Disneyland’s Christmas Pain Extends Well Beyond the Park’s Gates

Anaheim businesses suffer from loss of millions of tourists
Orange County visitors added $13.5 billion to economy in 2019

A customer sits outside at a restaurant in the Downtown Disney district in Anaheim, Calif., on Nov. 19.Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

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By Christopher Palmeri

December 24, 2020 at 12:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Fred Brown can technically keep his Disneyland-area hotel open under California’s current Covid-19 restrictions. But he’d need to make sure guests are doing essential work to fight the virus and not just getting away for a few days.

“Hotels are not allowed to open for leisure,” said Brown, general manager of the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites, a 10-minute walk from the Walt Disney Co. resort in Anaheim. “Only Covid-related essential business.”