Disneyland Paris plans reopening theme parks on July 15

Disneyland Paris will reopenDisneyland Park, Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney’s Newport Bay Club Hotel and Disney Village on July 15, 2020, the company announced this morning.

The reopening, according to the company, is in line with guidance from French government and health authorities and has been discussed with Union Representatives from the Comité Social et Economique (CSE).

Disneyland Paris also announced the scheduled phased reopening of several other Disney hotels including:

• Disney’s Hotel Cheyenne on July 20,
• Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe on August 3
• Disneyland Hotel on September 7.
• Disney’s Sequoia Lodge Hotel and Disney’s Davy Crocket Ranch will remain closed during the summer with reopening dates announced at a later time.

“All of us at Disneyland Paris are excited to be on the path to reopening over the next few weeks,” Natacha Rafalski, President of Disneyland Paris., said in a news release. 

“We are thrilled to see one of the main tourism destinations in Europe and largest single site employer in France reopen to guests and its employees,” Sophie Huberson, Executive Director of Le Syndicat National des Espaces de Loisirs, d’Attractions et Culturels (SNELAC) said. “This is an important milestone for the tourism and leisure industry in France and will be a critical step in our industry’s recovery.”  SNELAC is the organization representing theme parks, leisure and cultural areas in France.

The phased reopening will incorporate many of the health and safety measures that are in effect and will go into effect at other Disney Parks around the world.

This will include limiting capacity and requiring advanced ticketing and reservations to accommodate controlled guest density that supports government guidance on physical distancing.

Parades, such as the Disney Stars on Parade, and Disney Illuminations night time spectacular will not reopen on July 15 and are expected to return at a later date.

The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands and Jungle Book Jive—two top-rated entertainment spectaculars—will return later in the summer.

Character meet and greets will be temporarily unavailable, however, characters will be in the parks in other ways such as calvacades or at a distance for people to view. Other experiences such as playgrounds and makeover experiences will remain temporarily unavailable.  

Additionally, FastPass services will be suspended in order to allow for the necessary queue management on attractions.  Cast members and guests ages 11 and older will also be required to wear face coverings while at the resort. 

The new online reservation system, which kicked off for Disney World today with some problems, will be available in early July. To ensure admission, guests in possession of or buying non-dated tickets, and Annual Pass holders, will need to register on this new online reservation system to obtain a reservation for park entry prior to their arrival. Guests who already have a dated ticket, do not need to register and reserve a date.  Likewise, guests with packages that include park admittance will receive admission for the duration of their stay and do not need to use the new online reservation system.

Tickets and packages are now on sale on the resort’s website, Disneyland Paris call center and official travel partner channels, with a limited number of tickets available each day during the initial reopening phase. Ticket sales will not be available on site.