ANAHEIM, Calif. — Downtown Disney, the Disneyland Resort’s outdoor retail strip, will begin offering limited indoor seating at its restaurants as early as Thursday after the state and county released new business operating guidelines earlier this week.

Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and the resort's hotels will remain closed. 

What You Need To Know

  • Restaurants at Downtown Disney will begin offering indoor dining at reduced capacity as early as Thursday

  • The state downgraded Orange County below its most restrictive purple tier allowing for limited indoor dining and expanded shopping

  • Disneyland Resort theme parks and hotels will remain closed for the time being

  • Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is working with theme park operators and is close to issuing new safety guidelines for reopening

On Tuesday, Disney officials updated the Downtown Disney website page to reflect the new guidelines set by the state and Orange County officials.

According to the website, restaurants at Downtown Disney will permit limited indoor dining, most likely at 25 percent capacity, and increase outdoor patio-style seating. Indoor and outdoor seating will be spaced six feet apart to maintain social distancing.

A Disney official confirmed that some locations would begin offering indoor dining as early as today. The Disney official did not name which restaurants will begin indoor operations.

Disney's move comes after state officials on Tuesday moved Orange County one bar below the state’s new four-tiered color-coded coronavirus monitoring system.

Orange County was on the state’s most restrictive purple tier. Counties in that tier are not allowed to reopen schools for indoor learning, only allowed to have outdoor dining at restaurants, and must keep the number of people allowed to shop at shopping centers at 25 percent maximum.

But state officials tracking Orange County’s progress against the coronavirus downgraded the county to the red-tier.

Under the red-tier, restaurants, churches, museums, and certain businesses can reopen indoor operations at a reduced 25 percent capacity. Retail shopping centers are allowed to expand from 25 percent to half-capacity, according to the state. 

It is unclear if Disney will begin expanding the number of shoppers allowed into Downtown Disney stores. 

Disney-owned restaurants and operating participants at Downtown Disney are making the appropriate adjustments to their retail and dining locations, the Disney official said.  

On Wednesday, Orange County health officials recorded 194 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths, bringing the total to 50,190 cases and 1,065 deaths, respectively. Anaheim has 8,596 coronavirus cases, the second most behind Santa Ana.

Downtown Disney is the only Disney venue that is currently operating in the Disneyland Resort. Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and the three Disney hotels on the resort property have been closed since mid-March. Downtown Disney was closed but reopened in July. 

Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is working with theme park operators across the state and making progress on issuing a new set of guidelines for theme parks to reopen safely but did not give a timeline.