Hong Kong Disneyland will close again on Wednesday to meet a government-led reversal of public activities in the region after a surge in coronavirus infections, the Walt Disney Company said Monday. Disney called the closure of the theme park “temporary” and said its resort hotels in the Lantau Island complex will remain open.
With an attendance of 6.5 million last year and approximately 5,000 employees, Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest park in Disney’s portfolio. Closing it again means little to the bottom line of the company. In fact, the theme park and resort hotel have lost money over the past five years. Losses totaled around $ 13.5 million last year. Demonstrations in favor of democracy in the city have resulted in a sharp decrease in tourism.
But it’s closing again at a very awkward moment for Disney. Over the weekend, Disney executives in Florida cited the smooth reopening of Hong Kong Disneyland and other Disney parks in Asia as evidence that the company’s largest resort, Walt Disney World, could safely reopen. even as coronavirus cases in Florida rise to alarming levels. On Monday, Florida officials reported 12,624 new infections, one of the largest daily jumps in the state since the pandemic began.
Hong Kong Disneyland, 53 percent of which is owned by the local government (with Disney controlling the balance), initially closed due to the virus on January 26. It reopened on June 18 with limited capacity and other security measures, including temperature controls for visitors and employees. The 14-year-old complex includes three hotels with more than 1,700 rooms in total. Attendance has been very light since its reopening.
By re-closing Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney complies with government restrictions announced Monday by Carrie Lam, executive director of the territory, after local health authorities reported 52 new cases of coronavirus. (Since the end of January, Hong Kong has reported 1,522 cases.) The park’s closure was “required by the government and health authorities in line with prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong,” said Disney.
Gyms, mahjong rooms and cinemas will also close on Wednesday. Hong Kong also banned all dinners inside restaurants every night starting at 6 p.m. Health authorities said the new series of cases in the territory was mainly related to taxi drivers, restaurants and nursing homes.
Shanghai Disneyland reopened on May 11. A couple of Disney parks in Japan, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, reopened on July 1.
Disneyland Paris is slated to reopen on Wednesday.
Disney also plans to reopen two more Florida theme parks, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, a decision that has been greeted with enthusiasm by many fans and extreme dismay by others, including some Disney workers. Disney World, which attracted more than 50 million visitors last year, withdrew approximately 20,000 union employees due to its gradual reopening, which includes a variety of security protocols.
County and state officials in Florida approved the Disney World reopening plan. NBCUniversal reopened its three theme parks in central Florida more than a month ago.
“Covid is here, and we have a responsibility to find the best approach to safely operate in this new normal,” Josh D’Amaro, president of the Disney theme park, said in an interview last week. “Businesses across the country are open, whether it’s a local pizzeria in Orlando or an airline accepting new guests.”
But California authorities have slowed the entertainment company’s plan to reopen the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. After a surge in coronavirus cases in California and a protest by some Disneyland workers about safety, Governor Gavin Newsom made it clear that he would not give the state theme parks the green light to reopen in time for Disneyland. Get back online this Friday, as Disney had expected.
No new timeline has been released.
