Disneyland Paris has reopened to guests once again after over 4 months of temporary closure.
The French resort and Europe’s number 1 tourist destination followed suit with other holiday destinations around the world, including each other Disney Park resort, and announced a temporary closure back in March due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
After over 17 weeks which included a national lockdown in France it is finally time for Cast Members to open up the gates and let guests return to Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Place des Remy and more iconic locations of the parks. This follows a successful and invaluable preview period where Cast Members and Annual Passholders could first visit the resort.
From today, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park will reopen to limited numbers as will Disney Village. Disney’s Newport Bay Club completes the list of reopening locations as the first onsite hotel to return.
To ensure the resort can return to operation and also be a safe environment for both guests and Cast Members alike, Disneyland Paris has introduced a number of important measures and changes through the parks and beyond.
Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park will run to a limited capacity both in number of guests and Cast Members. This will translate over into attractions, stores and restaurants too as social distancing guidelines will be in practice all throughout the resort. Markers will be found all around in locations such as queue lines to ensure guests remain the appropriate distance from one another.
Other changes include an online registration system introduced for undated ticket and Annual Passholders who must reserve a space in the park before entering. Disney character meet & greets have also been altered into dedicated ‘selfie spots’ for guests to pose for a photo at a social distance.
Shows and parades such as Disney’s Stars on Parade and Disney Illuminations will not yet return to Disneyland Paris. The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands will see performances inside Frontierland Theater, though to a limited capacity crowd with social distanced seating implemented.
You can find out more about the health and safety measures implemented in my Everything you need to know about Disneyland Paris reopening guide, now available right here.
Disneyland Paris will be the fifth Disney resort to reopen after the global pandemic. Shanghai Disneyland was first to welcome guests back on 11th May with Hong Kong Disneyland following suit one month later on 18th June. Tokyo Disney Resort became the final Asian resort to see guests again by 1st July with Walt Disney World opening two of its four parks just a few days shy of DLP on 11th July.
However, today also marks the re-closing of Hong Kong Disneyland after a spike in new cases was discovered in the city. At the time of writing the park will once again go under temporary downtime until further notice.
Ahead of today’s official reopening, the 13th and 14th July saw an exclusive soft reopening for Annual Passholders providing a valid reservation via the online registration system. Acting as a dress rehearsal for welcoming the full public back, this was met successfully with many APs able to return to the magic after four months without.
Disneyland Park reopens today from 10:00am – 8:00pm Parisian time, with Walt Disney Studios Park hours being 10:00am – 7:00pm.