PHOTOS: Shanghai Disneyland Reopens After Nearly Four Months in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Jessica Figueroa

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PHOTOS: Shanghai Disneyland Reopens After Nearly Four Months in the Aftermath of COVID-19

History was made at Disney’s youngest park today as Shanghai Disneyland became the first Disney Park to reopen after a wave of closures in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The park held a grand reopening ceremony led by Shanghai Disneyland President and General Manager Joe Schott. At the opening ceremony, Schott welcomed guests with the following message of hope:

“We hope that today’s reopening can serve as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration for everyone, and can demonstrate that we can overcome any challenge together.”

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Photo Credit: Visual China (@CD_visual) on Twitter

Characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto shared the stage alongside Shanghai Disney Resort ambassadors. At the end of the presentation, the band started up once again and the park’s iconic Duffy and Friends marched out to join the show.

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Photo Credit: Visual China (@CD_visual) on Twitter

At the Shanghai Disneyland entrance, characters waved to guests from a safe distance. While guests are strongly encouraged to wear masks, face characters like the Disney Princesses do not wear masks in order to keep story integrity.

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Photo Credit: Visual China (@CD_visual) on Twitter

During this initial phased reopening, the park is limiting capacity to 30%, or under 24,000 guests, by order of the government. All guests must obtain an advance reservation in order to enter the park and undergo a series of temperature screenings and safety checks before being let into the park.

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Photo Credit: Visual China (@CD_visual) on Twitter

Despite strict new protocols, guests seemed overjoyed to be back at their happy place. Spring decor is still up throughout the park, and Cast Members are making sure to wipe down and sanitize railings and high-touch points. For a video overview of all the new protocols throughout the park, click here.

What do you think of Shanghai Disneyland’s grand reopening? Do you think the park has reopened too soon? Would you be comfortable following these new guidelines? Did you get emotional during the grand reopening ceremony? I know I did, but this is just the start of a very long process of adapting to new measures at all Disney Parks. Feel free to sound off in the comments below!

Featured Image: Visual China (@CD_visual) on Twitter

Author

  • Jessica Figueroa

    Jessica lives in South Florida with her 15-pound cat Gordo and a small army of Tsum Tsums. You can contact her, ideally with photos of your cats, at jessica@wdwnt.com.

11 thoughts on “PHOTOS: Shanghai Disneyland Reopens After Nearly Four Months in the Aftermath of COVID-19”

  1. I am okay with the extra cleaning and some social distance spacing, but I have seen a lot of doctors saying we have gone about this the wrong way. By isolating we have weakened our immune system. We build up our immunity by being exposed to things. Does it sometimes result in sickness, yes. Now anyone who is elderly or at risk due to medical conditions need to take extra precaution, no question. I think it is time we reopen and get back together with a little more care, but get back together. Just one example, why do kids who did not go to daycare, seem to get sick more often at first when they start school? They have not built up the immunity that daycare kids already did…..Stay safe and careful, but if you are not at risk, GET OUT THERE AND LIVE LIFE!

  2. This brings hope that Disney can someday reopen here in the US, that all these measures can be taken and yet still have a magical experience.

  3. Well I love Disney and am satisfied at the lead they took in this post-pandemic world. All eyes are on them as we observe covid-19 matters in light of the health measures taken. Yesterday I spent 30 minutes filling out a survey by Universal Studios on this very topic and I commented “follow Disney’s lead” and “they put their visitor’s health first”. They survey covered almost precisely the same subjects including sanitization of high tough points, social distancing, virtual queues, PPE, health screening and testing, and clear guidelines lead by employees so visitors know how to behave and navigate in this new environment.

    cheers

  4. One of the problems as using Shanghai as the test is the CN government will never release the correct numbers of who and how many people get the virus after this opening in the next couple weeks as they track these people who went to the park.

    Also, watching the live stream of the opening gave me so much anxiety, they filled every single carousel seat and dumbo vehicle, if someone in the seat and car ahead of you coughs or sneezes while the attraction is in motion there’s no way you’re not breathing that in. People walking around with their masks off, clumps of people from different parties walking and standing shoulder to shoulder. It’s not that I don’t trust Disney, I don’t trust people.

    I’ve never seen an exec so nervous as the VP of this park in the press video from the other day.

    • “It’s not that I don’t trust Disney, I don’t trust people.” I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Disney can have all the rules in the world but that doesn’t mean everyone will be smart enough to follow them!

  5. I live in California and I wish I was there. I can’t wait for our park to reopen! I’ll be there in day one

    • i’m from CT and I love Disneyland. I was in Orlando last December and had planned April 1st to be at Disneyland but this virus sidetracked my plan

  6. I’m very happy so many people are enjoying the reopening. I would have no problems following the new guidelines. I just feel disturbed seeing everyone with masks on. To me, Disney parks are supposed to be a place where I can forget about the rest of the world and get lost in the fairytale land of Disney. With everyone wearing masks, that’s not possible. I personally don’t think I will be back to a Disney park until we’re past that. I know that could actually be years, but that’s just me.

  7. Yes, I would attend and feel comfortable following these guidelines. I definitely got teary looking at the photos of Shanghai reopening. Disney still has, and will always have, the magic.

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