Cinderella Castle Wishes Fireworks

CEO: Disney Springs Reopening Will Be A Test For Parks Reopening

Today, after the first day of Shanghai Disneyland’s reopening, CNBC interviewed Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Chapek mentioned that, during its first day of Shanghai’s reopening, Disney significantly limited available tickets.  He also said that almost all advanced reservations have been booked for the park.

The CEO said that the Cast Members are excited to welcome guests back and that the parks will reopen in a responsible, conservative, and prudent way.  Disney plans to increase ticket reservation capacity by 5,000 guests each week, assuming the park works well from an operations perspective and the Chinese government agrees.

The changes at Shanghai Disneyland include:

  • Guest must get temperature checks
  • Guest must wear masks
  • Disney caps attendance at 30%
  • Disney does not present parades or fireworks
  • Disney does not allow close-up character interactions.
Disney CEO says reopening plans will be conservative.
Disney CEO says reopening plans will be conservative.

Disney World Reopening

As is the standard practice, Chapek did not suggest any specific dates or timelines for the opening of Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

He said reopening the domestic parks will depend on government regulations, hospital capacity near the parks, social distancing, and both Cast Members and guests wearing masks.

He said that Disney will test and monitor the reopening of Disney Springs on May 20 and take lessons learned into account when planning how and when to open the US parks.

Chapek closed on a positive note, saying “Disney will be back stronger than ever.”

Will you visit Disney Springs when it reopens?