Jul 06 (Nikkei) - Tokyo Disney Resort reopened on Wednesday after a four-month suspension due to the coronavirus, but the number of attractions was limited, and visitors were kept at less than 20% of pre-pandemic levels.
The resort and other theme parks in Japan must balance the need to attract visitors with a duty to help prevent the virus's spread. They are also under pressure to review their business models, including by stepping up their online presence.
"I felt like I finally came back home," Kaho Tamura, a 25-year-old Disney superfan since her childhood, told the Nikkei Asian Review after her visit on Wednesday. "I also felt very safe as measures to prevent the infection were more thorough than I had imagined."
Tamura said that when she began her day and found herself standing in lines that wrapped around enclosures, she figured it was a particularly busy day with long lines. But she soon realized Disney had moved the lines outdoors as a preventive measure.
She was also pleased when a staff member offered to take a picture of Tamura and her friends but paused to apply some hand sanitizer before accepting her camera.
"I was moved by the operator's effort to balance prevention measures with hospitality," Tamura said.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea have been closed since the end of February due to the pandemic. Since May, Oriental Land, operator of the resort, was making behind-the-scenes preparations for the reopening on July 1. In June it began discussions with parent Walt Disney in the U.S. and with its full-time and part-time employees about how exactly the resort would run upon reopening.
Theme parks in Japan need to make clear what visitor numbers are appropriate in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Universal Studios Japan in Osaka Prefecture, which reopened on June 8 to residents of Osaka Prefecture only, starting July 20, will admit guests from all of Japan, even those without annual admission passes.
Toshimaen and other theme parks in Tokyo have also resumed operations.
Oriental Land's decision to reopen came much later than those of rival parks because the company had decided that it would need to wait until restrictions on traveling across prefectural borders were lifted.
"As long as it is named 'Tokyo Disney Resort,' limiting visitors to residents of Chiba Prefecture is unrealistic," an Oriental Land spokesperson said. The resort is actually located outside of Tokyo, in neighboring Chiba Prefecture. The company did not begin final preparations, including infection prevention measures, until June 19, when the restrictions on travel across prefectures were lifted.
For the time being, only about 15,000 visitors will be let into the resort each day, and they will have to make reservations. Before COVID-19, the facilities attracted nearly 100,000 people on a busy day. Discounted tickets with specified entry times will also be on sale.
