Downtown Disney restaurants reopen for outdoor dining after California loosens some COVID restrictions

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- Outdoor dining resumed Friday at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, days after California officials announced the lifting of some coronavirus restrictions.

Lines of customers were seen at Disneyland Resort on Friday evening and before the restaurants opened for business on Saturday morning.

Dining establishments on Buena Vista Street, inside California Adventure, have also reopened. The rest of California Adventure remains temporarily shut down, as is the Disneyland theme park.

Patrons are required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing, as well as undergo a temperature check when passing through a security checkpoint.

Disneyland Resort to end Annual Passport program amid uncertainty of the pandemic

Disneyland and the California Adventure theme parks, which remain closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, are ending the popular Annual Passport programs, park officials announced Thursday.

Downtown Disney's restaurants had been closed since Dec. 7, when California imposed a ban on outdoor dining amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

"I'm really excited to go down to the restaurants and shops," said Sean Pope, who visited Downtown Disney on Friday.

Visitor Mauricio Bowsa said he was "really excited to be there. We haven't been back in a while."

It remains unclear when Disneyland and California Adventure will reopen to parkgoers. State officials have said the theme park reopenings might not happen until this summer.

County leaders say their registration app used to schedule an appointment was overwhelmed as about 10,000 people registered overnight. Some residents trying to get an appointment reported glitches.

Last week, a union that represents Disney workers confirmed that at least 200 employees have been recalled to California Adventure.

Meanwhile, a parking lot located elsewhere on the Disneyland Resort property continues to serve as a COVID-19 mass-vaccination site.

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of Disneyland Resort and ABC7.