Disneyland Hotels Set New Summer Reservations Date

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Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

The move comes the same week The Walt Disney Co. announced it would be reopening its first theme park since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The Disneyland Resort has set a new date for guests to begin making reservations at park hotels. 

The theme park's website was updated May 6, notifying would-be guests (and those who needed to change their plans since the park's closure) that reservations are available beginning July 1. 

The previous note on the website said the resort would be closed "until further notice," which has also been modified to read, "a reopening date has not been identified" and "we will continue to carefully evaluate the complex and fluid situation." 

The update comes the same week The Walt Disney Co. announced it would be reopening its first theme park since the coronavirus pandemic forced the company to shutter all parks around the globe. 

However, on Monday, Shanghai Disneyland Park will reopen; the sprawling Chinese destination was the first of the company's parks to go idle in late January because of the pandemic. 

For Shanghai, some of the new measures and procedures in place include: All guests are required to pre-purchase admission tickets, no walk-ups. Once in the park, all guests (and employees) must wear a mask, except when dining. Guests will also have their temperature checked before entry. Ride queues (wait lines), restaurants and ride vehicles will be structured to promote social distancing, among other measures. 

On a Tuesday earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said it was too soon to talk about the Anaheim and Orlando parks again welcoming guests. Yet Shanghai will be a blueprint as to how the domestic parks could operate. A Disneyland union president told The Hollywood Reporter he agreed with that notion, saying he saw Shanghai as a "test of what works and doesn't work, though some practices may not be applicable here in the U.S." 

"I also noted that attendance limits will play a role as certain revenue creation per site appears necessary to reopen," Workers United Local 50 president Christopher Duarte told THR. 

The Disney CEO made it clear during the Tuesday earnings call that no park would be reopened if it was forecasted to lose money, stating he believed there is plenty of "pent-up" demand. "If we open up 50 percent less (capacity), we won't have trouble selling that," said Chapek. "We will staff accordingly for whatever that level will be."

When it opens its doors Monday, the Shanghai park will allow fewer than 24,000 visitors a day, which is 30 percent of its 80,000 capacity. Under government restrictions, capacity must currently be capped at 30 percent, but Chapek noted that the park will allow fewer to start, and after a few weeks it would be increased to the 24,000-guest level.

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com