Shanghai Disneyland to reopen on May 11: other resorts to follow

Each of Disney's six major resorts around the world have been closed for months, Shanghai's since January 24

 Shanghai Disneyland in China has been shut since January 25 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Reuters   

Disney has announced plans to begin restoring its parks business, with the reopening of Shanghai Disneyland.

In a statement, Disney said Shanghai Disneyland would reopen on May 11 "with controlled capacity".

It comes after Disney reported a $1 billion (Dh3.6bn) loss in profits after each of its parks and resorts around the world were forced to close due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The company furloughed more than 120,000 employees in April, in a desperate bid to reduce its overheads.

Guests at Shanghai Disneyland will be required to purchase admission tickets valid on a selected date only.

Vehicles on rides, queueing systems and restaurants will be set up to follow social distancing guidelines. Guests and employees will be required to wear masks.

The Chinese government will limit the park's capacity to 24,000 daily guests, around one-third of what it usually attracts.

In a statement, Shanghai Disneyland's president and general manager Joe Schott said the company had been "deeply touched by the kind words of care and courage shared with us as we navigated the longest park closures in the history of the Disney company".

Both Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland had been closed due to the coronavirus outbreak since January 24. This was followed by the closure of Disneyland California on March 14, and the parks in Paris, Tokyo and Florida on March 15.

In early March, Shanghai Disneyland took "measured steps towards reopening", with the opening of some retail, dining, and entertainment experiences at the resort.

Schott said that as the Shanghai park opened, the five other Disneylands around the world were also "busy preparing for reopening".

"As we welcome guests back to the park, we will draw on the learnings from the reopening of Disneytown and Wishing Star Park, and we will implement new and enhanced health and safety measures reflecting the guidance of our local health and government authorities," he said.

Disney has said it will take drastic measures to ensure social distancing is enforced across all its parks.

These include limiting the number of guests, instructing everyone to wear face masks, and implementing temperature screening stations.

Disney chief executive Robert Chapek spoke about the safety measures, after reporting second-quarter earnings according to Reuters. “We will take a phased approach with limits on attendance using an advanced reservation and entry system, controlled guest density using social distancing and strict government-required health and prevention procedures,” he said.

“These include the use of masks, temperature screenings and other contact tracing and early detection systems.”

More than half of the $1 billion in second-quarter operating profit declines came from just two weeks of closure of Disney’s US parks, chief financial officer Christine McCarthy told analysts. The rest came from the closure of parks in Asia and its smaller, but popular cruise business.

Pamela Hymel, Disney Parks chief medical officer, said in another statement that Disney was now looking at the "gradual reopening and/or partial reopening of certain locations".

She reiterated that social distancing measures will be put in place, as well as increased cleanliness and sanitisation procedures, the introduction of PPE and health and safety training for cast members.