Per our Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort pages, we stated we would visit China at the end of March and early April. The plan was to explore the rich cultural history of China and also visit the last two Disney resorts on our list. However, with the recent events in China, we were forced to make the difficult decision to cancel our travel plans.
Due to the spread of the coronavirus, unlawful detainment of US citizens and security issues for US military personnel, we decided it was in our best interest to avoid mainland China and Hong Kong at this time. As much as we wanted to visit China (and still do) and FINALLY visit the last two Disney resorts, it is just too risky to visit.
Additionally, Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland remain closed due to the COVID. At the time of this post, both resorts have not released a date for the opening of their parks. Their resort hotels remain open but the parks remain closed indefinitely due to safety concerns. And just recently, Hong Kong is considering using Hong Kong Disneyland’s resort hotels as quarantine centers due to the parks isolation from the city.
From what we’ve read, the resorts will most likely open in February once the Chinese New Year celebration period ends (Update: Shanghai Disneyland is OPEN and Hong Kong Disneyland is CLOSED as of 18 AUG 2020).
However, the virus is still spreading and a vaccine is in the works, but not yet deployable. In the meantime, the Chinese government has quarantined over 40 million people and aggressively used its power to spread disinformation and fight dissent. There are reports of Americans trapped in China (especially around the virus epicenter) who cannot find a means to leave for the United States.
Furthermore, with our expected arrival around April, it is expected the virus will still be an ongoing issue. For example, the SARS virus took about six months to contain. The coronavirus outbreak started at the end of December, which leaves the possibility of dangerous conditions come April.
Fortunately, we changed our flight itinerary and will be heading to Europe instead. We visited Europe for the first time in 2018 and loved it. For this trip, we will be heading to Dublin, Ireland and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
We will also head back to Paris. And, guess what? Yup. We will head back to the Disneyland Paris Resort. Disneyland Paris is an excellent vacation destination and we can’t wait to revisit. Stay tuned as we create our European Vacation Part Two and research Disneyland Paris for 2020. Although Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland would have been great, it is just too dangerous at this time to visit.
Thanks for reading and please continue to watch our blog for updates on our upcoming Euro Trip! So far it’s looking like a blast and we cannot WAIT to FINALLY ride Phantom Manor as it was closed during our last trip.
In the meantime, read our Disneyland Paris Trip Report from 2018! Have you ridden Phantom Manor? How was it? What do you think about the coronavirus? Do you have plans to visit China? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
