Coronavirus: Shanghai Disneyland opens after COVID-19 shutdown

SHANGHAI — The first guests in 3 1/2 months have been welcomed back to Shanghai Disneyland.

Normally, the park can hold about 80,000 guests and 12,000 cast members, but the park is operating at 30% capacity.

The Chinese government said the park can welcome 24,000 people a day; however, Bob Chapek, Disney’s chief executive, said the company would reduce ticket sales to below that number to ensure safe park visits, The New York Times reported.

Still, CNN reported, the number of visitors was fewer than that, and employees outnumbered those visiting the park.

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Those visitors who have decided to go visit the China Disney park are required to wear masks and have their temperatures taken. They also must social distance and abide by the tape marks on the ground that keep people 6 feet apart.

There was also preplanning on the part of those trying to gain entry.

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Shanghai Disneyland A security worker, wearing a face mask, stands guard at the Disneyland theme park in Shanghai as it reopened Monday, May 11, 2020. With warmer weather and new coronavirus cases and deaths falling to near-zero, China has been reopening tourist sites such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City palace complex in Beijing.(AP Photo/Sam McNeil) (Sam McNeil/AP)

They had to book timed entry tickets online so there was not an influx of people. They also have to show a green QR Shanghai health code, CNN reported.

While in the park, visiting characters and riding rides, parkgoers were frequently reminded to leave their masks on and practice safe social distancing.

Most rides were open, except for a children’s play area and interactive locations that involve people touching surfaces, CNN reported.

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Parades were suspended since people crowd the sidewalks to see the show, The New York Times reported.

Also, character hugs and high-fives were not allowed, but photos with Mickey and the gang were still happening, just at a distance.

Park president and general manager Joe Schott told The New York Times, “It has been an emotional morning. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

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For some visitors, it wasn’t the rides, character greetings or even the merchandise that called them back. It’s the fact that they can once again go to their happy place and celebrate the hope that the coronavirus pandemic will eventually come to an end.

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Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the U.S. have not announced plans to reopen. Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs entertainment and retail district will be part one of a phased opening with some stores and restaurants planning to resume business May 20.