What Will Disneyland Be Like When it Reopens?

When is Disneyland going to re-open? Many want to know, but we still do not have the answer to this question. In the meantime, we can get an idea of the number of folks that the highly popular theme park can accommodate while complying with COVID-19 protocols and requirements, a all thanks to an article by reporter Brady MacDonald that discusses the findings of a study by Brad Kissling, a landscape architect and theme park planner with Thinkwell Group.

Findings of the study reveal:

• Disneyland could theoretically let in 25,000 to 30,000 visitors per day and still allow for six feet of physical distancing per person when the theme park reopens with new COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place.
• In pre-COVID-19 times, theme park density tended to range between 500 and 650 people per acre. During the COVID-19 era, those numbers will need to be cut in half—to 250 to 325 people per acre—to accommodate appropriate physical distancing. 
• Disneyland accommodated approximately 545 people per acre in the pre-COVID-19 era and would need to reduce those numbers by 50% to allow for appropriate physical distancing in the “new normal.” On the low end that would be about 25,000 visitors per day and on the high end approximately 30,000. 

Disneyland rarely discusses attendance or capacity figures for the park so Thinkwell had to make some assumptions to come up with its estimates. Nevertheless, this is interesting information, especially for those eager to return to Disneyland. The Thinkwell white paper referenced in this article is fascinating and contains graphics that help readers understand density-related issues at theme parks.