Disneyland Shanghai reopens
The Shanghai Disneyland theme park reopened to visitors with controlled capacity on Monday, after the COVID-19 pandemic in China became more subdued.
After a brief opening ceremony, the Shanghai Disneyland theme park, the first among Disney's parks to officially reopen for business in the world, opened at 09:00 on Monday.
The park adopted strict epidemic prevention and control measures, including limiting the number of visitors to 30 percent of its normal capacity of 80,000, accepting only those visitors who booked tickets online in advance.
Meanwhile, visitors need to wear masks, pass temperature checks, show their health certificates, ID cards and valid tickets to enter the wonderland.
At the same time, more frequent disinfection is carried out in the park.
"We've also enhanced our cleaning and sanitization throughout the park. So we have many more cast members out, wiping down surfaces, high touch, medium touch, low touch objects to make sure again that we are providing that safe environment for our guests. In addition, we've added over 300 hand sanitizers throughout the park at the exits of attractions, inside shops and restaurants to make sure that our guests have that ability to continue to keep their hands clean, which is one of the major means of preventing transmission," said Andrew Bolstein, senior vice president of operations at Shanghai Disney Resort.
Cast members now wave hello from afar, since interactions and close-up photos are suspended during the initial phase of reopening.
Social distancing is also practiced in cafeterias, queues and even on rides.
"This is our first time in Shanghai. We knew this place would reopen so we booked our tickets online. It wasn't hard to buy," said a visitor.
While most attractions are open, some interactive experiences such as children's play areas and theater shows remain closed.
The Shanghai Disney Resort announced temporary closure in late January in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. It reopened the Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel in early March.
