Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Hu Chen
Image source: Figureworm Creative
On the evening of October 31, Shanghai Disney Resort issued a notice that in order to cooperate with the new crown pneumonia epidemic investigation, Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown will be closed to visitors from now on.
At around 9:30 p.m., Shanghai Disney Resort issued another notice that Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown would be temporarily closed on November 1 and 2, 2021 (Monday and Tuesday), and the resumption of operations was to be determined.
In the face of the sudden epidemic investigation, the foreign players who entered the park with the confirmed case on October 30 were told by the epidemic prevention personnel that they needed to be transferred to the hotel for centralized isolation; some photographers engaged in travel photography work personally experienced last night's "10,000 nucleic acid tests under the Disney fireworks show"; and some players decisively gave up the tickets that Double Eleven had worked hard to grab in the live broadcast room.
<h5>"Tail payer" seconds becomes "refund person"</h5>
This morning (November 1), after Fenhong paid the final payment, she silently submitted a refund application and made a "farewell" to the Shanghai Disney three-person single ticket (798 yuan / 3 people) that she had painstakingly grabbed in the Via live broadcast room.
On the morning of October 31, the Fenhong family of three arrived in Shanghai by three hours by high-speed train from Shandong, originally planning to pay the final payment in the early morning of November 1 and make an appointment to enter the park on November 2, but on the evening of October 31, with the notice of the suspension of Shanghai Disneyland, the family's original plan was frustrated. She immediately booked a high-speed rail ticket with her family to return on November 1, "Hurry home." ”
Fenhong calculated an account: the three people's round-trip fees, accommodation fees, meals and other miscellaneous expenses added together, almost 5,000 yuan. "After walking around Shanghai, having a meal, I went back home, which is probably the most expensive meal I've ever had."
On the way back to Shandong, Fenhong concluded that the biggest loss in these three days, in addition to not seeing the new debut celebrity "Ling Na Belle", is on the Shanghai Disney tickets, did not take advantage of the live broadcast room. "Although the tickets are valid until the end of January next year, my family and I are not ready to come back, one is afraid of the impact of the epidemic on health, and the other is that the weather will not be far away after the weather is cold."
Unlike Fenhong, XiXi flew from Shenzhen to Shanghai alone on October 29 (last Friday) and played at Disneyland for most of the day on the 30th. However, the time she played coincided with the confirmed case. "Thanks to the fact that I wore a mask the whole time except for eating, I can now feel a little at ease."
Xi Qian returned to Shenzhen at noon on October 31 and took the initiative to do nucleic acid testing. "At that time, disney had not been notified of confirmed cases, and when there was news in the evening, I was still very panicked." Xi Xi's current itinerary code is still green, has reported the travel situation to the company, and is waiting at home for the community epidemic prevention personnel to arrange to go to the hotel for centralized isolation.
"I entered the park at 8:30, after playing with the carousel, I almost always soaked in the gift store, originally the purpose of this trip to Disney was to buy plush toys, and the final harvest was also very rich. Although Lina Bell was out of stock, Mickey, Shirley Rose, and Star Dew were all available. Sissi said that she spent a total of about 7,000 yuan on her three-day trip, and the plush toys alone cost nearly 4,000 yuan.
Looking back now, Sissi is glad she didn't catch the 6:55 p.m. fireworks show. "I went back to the hotel at nearly 4 p.m. to rest for a while, and prepared to return to Disney at 6 p.m. to watch the fireworks show, but I didn't expect that the ride-hailing car could not enter Disney, so I could only watch from a distance outside the park and avoid the surging crowds in the park."
Mei Lin, who works in travel photography at Shanghai Disneyland, lined up with many tourists yesterday evening (October 31) to complete the nucleic acid test. According to the news released by Shanghai Disney Resort, all visitors need to undergo nucleic acid testing at the exit when leaving the park, and follow the requirements of the CDC, and then do nucleic acid testing after 24 hours apart, and after two negative nucleic acid tests, do the next 12 days of independent health monitoring.
"At about four or five o'clock in the afternoon, there was news that the park was going to do nucleic acid testing. My friends and I watched the first fireworks show (around 7:15 p.m.) before heading to the exit, when there were a lot of people gathered nearby. Merlin said she waited until after watching the Halloween villain parade and the second fireworks show (around 9:15 p.m.) before returning to the queue.
After learning that Shanghai Disneyland was suspended in cooperation with the epidemic investigation, Mei Lin knew that she might be "taking a long vacation" again. "When the outbreak broke out last year, Shanghai Disneyland was closed from February to May, which meant that I had almost no income, and at that time, the number of times I went out every month was countless."
Merlin said that before Disney announced the suspension of opening this time, her travel orders had been scheduled until late November. "Now the opening time of the park is unknown, everyone is also waiting, if it is fast, it may be the end of the month." During the pause, Merlin wanted to take a good rest before re-adjusting to the rhythm of working from home and doing some indoor work.
<h5>Universal Pictures Beijing made its first big promotion, and the price of the half-year card was close to that of the Disney annual pass</h5>
Shanghai Disneyland has been hit by the epidemic and the reopening time is yet to be determined; at the same time, Universal Studios Beijing has ushered in its first major promotion after the opening of the park.
On Singles Day this year, Universal Studios Beijing launched the Off-Season Day Dual Card and Winter and Spring Roaming Card (also known as the Half-Year Pass, which can enter the park for unlimited times) on the ticket products. The latter offers two time slots for visitors to choose from 8 November 2021 to 27 May 2022 and from 29 November 2021 to 17 June 2022.
According to reports, the price of universal studios Beijing half-year card is divided into two grades, one is the "Privilege Card" of 1588 yuan / person (applicable to most mondays to Sundays except statutory holidays during the validity period), and the other is the "Leisure Card" of 1288 yuan / person (applicable to most Sundays to Thursdays except statutory holidays during the validity period). As of 4:30 p.m. on November 1, the "Premium Card" had sold about 23,000 copies on the Fliggy platform, and the "Leisure Rewards Card" had sold 12,000 copies.
Despite considerable sales, many players on the online platform still expressed dissatisfaction: the price of the Universal Studios half-year card is close to the Disney annual pass, but in terms of preferential policies, it is killed by the latter.
The Shanghai Disney Annual Pass is divided into three types according to the price point from high to low: Unlimited Diamond Card (3599 yuan), Starlight Gem Card (2399 yuan), and Dream Crystal Card (1399 yuan). Among them, the Dream Crystal Card, which is closest to the Price Point of the Universal Half-Year Pass, not only has a longer reservation date, but also enjoys discounts on meals and shopping at Disney (about 20% off), as well as free birthday cakes at selected restaurants during the birthday month.
"Theme parks that launch semi-annual cards are rare, and the universal studios' approach is likely to be a choice made by the management team without finding out the market environment." Lin Huanjie, president of the China Theme Park Research Institute, told Times Finance that Universal Studios Beijing wants to test the waters with a half-year card, and if the market effect meets expectations, it will launch a longer annual card.
As for the impact of Disney's announcement of the suspension on the theme park industry at the end of the year, Lin Huanjie said that this situation will cause some tourists who plan to go to the theme park to panic, weaken their willingness to travel, coupled with the decline in winter temperatures, the business of theme parks with outdoor projects will be affected to a certain extent.
Lin Huanjie said that with the solid advancement of the national epidemic prevention work, there will be no more theme parks that have been closed for several months like last year. "After the park venues, equipment killing, and personnel screening, as long as the nucleic acid test results of all visitors are ok, I predict that Shanghai Disneyland will resume operations within 5 days."