Disney California Adventure Park to Open in March for Outdoor Festival

About one year after Disneyland shut down due to the COVID-19, the location will open again for a "limited-time ticketed experience," per Good Morning America. This experience will take place at Disney California Adventure Park in mid-March. As a result of this new, limited-time experience, around one thousand Disneyland Resort cast members will be able to return to work.

Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock announced the news directly to cast members on Monday. He sent a letter to the company's cast members to tell them about this "distinctly Disney experience," which will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of Disney California Adventure Park. This event will reportedly focus on the park's "world-famous food and beverage offerings from around the resort, the latest merchandise and unique, carefully crafted entertainment experiences." Unfortunately, for fans of Disney California Adventure Park, the location's many attractions will not be operational during this experience. Aside from sharing that this will take place in mid-March, there is currently no official opening date set.

Elsewhere in his letter, Potrock said that this experience will operate with "limited capacity and enhanced safety measures" and that it will be "offered multiple days a week." While Disneyland has been closed for nearly a year, they recently reopened a select number of Downtown Disney District outdoor dining areas on Buena Vista Street. They were able to open some of those locations after Los Angeles lifted its stay-at-home order in late January. Potrock continued, "While that is clearly not all we want to accomplish, it's a start. Teams are working as we speak to start recalling identified Cast in the coming weeks. This past year has presented extraordinary challenges, but that has not curtailed in any way our ability to move forward with a spirit of optimism."

Disney California Adventure Park closed on March 14, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally due to reopen in July, but because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in California, and around the country, the park remained closed. Even though Disneyland has been closed since March of last year, its Florida counterpart, Disney World, reopened in July at a limited capacity. At the time, Disney World reopened two of its parks first — Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom — at less than half of their capacities. They later reopened Epcot and Hollywood Studios, also with limited capacities and additional safety measures in place.