I had no specific plans to visit Disneyland Resort anytime soon, but now that I can't do that, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Exactly how quickly people will come rushing back when the park eventually reopens is unclear, but being closed apparently hasn't been able to keep everybody away, as an 18-year-old man was arrested over the weekend for breaking into Disney California Adventure. However, it doesn't appear this person was a serious theme park fan who just needed to visit the happiest place on earth. Instead, it was just somebody looking to steal valuables while the park was shutdown.
The man's name is Jeremiah Smith and he's described by Los Angeles' ABC 7 as "a transient resident of Anaheim" so this wasn't an annual pass holder who had gone too long without a Dole Whip. He was seen hopping a fence outside Disney California Adventure and was apprehended at 11 PM Sunday night inside the currently under construction Avengers Campus area near Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout. It's believed his goal was to steal items of value from the construction site. He was cited for trespassing and then released according to police.
Disneyland Resort, along with all the other Disney theme parks, has been closed since mid-March. The closure is unprecedented, and that may very well be why somebody thought now would be a good time to try to break-in. Security at a closed theme park is probably still an "essential service" as are, of course, the cops.
I have to admit, I'm disappointed with this story. When I saw that somebody had broken into Disneyland during this long closure I hoped to read that some desperate, confused fan was found wandering Batuu trying to get inside Rise of the Resistance or had staked out the best parade watching spot on Main Street.
If I was breaking into Disney California Adventure I'd bring a bottle of wine with me and grab a seat on the edge of the patio at the Wine Country Trattoria, and wait for the parade to come by until the police picked me up.
I can understand wanting to check out Avengers Campus, just not to steal things. I mean, the planned July opening will not be happening at that means we have no idea when we'll see it, so checking it out in its nearly finished state would be cool, but the construction equipment would really ruin the illusion.
Transients breaking into Disneyland is literally the least of Disney's problems these days. The company is dealing with the financial loss that comes with the parks being closed, all while trying to figure out just what to do when the reopening of the parks is allowed again. There will clearly need to be new policies and procedures in place in order to give guests the confidence to return. Even when reopening is allowed, social distancing will likely still be necessary, so attendance in the parks could be severely limited.
