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Disney has reopened its Shanghai theme park with new physical distancing rules that prevent Mickey Mouse from posing with customers, more than three months after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close.
Visitors must wear face masks, undergo temperature checks on arrival, and receive scheduled entry slots in a much-changed theme park experience.
Tickets for the reopening on Monday went on sale on Friday and sold out in minutes. The number of visitors is limited to 30% of the park’s usual capacity of 80,000.
Only visitors with a green rating on China’s Health QR Code app will be able to enter through the gates, which will further incorporate the use of digital passport-type documents that have allowed some Chinese citizens to move relatively freely, but have restricted to others.
Some facilities such as children’s play areas and theater shows remain closed. There will also be no parades or night shows.
“Close interaction and close-up photos with the characters will be suspended during the initial phase of reopening,” Shanghai Disney Resort said in a statement.
Disney closed the Shanghai park on January 24, before closing other theme parks around the world in March. However, the American entertainment company is eager to reopen the facility and try to recoup the lost revenue.
Walt Disney Company’s net revenue fell 91% in the first three months of the year compared to 2019, as the company revealed a cost of $ 1.4 billion (£ 1.1 billion) from the pandemic.
The company was highly exposed to the virus, which forced the cancellation of cruises and the closing of theaters that exhibited its successful films, although the timely launch of its new streaming service, Disney +, has cushioned part of the blow.
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The group also cut its dividend, but received criticism from Bernie Sanders, the former US Democratic presidential candidate. And Abigail Disney, heir to the Disney fortune, after she laid off more than 100,000 employees to save money on wages, despite retaining great rewards for her leaders.
Bob Iger, who moved from CEO to CEO in February, gave up his salary for 2020, but could still receive millions of dollars in performance-related incentive payments.
