Theme parks were one of the industries hit hardest by the massive closures of the global pandemic. Parks around the world closed down for at least a few months, and some, like Disneyland Resort, were closed for over a year. While most places around the world have seemingly moved past all pandemic restrictions, China is one place that is still instituting shutdowns in an attempt to reduce virus spread, resulting in the Shanghai Disney Resort now closing for the third time.
It will not be a Happy Halloween and Shanghai Disney Resort as a message on the homepage for the theme park announces that, due to government regulations surrounding covid, the majority of the resort, the Shanghai Disneyland theme park, the Disneytown shopping and dining district, and the Wishing Star Park recreation area, are closed as of October 31. At this point the two resort hotels remain open. There is no estimated reopening date as of yet.
Shanghai Disney Resort, alongside Hong Kong Disneyland, became the first Disney Parks to close, in late January 2020. At that point it was hoped that the coronavirus outbreak would be contained and that the closure would be temporary. By March we knew that would not be the case, as Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World would close a well, with the former remaining closed for more than year.
Shanghai Disney Resort would reopen under strict pandemic restrictions in May 2020. In November 2021 there would be a covid scare, which resulted in guests inside Shanghai Disneyland being mass tested inside the park before being released, but the park remained operational.
That's essentially what happened in this situation as well. that following Shanghai's procedures, guests were tested inside the park and let out once they tested negative. A Disney Spokesperson told CinemaBlend that the testing was expedited and all guests have since left the park. Plans for reopening have already begun.
The park would remain open until March 21 of this year, when it was closed again due to government restrictions surrounding covid. The park reopened on June 30. If the new closure lasts for about the same amount of time as the last one, we can expect Shanghai Disney Resort to reopen early in 2023.
China’s “zero covid” policy has continued to result in businesses shutting down and even residential lockdowns, especially in the Shanghai area, over the last two years. This is what caused the brief closure earlier this year as well as this one. Any time there is an uptick in cases the government takes whatever steps it deems necessary to stem the bump. Once things start trending downward, we can expect the parks to reopen. Of course, the possibility of additional closures also exist.
Guests who planned to visit Shanghai Disney Resort while the park is closed can get their tickets refunded or exchanged for another date. Hopefully this will be the last time we see a Disney Park closed due to covid, and hopefully this closure won't last too long.
