Disney resort reopens after 2-day suspension
Shanghai Disneyland reopens
Staffers welcome visitors
Staffers and crew members greet visitors
Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown, which were closed for two days due to COVID-19 control measures, reopened today.
Disneyland will operate from 10am to 7pm and Disneytown from 10am to 9pm today, according to Shanghai Disney Resort.
The resort was put under temporary lockdown on Sunday evening to cooperate with a COVID-19 investigation in another province. Visitors and staff took nucleic acid tests before leaving.
Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown then suspended operations on Monday and Tuesday according to directives on pandemic prevention and control.
Its cast members and third-party employees completed two nucleic acid tests within 48 hours. All of them tested negative. Environmental samples also returned negative results.
Everyone who went to Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown on October 30 and 31 was also asked to conduct nucleic acid tests, and no positive results have been reported.
Visitors enter the theme park today.
Visitors are excited as they enter the park today.
At 9am this morning, there were not many visitors at the resort.
Before entry, visitors had to go through a tent for temperature screening, and security guards checked everyone's health codes.
The public address system instructed visitors to wear masks. At the entrance, Disney staff were seen holding boards directing visitors to keep one meter's distance from each other.
At 9:30am, visitors waited outside the gate in several lines, all wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
When the resort opened at 10am, visitors entered in an orderly fashion. Inside Disneyland, yellow tape had been placed on the ground in areas where people queue, such as in stores and at sites for people to watch performances and take pictures with Disney characters.
The visitors all showed confidence in Disneyland's measures on pandemic prevention.
A woman surnamed Zhang, 25, came to the resort with her husband and her 70-year-old mother in a wheelchair. The couple, wearing costumes of Disney characters Chip and Dale, took Zhang's mother to the resort to see the special decorations for Disney's Halloween events.
"We had made the plan to come here today about one month ago," she told Shanghai Daily. "We believe that when the resort reopens, it will be even safer and cleaner."
She added that strict pandemic prevention measures were taken throughout their trip, and she felt comfortable because the park was not crowded.
A staffer waves to visitors.
A man waves as he enters the theme park today.
After opening, the executives, staff members, and performers at Disneyland stood apart from each other on both sides of the entrance, waving their hands and welcoming guests.
A pair of 24-year-old women wearing JK, a kind of school uniform for Japanese high school girls, and "lolita" costumes, said they booked today's ticket and were worried if the park would open today.
"It has been closed for two days so we were not very sure if it would open today. We decided to try and, thankfully, it reopened," said Fan, one of the women.
Her friend, surnamed Lun, who was in a Halloween-themed "lolita" dress, said because there were still some Halloween events this week, she wanted to dress up.
They said they would mainly take pictures in the daytime and were looking forward to the fireworks show at night.
On Mickey Avenue, people stood in long lines to take photos with LinaBell, the newest member of Disney's Duffy and Friends family.
Each of the LinaBell fans stood in area marked by yellow tape for social distancing.
This curious and inquisitive pink fox with a fluffy tail and orchid tucked in her ear soon captured the hearts of visitors, especially young girls, after her debut.
One fan surnamed Cao, 21, said she came with two friends just for LinaBell. The mask she wore was customized with LinaBell pictures.
"She's so cute and touching her tail brings a good feeling," said Cao. "Disney has done well with pandemic prevention measures. It released timely notifications and gave thorough nucleic acid tests.
"We rushed here at once after we entered the park and have waited for half an hour for a picture with LinaBell. There are far fewer people than usual, but the Disney employees are very enthusiastic."
People wait in long lines for a picture with LinaBell, the newest member of Disney's Duffy and Friends family.
Security guards on duty on Wednesday morning
Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland must wear masks throughout their stay.
