Thousands pack Disney World before park closes amid coronavirus
Thousands of people packed Disney World for the final visiting hours before the park closes for the remainder of the month; Phil Keating reports from Orlando on the tourism impact.
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People are going goofy for Shanghai Disneyland tickets.
After announcing its reopening on May 11, tickets for Shanghai Disneyland’s first available dates were reportedly snatched up within minutes of going on sale Friday. The Chinese theme park has been closed since Jan. 25, as part of the Shanghai Disney Resort's coronavirus control measures.
Tickets to Shanghai Disneyland's reopening dates — both May 11 and May 12 — sold out immediately after going on sale on Friday morning. The park's website said the reopening was part of a “deliberate approach” to business, taken only after the success of the reopening of Shanghai Disney Resort’s Disneytown shopping and dining district (seen above) back in March. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
Tickets for the park’s reopening dates were first made available on May 8, at 8:00 a.m local time in Shanghai. Passes for both Monday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12, sold out “almost instantly,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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Despite enthusiasm from guests, the park won’t exactly return to business as usual on May 11. “During this initial reopening phase, the park will institute new measures and procedures,” reads a press release that outlines numerous new policies, including enhanced cleaning measures, new social-distancing protocols, and capping the admission to a fraction of the park’s capacity. (The park normally caps attendance at 80,000 guests; only 30 percent, or 24,000, will be allowed inside during the initial phase, reports the Hollywood Reporter.)
Guests will also be required to make reservations and provide their personal information ahead of arriving at the park, with no previously obtained General Admission tickets accepted. Park-goers will also be required to undergo temperature screenings before being admitted inside, where they will be required to wear masks at all times “except when dining.”
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Upon announcing the park’s reopening, a message posted to Shanghai Disneyland’s website confirmed that the resort was taking a “deliberate approach” to business after the success of Shanghai Disney Resort reopening a separate shopping and dining district, as well as an on-site hotel, back in March.
Visitors are seen on May 1 at Shanghai Disney Resort's Disneytown shopping and dining district, which previously opened to guests in March. (Tang Yanjun/China News Service via Getty Images)
“We know how much our guests have been looking forward to returning to Shanghai Disneyland, and our cast is excited to begin welcoming them back,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a statement obtained by Fox News. “As the park reopens with significantly enhanced health and safety measures, our guests will find Shanghai Disneyland as magical and memorable as ever.”
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Enthusiasm over the park’s reopening may be a good omen for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., which projected an estimated loss of $1 billion following global shutdowns of its theme parks.
Disney’s two parks in the United States currently remain closed, with no opening date for either Disney World or Disneyland. On Thursday, however, Disney Springs Vice President Matt Simon announced that a “limited number” of experiences at Disney Springs, an outdoor shopping and dining complex located at Walt Disney World, would be reopening on May 20 with “enhanced safety measures,”
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