After last week’s very busy week of news, this week was quieter but much, much more fun because there’s finally a Disney park open! We will talk a bit about Florida and California, but we’re going to start with what is now the unofficial(?) happiest place on earth—Shanghai Disneyland.

Even if you’re just interested in the US parks, I highly recommend reading the Shanghai section because it mentions a few of the features we’re expecting the US parks to have when they reopen.

Shanghai Disneyland Reopens

Shanghai Disneyland reopened earlier this week with new safety measures and significantly reduced capacity. You can watch an interesting walkthrough of some of the new procedures here.

My personal biggest takeaway from this week is having some new people to follow on instagram, some of whom have already planned their next visits to the park.

I recommend the following instagram accounts, a few of whom already have made highlights of the reopening: @mollay, @dischapoppy, @abbysmeralda, @yuxinyan827, and @jaymeshimamura.

Let’s talk about some of the changes to the park as part of this reopening…

Reservations required. Guests—including annual passholders—had to make reservations with specific entry times. This both controls capacity and keeps crowds from building outside the entrance. We’ve written elsewhere that rope drop will need to seriously change, and staggered entry times is one way to do that.

Really low crowds. This isn’t surprising, but the park opened with significantly reduced capacity. Bob Chapek has said the park has an actual capacity of 80,000 and that China is allowing them up to 24,000 right now. However, he also said they’re opening below that and will be increasing capacity by 5,000 per week for a few weeks until they get to that 24,000 number.

If you assume that means two or three weeks, that means the park had an operational capacity of 9,000 to 14,000, or about 10% to 20% its actual capacity.

Socially distanced rides. This varied by ride, but you can see from the firsthand reports that rides were not being filled to capacity, allowing for some distance between people from different parties. On rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, this mean one party per every other row, for example.

Plastic gloves on Buzz. Rather than wipe down the obviously unhygienic Buzz Lightyear laser ride after every guest, disposable gloves were given out.

Not always low waits. One of the biggest mistakes you can make looking ahead is thinking low crowds will mean low waits. They may, they may not.

With new procedures in place for cleaning rides and running them far below capacity, waits are going to be higher than they typically would. There’s really no way to know how these opposing factors (fewer people, lower ride capacity) are going to balance out. It will likely vary by park, day, and even by ride.

It’s conceivable that touring strategies will change drastically, with rides that struggle with lower capacity becoming higher priority. Just think about two rides we already mentioned. Pirates is running at less than 50% capacity, but Buzz might not be impacted at all.

Awkward character greetings. Characters were around, but didn’t interact directly with guests, usually only waving from afar. Instagram user @dischapoppy has a highlight with her visit to a character meal, where the characters basically just pranced by during the meal.

Reduced Entertainment. We’re not Shanghai experts so we can’t speak to exactly what changed in terms of entertainment, but a few things were widely publicized. The parade was cut, as were the fireworks. There was still a simpler nighttime projection show, though.

Contrary to what we expected, there was also still a stage show in front of the castle, with spaces marked for social distancing while watching that show.

Socially distances queues and spaces. Basically every spot where people congregate—whether it was a queue or the area in front of the castle—had markers to encourage social distancing. While we saw some reports of people ignoring these, for the most part they seemed helpful (we’re curious to see how they do with more guests, though).

Face masks required. Guests were required to wear face masks, except when dining.

Quick Thoughts on The Reopening

Overall, I don’t have many thoughts on how this went. It certainly seems like it went smoothly enough, but we’re also at the point of lowest crowds in a country that is emerging from a pretty strict lockdown.

Whether and how this will work in the United States is still a ways away. It’s become clear that, no, you won’t have the exact vacation you were planning if you go to the parks when the first reopen. This ongoing uncertainty is why we’re looking past 2020 when recommending dates to visit Walt Disney World.

The severity of the lockdown in China definitely works on Disney’s behalf because guests expect strict measures in the park. The United States has had a comparatively less harsh shutdown and I’ve already seen guests on social media threatening Disney with ADA complaints if they have to wear masks. So, back to the US…

Disney World Updates

There weren’t any substantive updates on Disney World this week, other than Bob Chapek indicating masks will be required when the US parks reopen. Otherwise, we’ll get our first look at a US-based Disney space reopening when Disney Springs reopens May 20.

A few other things, like Disney sending out a survey about possible reopening, removing hours from the website, and beginning to cancel early-June reservations also happened, but I don’t put a lot of weight into these changes.

As we hinted at last week, we’ll have some advance notice of when the parks are going to reopen, because Disney will have to test procedures and call Cast Members back to work. We’re expecting roughly three weeks notice through these unofficial channels.

Besides word of preparations to reopen or (even better) an official update from Disney, I don’t put much weight into these smaller news items.

The fact is that the reopening is going to be weird, and it’s probably going to be gradual, and there are lots of reasons Disney might not want reservations for hotels or dining or FastPass+ to be available in advance of that reopening.

On the flip side of this, as part of Florida’s Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force meetings this week, the Disney representative reiterated that just because they’re taking July reservations doesn’t mean they’ll open in July.

As to the survey that went around, just because they send a survey asking if people would be okay with a June reopening doesn’t mean they’re considering it. There are lots of reasons to build surveys with a wide range of options when trying to gauge what people are thinking.

And if you see a survey about a July reopening and think “wow they’re considering July!”, you’d just as soon have to think “wow they’re consider after July!” Survey questions cut both ways—if positive answers can cause them to reopen then negative answers can cause them to delay reopening.

Disneyland Updates

The biggest update from the west coast this week was the LA County, which neighbors Disneyland’s Orange County, is expected to have a stay at home order in place at least into July. We were expecting an update from Orange County itself yesterday, but we didn’t get one.

That’s all for this week!

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And at 180 days out it's time to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World FastPass+ strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom FastPass, Epcot FastPass, Animal Kingdom FastPass, and Hollywood Studios FastPass.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.

All Your Other Disneyland Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disneyland planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Disneyland Planning Guide. If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disneyland crowd calendars.

When it comes to hotels, we’ve got reviews of all three Disney hotels: Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. As for tickets, check out where to find discount Disneyland tickets.

Know what to ride with our: Disneyland Rides Guide and Disney California Adventure Rides Guide. And just as important, know how to get on the best rides without the wait with our Disneyland and Disney California Adventure FASTPASS and MaxPass Strategy! For the complete guides to a day at the park, we have a One Day Disneyland Itinerary and a One Day Disney California Adventure Itinerary.

We always recommend arriving at the parks early. If you can get access to Extra Magic Hour at Disney California Adventure or Extra Magic Hour and Magic Morning at Disneyland, you’ll have the most time in the parks. Even without those bonus hours, you’ll need to know Rope Drop Strategy at Disneyland and Rope Drop Strategy at Disney California Adventure.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.

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