Shanghai Disneyland reopens doors
Resumption positive sign for epidemic fight, China's economic recovery
Shanghai Disneyland reopened on Monday at 9 am, receiving its first guests after being shut for more than 100 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Shanghai facility is leading the reopening of Disney's theme parks across the globe, with world tourism under mounting pressure amid the pandemic.
The reopening signals progress for China's efforts to contain the virus and offers a vote of confidence in its economic recovery, experts said.
Around 6 am, visitors were waiting outside the gates of Shanghai Disneyland as safety lines drawn on the ground kept them at a safe social distance from one another.
“I got here at 6 am with my friends as we thought there would be crowds eager to have fun in the park after its long closure. We had to show our health codes and get our temperatures checked,” a Shanghai resident surnamed Xu, who was first in line, told the Global Times on Monday.
Apart from local visitors, the park attracted fans from other regions of the country. “I came to Disneyland from [North China's] Tianjin. The reopening is uplifting after we were kept indoors for so long due to the pandemic,” a visitor surnamed Li told the Global Times.
Most entertainment facilities, catering venues and shops resumed operations on Monday. But some interactive offerings such as children's play areas and indoor theater performances such as Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack's Stunt Spectacular and Frozen: Singing Gala remained temporarily closed to tourists.
To keep things running smoothly, the park has strengthened prevention measures. Employees must wear masks, all park vehicles are regularly disinfected, some attractions leave empty seats between visitors, and hand sanitizer is placed at every attraction exit.
The number of visitors on Monday was down significantly compared with pre-pandemic figures because of restrictions on the flow of visitors, the Global Times learned on Monday.
Disney epitomizes the virusstricken world tourism sector – the global entertainment giant faces great financial pressure such as labor costs and equipment maintenance fees, so the resumption will help it reduce losses, Liu Dingding, an independent analyst based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.
But the reopening is not just Disneyland's business because joint prevention and control of the virus involves every segment of society, Liu said.
“It will take more time to see how the park operates after the reopening, as China will normalize such prevention measures in the future. But if something goes wrong, the park may have to shut down again,” Liu said.