HONG KONG DISNEYLAND TO CLOSE AGAIN
Move come days after Disney World reopens
Hong Kong Disneyland will close again Wednesday to comply with a government-directed rollback of public activities in the region following an increase in coronavirus infections, The Walt Disney Co. said Monday.
Disney called the closing of the theme park “temporary” and said its resort hotels at the Lantau Island complex would remain open.
With attendance of 6.5 million last year and an estimated 5,000 employees, Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest park in Disney's portfolio.
Shutting it down again means little for the company's bottom line. In fact, the theme park and resort hotel property has lost money for the last five years running. Losses totaled about $13.5 million last year. Pro-democracy demonstrations in the city have resulted in a sharp decline in tourism.
But the re-closure comes at a highly awkward time for Disney. Over the weekend, Disney executives in Florida cited the smooth reopening of Hong
Kong Disneyland and other Disney parks in Asia as evidence that the company's largest resort, Walt Disney World, could reopen safely, even as coronavirus cases in Florida surge to alarming levels.
Hong Kong Disneyland, 53 percent of which is owned by the local government (with Disney controlling the balance), initially closed because of the virus on Jan. 26. It reopened on June 18 with limited capacity and other safety measures, including temperature checks for visitors and employees. The 14-year-old complex includes three hotels with more than 1,700 total rooms. Attendance has been very light since it reopened.
Shanghai Disneyland reopened on May 11. A pair of Disney parks in Japan, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea, reopened on July 1.
Disneyland Paris is scheduled to reopen Wednesday.
Disney also plans to reopen two more Florida theme parks, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, on Wednesday.