Four Seasons Marks Highly Anticipated Return To Shanghai With New Luxury Hotel In City Centre

Four Seasons together with Fungseng Prosperity Holdings Limited have announced plans for a new hotel in Shanghai, marking a new chapter of growth for the luxury hospitality company in one of China's most important cities.

Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will soar 44 storeys high with 160 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites, anticipated to welcome guests in 2027. Located along the iconic Huaihai Zhong Road within the Huangpu district of Puxi, the Hotel will be at the heart of the city's shopping, dining and entertainment hub, where neighbourhoods are characterized by neoclassical villas that celebrate Shanghai's modern creativity and Art Deco heritage architecture.

"The return of Four Seasons to Shanghai will present a new luxury hospitality offering that captures the vibrant character of this world-class city," says Bart Carnahan, President, Global Business Development, Portfolio Management and Residential, Four Seasons. "As we expand our portfolio in China, Shanghai has maintained its position as one of the most important markets for luxury travellers. With our long-term partners at Fungseng Prosperity Holdings Limited, we are pleased to bring the signature service, quality and care of Four Seasons to our brand-new experience in Shanghai very soon."

"Shanghai is a world-renowned destination where its rich history naturally complements its profile as a dynamic and modern city," says Mr. William Wai-hoi Doo, Chairman of Fungseng Prosperity Holdings Limited. "We are proud to partner with Four Seasons once again to reintroduce its presence in Shanghai for both locals and international travellers to enjoy."

About Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai

Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will include 160 rooms and suites, contemporary design throughout, architecture by Ricardo Bofill and P&T Group, as well as interior design by Jean-Michel Gathy of DENNISTON.

To offer guests an immersive local experience, Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will include thoughtfully conserved and restored traditional lane houses known as Shikumen (石库门) at the base of the development. Distinguished by high brick walls and strong gateways with elaborate lintels, the unassuming exterior of the Shikumen reveals beautiful, traditional Chinese dwellings on the interior. A respite from the energy and allure that permeates Shanghai, the new Four Seasons Hotel will capture the essence of this historic, residential-style architecture through locally sourced material, verdant courtyards with native greenery and much more.

Adding to the growing collection of more than 600 unique restaurants and bars across the company's global portfolio, Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will introduce five new original culinary concepts. From the Hotel's signature Shanghai seafood restaurant featuring the contemporary flair and traditional character of the destination to a vibrant Italian trattoria with open kitchens and all-day service for patrons and their discerning palates, Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai is well-positioned to complement the city's dynamic culinary scene. Further enhanced by the Hotel's inviting lobby bar, open-air Chinese tea lounge and patisserie, each outlet will naturally welcome guests into the ever-evolving world of Four Seasons.

The 670 square metres (7,212 square feet) of meeting and event space alongside the 690 square metres (7,438 square feet) of comprehensive wellness facilities at Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will introduce both unmatched quality and genuine care at every touchpoint. With a commitment to excellence throughout – from the Hotel's well-appointed gym and spa to its resort-style outdoor heated pool – leisure and business travellers together with city locals will enjoy a new experience in Shanghai with a brand they know and trust, building on more than 60 years of Four Seasons leading the luxury hospitality industry worldwide.

Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai will be joining a growing collection of properties throughout China including the recently opened Four Seasons Hotel Suzhou and the upcoming Four Seasons Hotel Dalian, Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at Hangzhou Centre, and Four Seasons Hotel Xi'an.

About Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts opened its first hotel in 1961, and since that time has been dedicated to perfecting the travel experience through continual innovation and the highest standards of hospitality. Currently operating 128 hotels and resorts, and 53 residential properties in major city centres and resort destinations in 47 countries, and with more than 50 projects under planning or development, Four Seasons consistently ranks among the world's best hotels and most prestigious brands in reader polls, traveller reviews and industry awards. For more information and reservations, visit fourseasons.com.

Disney Resort To Require Negative COVID-19 Test For Entry, Reduces Park Capacity

Since 2020, the entirety of the Disney Parks and Resorts have looked and felt incredibly different. Guests have had to adapt and adjust to all of the different protocols, rules, and regulations at the Parks in order to keep not only themselves safe but other Guests and Cast Members as well. Now, one Disney Resort has just beefed up its policies regarding the virus.

