Like the princess who is the heroine of her iconic attraction of the Sleeping Beauty castle, the Disneyland Paris park, in Marne-la-Vallée (Seine-et-Marne) has finally come out of its way. sleep.
After more than seven months of closure, the first European amusement park reopens its doors this Thursday, a few days before its hotels.
Interview with its president, the Franco-American Natacha Rafalski, who explains the sanitary measures implemented and presents us the novelties in the attractions and the hotels.
What is your first feeling on this reopening day?
“It's very moving and I am very happy to be able to welcome once again our visitors who have shown us unwavering support, as well as all our employees who have made this reopening possible. We are also delighted with this major step in the revival of tourism as well as our territory which will benefit enormously from the return of our business. This period of closure was a real challenge that we took up with a lot of creativity. I am very proud of it!
For example, the way of taking pictures with the characters has been changed.
As this interaction is no longer possible in a world with distance, it has been reinvented by our show teams to transform them into “selfie spots” scattered throughout the parks.
Our visitors have the possibility of going on stage in a theater of Walt Disney Studios to be photographed with Marvel characters while respecting the distance.
These new practices could be perpetuated.
It's a new chapter full of hope and optimism that opens for Disneyland Paris, we are happy to turn the page!
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What sanitary measures are in place in the parks?
While every effort is made to preserve the experience of our visitors, their health and well-being as well as that of our employees is always a priority for us. For the reopening we worked in close collaboration with the authorities and we are based on the sanitary measures of last summer, which were reinforced in some places.
Public reception capacity is therefore limited, tickets can only be purchased online with a reservation date chosen in advance, physical distancing is applied in our restaurants, shops and queues, and cleaning and disinfection measures have been strengthened.
The main difference with last summer is that there are even more Plexiglas protective glass in our queues and attractions.
We also ask our visitors over the age of six, our employees and our service providers to wear the mask.
Read alsoDisneyland Paris: health protocol, new attraction, hotels ... what you need to know about the reopening
Is a health pass required for a visit to Disneyland Paris?
The government's recommendations do not provide for a sanitary pass for theme parks.
Disneyland Paris is not an establishment open to the public (ERP) but an addition of several ERP with two amusement parks, hotels, restaurants and shops that all meet different rules.
Our park is vast and when visitors stroll down the main alley, it is as if they were in a street in Paris!
Are reservations full and is it possible to find a time slot in the days to come?
After these long months of closure, the start is very good because there is a real enthusiasm of the public which boosted the reservations as soon as they were opened online.
We expected it and we are very happy with it.
Despite the gauge limiting the number of visitors and the obligation to book online, there are still a few places available in the days to come.
How has the longest closure of Disneyland Paris been used in parks and hotels?
We took advantage of this period to prepare for this reopening, but these long months were also an opportunity to accelerate projects scheduled and launched before the health crisis. Among the novelties that the public will be able to discover this Thursday is our new attraction "Cars Road Trip", which immerses visitors in the universe of the franchise "Cars" very popular in Europe, or the new show "The Factory of Disney dreams. Junior ”which will open on July 1st in the Walt Disney studios park.
The “Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast” attraction has been completely renovated and the rehabilitation of our beautiful Sleeping Beauty castle has also been launched. On this site, we worked with French craft companies such as Le Bras Frères, which work on many historical monuments. If the work is still in progress, the turrets are already resplendent!
The highly anticipated Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel, which is the first hotel dedicated to the Marvel universe, will open on Monday, June 21.
It is much more than a hotel, it is a masterpiece with art everywhere, of which we are very proud.
We have also made the convention center of the Newport Bay Club hotel available so that the prefecture can set up a vaccinodrome there [Editor's note: managed by the departmental seocurs and fire department of Seine-et-Marne] which remains open .
To read also "We did not throw away any dose": the vaccine park of Disneyland Paris is running at full speed