.
Demonstrators, with signs in hand blurring the line between Disney quotes and calls for action, gathered on Saturday to demand Gov. Gavin Newsom announce guidance for Disneyland and other theme parks to reopen amid the pandemic.
"If Disneyland is open world-wide then why can't Disneyland in Anaheim be open," one employee told KABC. "I think the governor needs to give us a chance to reopen and they keep asking and he keeps pushing the bar farther back."
This month, Disney announced it plans to lay off 28,000 employees partially because of California's reluctance to reopen theme parks. The parks have been closed since mid-March when many coronavirus closures began.
The guidance was reportedly set to be released soon in September, until Newsom said that the state will take its time before issuing rules.
"We are going to be led by a health-first framework and we’re going to be stubborn about it," Newsom said earlier this month. "That’s our commitment — that’s our resolve. We feel there’s no hurry putting out guidelines."
Newsom added, "it’s very complex. These are like small cities, small communities, small towns. But we don’t anticipate, in the immediate term, any of these larger theme parks opening until we see more stability in terms of the data."
Disney Chairman Bob Iger recently left the state's economic recovery task force, an early indication that business leaders for the industry could be at odds with the state over reopening.
KABC and City News Service contributed to this report.
