Visitors in face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as the theme
park reopened Monday in a high-profile step toward reviving global
tourism that was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.To get more
shanghai news, you can visit shine news official website.
The House of Mouse’s experience in Shanghai, the first of its parks
to reopen, foreshadows hurdles leisure industries might face as they
reopen. Disney is limiting visitor numbers, requiring masks and checking
for the virus’s telltale fever.
China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first country
to reopen factories and other businesses after declaring the disease
under control in March even as infections rise and controls are
tightened in some other countries.
“We hope that today’s reopening serves as a beacon of light across
the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone,” the president of
Shanghai Disney Resort, Joe Schott, told reporters.
Tourism was hit especially hard by controls imposed around the world
that shut down airline and cruise ship travel, theme parks and cinemas.
Disney’s latest quarterly profit fell 91% and the company said
virus-related costs cut pretax profit by $1.4 billion.
Shanghai Disneyland and Disney’s park in Hong Kong closed Jan. 25 as
China isolated cities with 60 million people to try to contain the
outbreak. Tokyo Disneyland closed the following month and parks in the
United States and Europe in March.
China has allowed shops and offices to reopen but is keeping cinemas, bars, karaoke parlors and other businesses closed.
Disney guests, some wearing Mickey Mouse ears, and children dressed
as movie characters were checked Monday for fever at the park gate and
walked down nearly empty lanes as employees waved to them. The company’s
signature tune, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” played over loudspeakers.
Decals on sidewalks and at lines for attractions show visitors where
to stand to keep themselves separated. The company said rides will be
limited to one group of visitors per car to keep strangers apart.“We
don’t want people too close — front, back or side,” said Andrew
Bolstein, the park’s senior vice president for operations.
The company said its plans were based on the experience of
Disneytown, an adjacent shopping and entertainment facility that
reopened earlier in the 1,000-acre (400-hectare) Shanghai Disney Resort.
Advance reservations are required and visitors are assigned times to
enter. The company said earlier guest numbers will be limited to
one-third of the usual daily level of 80,000 at the start and will
gradually increase.
“Excited about the opening of the gate!” people in the first group
of guests shouted as they entered the park at 9:30 a.m.Shanghai
Disneyland, which opened in 2016, is a joint venture between Walt Disney
Co. and a company owned by the Shanghai city government.
Disney has a 43% stake in the Shanghai Disney Resort, which includes
the theme park, two hotels and Disneytown. The resort said earlier it
attracted about 12 million guests last year and a total of 66 million
since it opened.Disney, headquartered in Burbank, California, has yet to
set a date for reopening its other parks worldwide.
Visitors to Shanghai Disney are required to show government-issued
identification and use a smartphone app issued by the Shanghai city
government that tracks their health and contacts with anyone who might
have been exposed to he virus.
That allows the company to “understand and regulate the flow of
traffic,” said Bolstein.Activities including children’s play areas and
indoor theater shows are closed in line with government restrictions,
Bolstein said.“We hope to bring them back some time soon,” he said.
The Wall