If you’re travelling to Japan anytime soon then you should take note that both of Tokyo’s Disney resorts, Disneyland and DisneySea will be closed until Sunday, March 15th due to the coronavirus fears. According to CNA, this measure was taken to limit the spread of the virus.
The operator Oriental Land said, “Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea have decided to proceed with an extraordinary closure from Saturday, Feb 29th, 2020, through Sunday, Mar 15th.” They hope that they will be able to resume operations from March 16tg but it depends on the conditions at that time as well.
“Currently, we plan to reopen on Mar 16. But we’ll decide when to open by looking at the situation and developments. We’ll also consult (official) agencies concerned,” a spokesman told AFP. They will be providing refunds to ticket holders based on their policies.
Both of these parks welcome more than 30 million visitors per year and remain some of the most popular tourist destinations in Tokyo. Japan is stepping up its measures to curb the outbreak as they have over 200 confirmed cases of infection and at least four deaths in the country so far.
Yesterday night (Feb 27th), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that they would be closing schools across the country for one month, in a shock announcement. He advised people to work from home, commute during off-peak hours and avoid large gatherings as well.
Before this, the Disneyland theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong have been closed since late January and tourism businesses everywhere are taking a hit as a result of Covid-19 fears.
The theme parks in Japan are not the only thing that is affected by Covid-19, but there have been talks that the Tokyo Olympics may be cancelled as well.
Also read: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics May Be Cancelled If The Coronavirus Outbreak Continues