Shanghai Disney Resort Closed Due to COVID-19

By Ned Kelly, March 21, 2022

Shanghai Disney Resort has temporarily closed until further notice due to the current pandemic situation, it has announced.

A statement released yesterday reads as follows:

"Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022.
"We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and consult local authorities, and will notify guests as soon as we have a confirmed date to resume operations."

Guests with tickets to Disneyland from today onwards may visit the park on any other day after its reopening within six months of the valid date of the ticket. Tickets can be redeemed at the park entrance turnstiles with the ID card or travel document that was used to purchase the tickets. Reservation is not required.

For guests with two-day tickets, proceed to the Guest Services windows outside the turnstiles of the main entrance.

Those who cannot visit the park in the next six months can apply for a refund through the original ticket purchase channels.

The two resort hotels are still operating as normal for now, but guests who have booked a room from today onwards can contact the original purchase channel should their plans have changed.

Shanghai Disneyland Annual Passes have been extended for 10 days. Further adjustments to the Annual Pass validity may be made, depending on how the pandemic situation progresses.

The closure of Shanghai Disney Resort is one of a number of measures have been put in place to fight the spread of COVID-19.

On March 20, nine Shanghai districts (Pudong New Area, Jing’an District, Huangpu District, Qingpu District, Songjiang District, Jinshan District, Fengxian District, Xuhui District and Yangpu District) require those going to their workplace to have a negative nucleic acid test report from no earlier than March 16.

Meanwhile, those going to their workplace in Putuo District require a negative nucleic acid test report from within five days.

In all areas, places that previously required a negative nucleic acid test report from within 48 hours will stick to that policy.

As of Saturday, March 12, those wishing to leave or enter Shanghai must have a negative nucleic acid test report from within 48 hours.

The Shanghai government has also asked residents not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary.

Shanghai Intercity Bus Terminal suspended operations from Sunday, March 13.

All primary and secondary schools in Shanghai have also been adjusted to online learning.

Children are not allowed to enter any educational institution – including kindergartens and training centers as well as schools – with all offline teaching banned.

The move to online learning followed on from the decision to close a number of public cultural and tourist service venues across the city.

Of those attractions still open to the public, many now require a negative nucleic acid test report from within 24 hours to enter, as well as a green health QR code, green travel history code and Chinese ID card or valid travel document.

Bars, restaurants and entertainment venues in some districts have also been asked to close.

No timeline has been given on how long all of the above measures will last; it remains dependant on the progress of the epidemic, with further announcements to be made to the public in a timely manner based on the situation.

Despite a spike in COVID-19 cases, Shanghai has vowed to resist a citywide lockdown, instead electing to designate key areas according to the regional risk levels, and conduct nucleic acid testing block by block.

And, while the current COVID-19 numbers are bad news, a number of signs during the current outbreak suggest that it could represent a turning point regarding how China deals with the virus.

The source of the current COVID-19 outbreak is the Huating Hotel & Towers in Xujiahui, one of the designated quarantine hotels for inbound travelers, and the strain is the highly-infectious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, the government has concluded.

Shanghai Health Commission reported a total of 24 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 734 local asymptomatic cases this morning, Monday, March 21.

The numbers come as mass screenings take place across the city, with further rounds of testing of at-risk areas and three days of testing of low-risk areas.

[Cover image via Sohu]