It was just announced that Shanghai Disney Resort will be changing its guidelines and policies when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic and Guest safety in a very drastic way.

See the full statement from the official Shanghai Disney Resort website below:

In order to follow Shanghai’s pandemic control and prevention requirements and ensure the safety and health of our guests and Cast Members, we will further enhance Shanghai Disney Resort’s onsite pandemic control and prevention measures. All measures will be effective immediately unless otherwise indicated and include but are not limited to the following:

– Shanghai Disneyland will operate with controlled capacity.

– The majority of Shanghai Disneyland’s attractions and shows will operate at reduced capacity. The theatre shows will be temporarily suspended.

– All guests will be required to present a China government ID card or valid travel document, a green Health QR Code, a green Telecommunication Data-Based Travel Itinerary Card (Travel Itinerary Card), scan the Shanghai QR Code for contact tracing, and a Shanghai Disneyland Reservation QR Code upon entering Shanghai Disneyland.

– Effective Sunday, March 13, 2022, guests will also be required to present proof of a negative Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) taken within 24 hours prior to entering Shanghai Disney Resort.

– All guests will be required to wear masks during their entire visit to the resort, including both indoors and outdoors, except when dining, and strictly follow social distancing requirements.

– All Cast Members will be required to undergo regular NAT testing.

– The frequency of sanitization and disinfection throughout the resort will be further strengthened.

Shanghai Disney Resort including Shanghai Disneyland, the two themed hotels, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park continue to operate at this time. However, we understand that some guests may wish to change their travel plans. Guests who have purchased the dated products or services can contact their original purchase channel for related enquiries, or contact the Shanghai Disney Resort Reservation Center on: 400-180-0000 (Chinese Mainland) or +86-21-3158-0000 (Other Countries/Regions) for all enquiries.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

As you can see, Guests will now have to show a negative COVID-19 test to enter the Disney Park as well as wear masks at all times while inside. Park capacity is also being reduced and numerous indoor shows will be going on an indefinite hiatus. The Park also recently made changes to its pricing structure which we covered here.

While all of these rules may be cumbersome, it is important that Disney keep the safety of its Guests a top priority as COVID-19 continues to spread in the area.

At Shanghai Disneyland, Guests can meet Duffy, ShellieMay, Gelatoni, StellaLou, and CookieAnn. The newest addition to the crew is LinaBell, a fox who has already gained immense popularity. The Park is located in Pudong, China, Shanghai Disneyland features seven lands, which include: Mickey Avenue, Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Adventure Isle, Treasure Cove, Tomorrowland, and Toy Story Land.

Nestled behind Enchanted Storybook Castle, Fantasyland is home to a number of popular Disney attractions like Peter Pan’s Flight and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. In 2019, it was announced that Shanghai Disneyland will be the first Disney Park in the world that will welcome a Zootopia themed land in the form of the City of Zootopia located inside Fantasyland.

Source: https://insidethemagic.net/

Shanghai Disneyland Reopens With Anti-Virus Controls

SHANGHAI (AP) — Visitors in face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as the theme park reopened Monday in a high-profile step toward reviving tourism that was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

The House of Mouse’s experience in Shanghai, the first of its parks to reopen, foreshadows hurdles global entertainment industries might face. Disney is limiting visitor numbers, requiring masks and checking for the virus’s telltale fever.

China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first country to reopen factories and other businesses after declaring the disease under control in March even as infections rise and controls are tightened in some other countries.

“We hope that today’s reopening serves as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone,” the president of Shanghai Disney Resort, Joe Schott, told reporters.

Tourism has been hit especially hard by controls imposed worldwide that shut down airline and cruise ship travel, theme parks and cinemas. Disney blamed a 91% plunge in its latest quarter profit on $1.4 billion in virus-related costs.

Shanghai Disneyland and Disney’s park in Hong Kong closed on Jan. 25 as China isolated cities with 60 million people to try to contain the outbreak. Tokyo Disneyland closed the following month and parks in the United States and Europe in March.

