Just can’t wait: First day tickets for Shanghai Disney are sold out within minutes

World Today

When you wish upon a star… you’ll be able to score some tickets to the new Disneyland in Shanghai.

Tickets to the $5.5 billion park’s June 16th opening were snapped up within minutes of going on sale at midnight.

CCTV’s Lin Yijing reports.

Although Disney announced earlier that ticket sales would start at 12:01am Monday morning Beijing time, booking on the amusement park’s Alitrip portal started more than one hour earlier. By 12:15am, all one-day and two-day tickets for the opening day were sold out. Tickets for the park’s first Saturday, June 18th, were also sold out.

Traffic was so high that the park’s website and WeChat platform were jammed for more than 10 minutes after sales began. Both were operating normally by the afternoon.

Chinese can buy a maximum of five tickets at a time with their ID card. Foreigners need their passport to buy tickets and can also purchase a maximum of five at a time. For the first 15 days, a one-day adult ticket costs 499 yuan ($76.71). After the opening period, the price at peak times such as summer holidays and weekends will remain 499 yuan($76.71), but a one-day adult ticket on weekdays will cost 370 yuan ($56.88).

There are still tickets available for June 19th, the resort’s first Sunday. Park managers are reminding people not to buy tickets from scalpers because the ID-pegged tickets cannot be transferred or refunded.

Shanghai Disney has also announced that cartoon costumes, scooters, selfie sticks, folding stools, water guns and kites are banned from the park. Visitors above the age of 16 are also prohibited from wearing masks, including pollution masks. However, the park is allowing visitors to bring pre-packaged food although alcohol is not allowed.