Disneyland Paris, the only Disney park in Europe, will reopen on June 17, according to a new statement published on Twitter from the Euro Disney Group.
The Paris theme park will be the last of the Disney properties internationally to reopen as people in France get vaccinated against covid-19 and wealthy countries gradually return to normal life—provided they’ve purchased enough vaccine doses for their populations. “We are pleased to announce that Disneyland Paris will reopen on June 17 with Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney’s Newport Bay Club Hotel and Disney Village. Our reopening will follow enhanced health and safety measures,” Euro Disney Group wrote in a statement.
“The long-awaited Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel will open on June 21, with sales opening on May 18. We look forward to welcoming you back to the heart of the Magic!” the company said.
Disneyland Paris was originally rumored to reopen in early April, according to the large ecosystem of Disney blogs, but those plans never materialized. France’s vaccination program has accelerated in recent weeks, with over 20.1 million people receiving at least a first dose. Over 8.9 people in France, or roughly 13% of the population has been full vaccinated. Disneyland Paris has even been used as a vaccination site, as you can see from the photo above.
The covid-19 pandemic shuttered Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney in late January of 2020, an ominous sign that illnesses in China were even more serious than the outside world even realized. In fact, when we wrote about the closures in Shanghai and Hong Kong, international health experts hadn’t given it the name covid-19 yet. The disease was known as “2019-nCoV coronavirus.” But when they close Disneyland you know something serious is going on.
There were only five cases in the U.S. when Hong Kong Disneyland announced it was closing. What a bizarre year and a half it’s been. And what a relief that things are getting back to normal.