Disney is opening Shanghai cautiously as it evaluates reopening other parks around the world. Parks are a crucial revenue driver for Disney. Parks, experiences and product division accounts for around 30% to 35% of total revenue.

What the company learns in Shanghai could become a guide, executives said in a conference call to discuss earnings last week.

Typical capacity in the Shanghai park is 80,000 visitors a day, but the government has cut that to about 30%, or 24,000 a day, said CEO Bob Chapek.

“We’re going to actually open up far below that just to have our training wheels on with our new procedures and processes to make sure we don’t have any lines backing up, either as guests enter into the park or as they wade through the park,” Chapek said. “So we’re going to approach that very, very slowly, but after a few weeks we’ll actually be up to what the government’s guideline is.”

Disney hasn’t said when their four theme parks and nearly two dozen resorts at Disney World will reopen. However, next week it will begin to allow some third-party shops and restaurants in Disney Worlds entertainment district, Disney Springs, to reopen. Workers and guests will be required to wear face masks. Per state rules, indoor capacity will be limited to 25% and dining tables outside must be more than six feet apart.

In China, the government allowed shops and offices to reopen but is keeping cinemas, bars, karaoke parlors and other businesses closed.

Authorities are trying to revive China’s tourism market by offering free admission to scenic spots and discount vouchers to consumers. But there is no indication when travel curbs that have cut off the flow of free-spending Chinese tourists to Thailand and other neighboring Asian countries might be lifted.

China’s own industry might benefit while those travel curbs limit Chinese tourists to spending in their own country, Taohai Lin of Fitch Solutions said in an email. However, Lin said their spending power could be hurt if weakness in global demand for Chinese exports leads to job losses.

Disney guests, some wearing Mickey Mouse ears, and children in Little Mermaid, Mulan, Minnie Mouse and Snow White costumes were checked Monday for fever at the park gate and then walked down nearly empty lanes as employees waved to them. The company’s signature tune, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” played over loudspeakers.

“It really felt like a princess’s homecoming, especially when the staff lined up after the ticket check and said, ‘Welcome home!’,” said visitor Dilys Ding of Shanghai.

“It feels like so many fewer people than normal. You don’t need to line up,” said Ding, 26. “You can play all the entertainment items at least once. That’s very good.”

Decals on sidewalks and at lines for attractions show visitors where to stand to leave space between themselves. The company said rides will be limited to one group of visitors per car to keep strangers apart.

“We don’t want people too close — front, back or side,” said Andrew Bolstein, the park’s senior vice president for operations.

The company said its plans were based on the experience of Disneytown, an adjacent shopping and entertainment facility that reopened earlier in the 1,000-acre (400-hectare) Shanghai Disney Resort.

Advance reservations are required and visitors are assigned times to enter. The company said earlier guest numbers will be limited to one-third of the usual daily level of 80,000 at the start and will gradually increase.

“Excited about the opening of the gate!” people in the first group of guests shouted as they entered the park at 9:30 a.m.

Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016, is a joint venture between Walt Disney Co. and a company owned by the Shanghai city government.

Disney has a 43% stake in the Shanghai Disney Resort, which includes the theme park, two hotels and Disneytown. The resort said earlier it attracted about 12 million guests last year and a total of 66 million since it opened.

Disney, headquartered in Burbank, California, said some outlets in Disney Springs, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex attached to the Disney World theme park in Florida, will reopen this month. The company has yet to to set a date for reopening Disney World or its other parks worldwide.

Visitors to Shanghai Disney are required to show government-issued identification and use a smartphone app issued by the Shanghai city government that tracks their health and contacts with anyone who might have been exposed to he virus.

That allows the company to “understand and regulate the flow of traffic,” said Bolstein.

Activities including children’s play areas and indoor theater shows are closed in line with government restrictions, Bolstein said.

“We hope to bring them back some time soon,” he said.

By SAM McNEIL

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AP researcher Si Chen, AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in New York and Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Walt Disney Co.: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/