By Charly SHELTON

Theme parks in Florida have largely reopened to the public, with Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens open since early June and Walt Disney World opening the last of its closed parks yesterday, July 15. Out in California, theme parks don’t have any scheduled reopening date and, with the tide of COVID-19 cases continuing to grow, it may be a while before any park reopening is realized. Governor Gavin Newsom just instituted new closures for indoor operations and public spaces, with zoos, museums and family entertainments specifically mentioned. But one venture that is allowed to remain open is open-air shopping centers. And after four months of no Disney Parks, guests flocked at the chance to visit such a shopping center in Anaheim.

Downtown Disney reopened on July 9 to massive crowds. Within 30 minutes of opening to the public, at 10 a.m. on a Thursday, the area had reached capacity and a line of hundreds of cars stretched nearly two miles, wrapping around a block in a circular pattern, waiting for the parking lot to reopen and admit new guests.

Once admitted, guests went through a four-phase security screening process – a temperature scan completed by Hoag Medical Group practitioners, a walk-through K9 officer sniff screening, a bag check and a metal detector. The area around the only entryway – at the far west end of the complex by the Disneyland Hotel – was cordoned off with newly erected tents and fences to funnel guests through the screening process. Despite the whole endeavor and all the required steps, the cast members were very friendly and practiced safe habits as they stood behind Plexiglas shields reminiscent of the Mythbusters when they were about to blow up something.

Once inside the shopping center, about half of the businesses were open, admitting a limited number of guests with socially distanced lines flowing from the door for patrons to wait their turn to enter the shops. Many of these lines reached capacity as well, meaning that it was long enough so it butted up against the line for another business down the block, which also had a wait. There was nowhere else to wind the queue while maintaining social distance. So the line was capped and guests were told to try back in 20 minutes. The only exception to this system of lines came at World of Disney, the official Disney merchandise store of the shopping complex, and at Marceline’s Confectionery, the Disney-run candy and baked goods store. Both of these locations saw the highest demand in Downtown Disney and instituted a virtual queue system. Guests would wait in a line at the end of the tram loading area to reach a bank of cast members who took the guest’s cellphone number and enrolled them in a digital queue like a FastPass. The guests were then allowed to roam around the shopping center and received a text when they were allowed to get in line to enter the store.

Personally, I had to wait in an additional line just to enter the line to sign up for the text, and then waited one hour and 50 minutes to receive my return text; however, I only waited four minutes to enter the store once I got in the return line.

It was a day full of lines, crowds and seeing people buy way too much Disney merch. Bags and bags and bags of merchandise, merchandise that is available all year long, were carried by shoppers. But because things have been shut down for four months, the need to spend money must have overtaken the good sense of some people and led to thousands of dollars quickly spent.

Then there is Universal CityWalk, which reopened in early June. The two experiences could not have been more different. Universal was less crowded, less hectic and more what one would expect for a trip to a mall in a pandemic. The staff of CityWalk was very present and timely in its sanitization procedures whereas Disney barely had anyone disinfecting things, at least while this reporter was present. Disney guests took the mask rules very seriously but did not socially distance unless forced. Universal guests couldn’t keep their masks on but was very good at keeping socially distant – most of the time. Disney’s entrance procedures border on overkill whereas Universal had only a temperature screening station. It really is a dichotomy between them.

Personally, under the current circumstances, I would return to CityWalk but not Downtown Disney. At CityWalk at least a person feels safe and that management is doing everything it can to keep the place as clean and safe as possible during a worsening pandemic. Downtown Disney had more to offer, with more businesses open, but it isn’t worth dealing with the intense crowds to get a Mickey Mouse doll that has been on the rack since 2009.

CityWalk announced on Tuesday that, while carryout is still available at its restaurants, it is expanding outdoor seating across the area including in the outdoor concert space 5 Towers to comply with the new prohibitions on indoor seating. More businesses have reopened at CityWalk since CV Weekly visited, so there’s even more to do now. And one thing that both Disney and Universal are doing well is branded masks. Universal’s Studio Store sports retro USH logo designs and Disney offers character masks including Mickey, Baby Yoda and more. Since it looks like masks will be used for a while it is not a bad idea to invest in a few different styles.

For more info on Downtown Disney District and the new rules for visiting, check Disneyland.Disney.go.com/experience-updates/downtown-disney. And for CityWalk info, watch the video at Youtu.be/Hn8BGO5Eyps.

  Charly Shelton