Disneyland Paris Is the Latest Disney Theme Park to Reopen Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Disneyland Paris reopened this week after closing in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. Both theme parks — Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park — Disney Village, and Disney’s Newport Bay Club Hotel reopened on July 15 with new health and safety measures in place.

The new regulations are similar to those enacted at Walt Disney World, but there are some major differences. Disneyland Paris will have limited capacity to encourage physical distancing, and guests must register to visit the parks on a specific date if they have non-dated tickets or an annual pass. However, guests who have vacation packages that include park admittance do not have to register to visit.

Attractions and modified character meet and greets will be adapted to accommodate social distancing, although playgrounds, makeover experiences, and traditional character meet and greets will not be available upon reopening, according to the Disneyland Paris website. It might be a while before guests can hug Mickey again, but images on social media from the park’s reopening depict socially distant encounters with beloved characters. Nighttime spectaculars and some other shows will be temporarily unavailable as well.

New safety measures, like limited elevator capacity and sneeze guards at the front desks, have been put into place at the hotels, too. But hotel guests can still access one major perk: Extra Magic Time, which is when guests staying at a Disney hotel get to access the parks before the official opening time.

On-property restaurants are reducing seating capacity and offering to-go meals at many venues, and merchandise locations have been reconfigured to better support physical distancing. Masks are required for guests ages 11 and up, and there are more than 2,000 sanitizing and hand-washing stations throughout the Disneyland Paris resort.

Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris is Europe’s most-visited theme park, bringing in over 9.7 million visitors in 2019. This is the latest Disney theme park resort to reopen since the coronavirus pandemic forced all six international theme parks to close. Shanghai Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Walt Disney World have reopened, but Hong Kong Disneyland was forced to close its gates once again on July 15 due to rising cases in the city. Disneyland in California was set to reopen July 17, but that date has been delayed until further notice.