Mickey and Donald roll out the red carpet as Shanghai Disneyland reopens under China’s easier Covid-19 rules

Shanghai Disneyland’s rides, shows, restaurants and hotels would resume business starting Thursday, according to a statement on the theme park’s website
Some attractions and facilities may have to operate at reduced capacity or may be unavailable

Tourism

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 12:49pm, 8 Dec, 2022

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The Walt Disney Company’s US$5.5 billion theme park has fully reopened in Shanghai, after city authorities lifted a nine-day closure of the landmark in accordance with the easing of anti-Covid controls in mainland China.

The amusement park’s rides, shows, restaurants and hotels would resume business starting Thursday, although some attractions and facilities may have to operate at reduced capacity or may be unavailable, Disney said in a statement on its website.

The reopening of one of China’s largest amusement parks is a major step forward for Shanghai’s 25 million residents, who had to put up with daily tests, quarantines and two months of a citywide shutdown in summer as authorities tried to snuff out the Covid-19 disease. Online searches for “Disney” jumped by 300 per cent on Tongcheng Travel’s platform the day before the park’s reopening, emanating from Shanghai’s neighbouring provinces Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, according to a report in the Chinese Business News.

“The reopening is a signature event for the revival of domestic tourism in China,” said Wang Qi, the chief executive of MegaTrust Investment (Hong Kong). There is “strong pent-up demand for leisure and hospitality services, as China takes steps to remove its anti-Covid restrictions,” he said.

A screen grab of the reopening announcement on the website of Shanghai Disneyland on December 8, 2022. Photo: Zhang Shidong

Amid sporadic protests and discontent among the population, China’s health authorities started dialling back many of the nation’s draconian anti-Covid measures on November 30, concluding that the current Omicron variant is “more transmissible but less deadly.” According to the latest 10-point guideline unveiled yesterday, self-isolation at home would be allowed for mild and asymptomatic cases, while the nation’s contact-tracing health codes can be abandoned for domestic travelling.

Shanghai’s authorities dropped the requirement for new inbound travellers to undergo nucleic acid tests, and lifted the five-day ban on their access to public venues in response to the new measures.

China’s current wave of outbreaks appear to have come under control, underscoring the conclusion that the high caseload did not correlate with a high mortality rate, saving the nation’s healthcare system from strain.

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Shanghai Disneyland reopens as China eases strict zero-Covid restrictions

China reported 21,165 new infections in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday, marking the smallest daily increase in about a month, according to the health commission’s data. Shanghai notched up 366 new cases, most of them found in quarantined areas, indicating that the disease was not spreading in the community.

Shanghai’s theme park covers 390 hectares (963 acres), with the capacity for 80,000 guests every day, and is about three times the size of Hong Kong’s Disneyland resort. Shanghai Disneyland was closed three times this year, the longest spell for 101 days during the citywide lockdown from April until June.

The park again went into shutdown for 25 days last month, and again for nine days through this week, when health authorities doubled down on their zero-Covid pursuit.

At its most extreme, health authorities ordered a sudden closure of Shanghai Disneyland on Halloween Day, trapping thousands inside the amusement park overnight while they waited for their nucleic acid results to turn negative before they were allowed to leave.

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