Shanghai Disneyland reopened to the public today, becoming the first Disney theme park to do so amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During the initial reopening phase, visitors are required to wear face masks and undergo temperature checks upon arrival.
China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first country to reopen factories and other businesses after declaring the disease under control in March even as infections rise and controls are tightened in some other countries.
“For Shanghai Disney Resort, while this is a key step in our phased reopening, there are many more milestones to come for us and our sister parks around the world.,” the president of Shanghai Disney Resort, Joe Schott said.
Tourism has been hit especially hard by controls imposed worldwide that shut down airline and cruise ship travel, theme parks and cinemas. Disney blamed a 91% plunge in its latest quarter profit on $1.4 billion in virus-related costs.
Shanghai Disneyland and Disney’s park in Hong Kong closed on Jan. 25 as China isolated cities with 60 million people to try to contain the outbreak. Tokyo Disneyland closed the following month and parks in the United States and Europe in March.