Disneyland delays reopening its theme parks, but its downtown shopping district is still set to open July 9

• Disneyland Resort will not reopen its theme parks on July 17.
• In a statement, Disney Parks said California will not issue reopening guidelines for theme parks until after July 4.
• The resort's downtown area, which includes shops and restaurants, still plans to reopen July 9.
• This story has been updated to reflect a letter from Walt Disney Parks Resorts to the Master Services Joint Council, which represents 11,000 Disney cast members, outlining measures the resort is taking to protect cast and guests.

Disneyland Resorts will no longer reopen its theme parks on July 17.

"The State of California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4," said Disney Parks in a statement provided to Insider. "Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials."

Disneyland Resorts consists of its two theme parks, Disneyland and California Adventure, and its hotels.

Downtown Disney, the resort's shopping and restaurant district, still plans to reopen to the public on July 9.

Earlier this month, Disney proposed opening its theme parks July 17, in time for the 65th anniversary of Disneyland. Disneyland Resorts have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic since March 14.

Since then, coronavirus cases have been on the rise in many states, including California.

During a briefing Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom said the state saw a 69% rise in cases in two days from 4,230 cases on Sunday to 7,149 on Tuesday.

Los Angeles County, about 40 minutes outside of Disneyland Resort, currently has more cases of coronavirus than any county in the United States. Orange County, where Disneyland is located, has had over 11,000 confirmed cases.

In response, unions representing Disneyland Resort employees were protesting the parks' timeline to reopen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions sent an open letter to Governor Newsom expressing concern over the safety of workers and guests. A Facebook group outlines plans for more than 30 people to circle the resort on Saturday.

In a letter provided to Insider by a Disneyland official, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts outlined its commitment to health and safety measures for cast members and guests to the Master Services Joint Council (MSJC) Wednesday evening. The MSJC represents 11,000 Disney cast members.

"We have established a health and safety committee at the senior most levels of the Company to establish our global response strategy, and engaged countless safety advisors and experts to help craft our deliberate approach to a responsible reopening of the Disneyland Resort," reads the letter signed by director of labor relations, Bill Pace.

Safety protocols include temperature checks for cast before they leave home, with thermometers being provided, and prior to entering the workplace, face coverings for cast and guests, encouraging contactless payment options, and easy access to hand sanitizer for cast and guests.

More safety measures can be found on the Disneyland site.

In the letter, its noted that no one in the MSJC ever asked Disneyland Resorts to not open its doors. That letter can be viewed in full here.

Walt Disney World's theme parks in Orlando, Florida will begin their phased reopening on July 11. Disney's parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong have opened in the last month.

You can read the full statement from Disney Parks below:

We previously announced a proposed phased reopening of our theme parks for July 17, pending government approvals. We developed enhanced health and safety protocols for both cast and guests at Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort that have been approved, allowing us to reopen in a responsible manner and bring our cast members back to work.

The State of California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4. Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials. Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date.

Our Downtown Disney District will reopen on July 9 as previously announced with health and safety protocols in place for our cast members and guests. The opening of our Downtown Disney District has been previously approved in line with restaurant and retail openings throughout California. The Master Services Union, which represents our retail cast at this location, previously signed an agreement for members to return to work.

In order to reopen our theme parks we need to negotiate agreements with our unions to return employees to work. We have had positive discussions and are very pleased to have signed agreements from 20 union affiliates, including the Master Services Council, which represents more than 11,000 of our cast members. The signed agreement details plans that include enhanced safety protocols that will allow us to responsibly reopen, and get thousands of our cast members back to work.

We thank our cast and guests for their patience during this unprecedented time while we await approval from government officials.