IN UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD
Universal Studios Hollywood has remained closed amid the ongoing pandemic for nearly a full year. While in the recent Q4 earnings call for Comcast NBCUniversal the company did confirm that although Universal Studios Hollywood has remained closed, the successful reopening of Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan helped the company break even. However, the ongoing closure has hurt the local workforce of Universal Studios Hollywood.
Now, Universal, Disneyland, and other theme parks in California have petitioned the CA government to help them reopen their businesses as soon as possible.
Related: Universal Studios Hollywood Has Laid Off 7,000 Employees So Far
Back in September, we reported that an official letter had been sent appealing to California Governor Gavin Newsom for the immediate reopening of the theme parks. If you have been following this news you know that the request was not successful and the theme parks remain closed with no reopening date in sight.
In a recent update to this ongoing situation, new legislation is being put forth that would allow theme parks to be opened in a lesser tier than originally planned. California like many states is cautiously reopening in a “tier” plan in order to reopen the state as safe as possible. Currently, Los Angeles County is in the most restrictive tier. Governor Newsom would require Los Angeles County to enter Tier 4, which would mean one positive COVID-19 case per 100,000 residents in order to open.
Karen Irwin, who is the Chief Operating Officer at Universal Hollywood, has been very vocal about attempting to reopen Universal Studios Hollywood. Previously Irwin has made statements on theme parks being able to open in tier 3:
Parks should be in tier 3 along with other industries that have proven they can also open responsibly.
Now Irwin has again spoken out alongside the previously mentioned legislation asking the California government to let theme parks reopen in tier 3 instead of tier 4.
“This extended closure has been both unprecedented and detrimental to our business and workforce,” Irwin said in a statement. “Universal Parks & Resort theme parks in Orlando, Osaka and Singapore have all successfully and safely operated without incident or cases attributed to their daily operations since mid-last year.”
Reopening in the state’s yellow/minimal tier 4 would keep Universal and other large California theme parks “closed indefinitely,” according to Irwin.
“It’s imperative that California theme parks shift to reopen in Tier 3,” Irwin said in a statement. “A Tier 4 reopening is untenable in L.A. County, and would likely keep our businesses closed indefinitely since even two cases per 100,000 would exceed the requirement
Right now the only thing that is open at Universal Studios Hollywood is CityWalk. With the stay-at-home order lifted, Universal CityWalk has recently reopened outdoor dining to Guests who visit.
Universal Studios Hollywood is currently constructing Super Nintendo World at on the lower lot that is visible to Guests who visit CityWalk. Enjoy some food and drink at CityWalk and catch a glimpse of the new exciting expansion coming to Universal Studios Hollywood! Not in the L.A area? You can see the construction progress here.
Hopefully, the efforts by Karen Irwin and the rest of the Universal team are successful, and Universal Studios Hollywood can reopen to Guests soon.