Visitors and staff wearing face masks descend the main street of Disneyland Paris (AFP)
Marne-la-Vallée, France:
Disneyland Paris, Europe’s largest private tourist attraction, reopened on Wednesday after four months of coronavirus lockdown, albeit with limited access and a ban on kissing famous people.
During the festive music, Mickey, Pluto and other Disney characters greeted the first visitors – all sport masks and some of Mickey Mouse’s ears – while keeping a safe distance from the guests.
Despite the happy mood, things at Disneyland did not quite return to normal as the COVID-19 pandemic again showed a slight increase in a country where it claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people.
Earlier this month, the Disney World complex reopened in Florida, and Disney has already resumed operations at its theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
But an outbreak of COVID-19 in California prevented Disneyland’s planned reopening near Los Angeles on July 17, and no new date has been set.
As in other stations, the number of visitors to Disneyland Paris will be limited, said the operator of the attraction, without indicating the ceiling.
All customers from 11 years old must wear masks and visitors must observe social distance in the queues and during walks.
The disinfectant hand gel is available at more than 2,000 distribution points.
The operator said that “close interactions, including hugs” for Disney’s cuddly mascots will be “temporarily suspended”, there will be no princess makeover and the characters’ daily parade will only come back to one later date.
More than 17,000 people work at Disneyland Paris, which began to suspend shows and limit the number of visitors even before the official French lockdown came into effect in mid-March, after certain maintenance workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
About 45 kilometers (28 miles) in central Paris, the iconic Eiffel Tower reopened its upper level on Wednesday in a new symbolic step towards a return to normalcy in one of the most visited cities in the world.
Last year, Paris and its region attracted 50 million visitors, a number that hotel industry officials are expected to dive this year due to the severe restrictions imposed by the coronavirus crisis.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
