Tokyo Disneyland And Tokyo DisneySea Will Both Re-Open On July 1

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea are the latest Disney theme parks to set a July re-opening date. Both parks, operated by the Oriental Land Company, are set to re-open on July 1, 2020 with new ticket sales set to begin at midnight local time on June 25.

Tokyo Disney Resort has set the Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland re-opening date for July 1. The theme parks did not mention anything about a phased re-opening, however guests will be required to wear face masks and have their temperatures checked before entering the parks.

Below is the official reopening announcement as it is written on the Tokyo Disney website:

This is to share the decision that both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will reopen on July 1, 2020. Additionally, the opening date for the Tokyo Disneyland major expansion area will be determined once the situation can be gauged after reopening both parks.

Tokyo Disney Resort already began its phased re-opening of its shopping and dining district, Ikspiari, on June 1, and it seems that the parks are fast to follow. The Tokyo Disney Resort website will put tickets up for sale as soon as June 25 at midnight local time. The new tickets will have fixed dates associated with them and the resort will also employ a reservation system to encourage social distancing.

The two Disney-branded theme parks in Tokyo closed in February, at first for a temporary closure of two weeks before the shutdown was extended to nearly four months. In a normal year, the parks welcome about 30 million visitors, but were closed at a peak time — the Japanese spring break usually falls at the end of March — due to the Japanese government taking extra measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But as theme parks around the world prepare to re-open, the two Tokyo Disney theme parks were expected to follow. Japan, which has been praised as one of the countries that managed to successfully beat back the pandemic, has nearly eliminated the number of new coronavirus cases, reporting only 35 new cases this week. The curve of new cases have begun to flatten in Asian countries, leading to Shanghai Disneyland's May re-opening and Hong Kong Disneyland to soon follow on June 18. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Walt Disney World begins its phased re-opening on July 11 with Disneyland Paris and Disneyland resort in California following closely after on July 15 and July 17, respectively.