Now, kids under 3 get free entry into Disney

CHILDREN under 3 or no more than a meter tall will be admitted to the Shanghai Disney Resort free of charge from October 8.

Tickets for visits on or after that date will be available from September 9 through the resort’s official channels, it said yesterday.

Previously, only a height of a meter or below qualified children for free tickets.

Parents or guardians must present a valid ID with photo and date of birth when they bring children to the resort.

The change followed a call by the consumer councils of Shanghai and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces in June to take age into consideration in addition to height.

They urged tourist spots to amend their rules so that children “taller than they’re supposed to be for their age” got free entry.

In Shanghai, the new rules have been applied at 20 tourist attractions.

The Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai Wild Animal Park, Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai Happy Valley and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum are on the list.

Only 6.2 percent of tourist attractions in the Yangtze River Delta region consider both height and age when offering free admission. The rest make height the only criterion, according to the Shanghai Consumer Council and other councils based on information from 1,000 scenic spots.

A survey by the councils revealed that more than 50 percent of respondents said it was unreasonable to make height the only criterion when offering free admission.

The survey covered 9,167 respondents in the delta region.