Disneyland, Disney World, Disneyland Paris closing through end of March amid coronavirus fears

Disney is closing the rest of its theme parks, in addition to the already shuttered parks across Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai remaining shut.

Corinne Reichert
March 12, 2020 5:38 PM PDT

Disney is temporarily closing Disneyland in California during ongoing concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. It'll be shutting the doors of the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks from Saturday, March 14, through the end of the month. The Downtown Disney shopping and dining area will remain open. Disney's three hotels at Disneyland -- the Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier and the Grand Californian -- will remain open until March 16 to allow for guests to make travel plans.

The decision to close down followed California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying that all gatherings of more than 250 people across California should be canceled for the month of March. Earlier Thursday, Newsom said at a press conference that the ban on gatherings wouldn't apply to the Disney parks or to casinos, card rooms or theaters "because of the complexity of their unique circumstances." Newsom said he'd spoken with former Disney CEO Bob Iger on March 11, and had decided the Disney theme parks in Anaheim could remain open.

In a statement later Thursday, Disney Parks said there haven't been any reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort but that "in the interest of our guests and employees" it had decided to close the parks after carefully reviewing Newsom's executive order about large gatherings. The company said it would continue paying cast members during the closure and that it would work with guests who want to change or cancel visits, and refund those with hotel reservations during the closure.

As of March 12, US cases of coronavirus were sitting at around 1,300. Of those, more than 170 were in California.

Late Thursday, Disney announced Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will also close Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month, according to The New York Times. Disney confirmed the news. This includes the Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios parks in France, and the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach parks in Orlando, Florida. It follows a Paris theme park worker reportedly testing positive for the coronavirus on March 11, with French cases currently sitting at over 2,200.

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