Fans lined up overnight to be among the first to experience the Thursday reopening of Downtown Disney, the first part of the Disneyland Resort to welcome back guests since closing almost four months ago due to coronavirus.
“I’ve personally been here since 11 p.m.,” one woman told KTLA. Others said they came directly from work and waited all night for the shops and restaurants to open.
Video on Thursday morning also showed long lines of vehicles to get into the Simba lot, which is the only parking lot open to Downtown Disney visitors.
Guests who did turn out for the reopening were greeted by a slew of new health and safety measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The precautions include temperature screenings ahead of entering the dining and shopping destination, a face mask requirement for all guests 2 years and older and limits on capacity so social distancing can be maintained.
New and enhanced sanitation measures are also in place, including the increased availability of hand sanitizer and hand washing stations.
Additionally, Downtown Disney has reduced its operating hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., but hours may vary at shops and restaurants.
Some guests welcomed the new measures, saying it made them feel safe to visit.
“I definitely feel safe. I feel like Disney is very cautious of their cast members and their visitors, and they want to make sure that everybody is going to be safe,” one fan told KTLA. “And they decided not to reopen their parks. I feel like that was a really good idea.”
It’s still unclear when guests will be able to visit Disneyland and Disney California Adventure again. Both theme parks were initially slated to reopen next week, on July 17 — the 65th anniversary of Disneyland’s opening.
However, Disney scrapped those plans as California delayed releasing the state’s reopening guidelines for theme parks.
More information about the new measures in place at Downtown Disney can be found at disneyland.disney.go.com.
