Paris (AFP)

Disneyland Paris, the first private tourist destination in Europe, will gradually reopen to the public from July 15, with a limited capacity, four months after closing due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

The site - which has no longer communicated its number of visitors since 2015, the year in which it welcomed 14.8 million people - is located in Marne-la-Vallée in Ile-de-France, a region which has remained classified as an "orange zone" until '' as of June 15 due to the pandemic.

On Monday, the French subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company announced to AFP that its two theme parks - Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park - closed since March 14, will reopen "gradually" from July 15 "with a limited capacity ", without specifying the chosen gauge.

The reservation of the ticket or the stay will be compulsory and will only be done online.

Employees and visitors, from the age of 11, will have to wear a mask throughout the site, where "health and safety measures have been reinforced," said the press release.

To take into account the health standards in force, in particular physical distance, a certain number of experiences, shows or events will be unavailable, or may be modified upon reopening depending on the evolution of safety and health measures and recommendations of the public authorities ", specifies Disneyland Paris.

Among other things, the famous parade or the night show "Disney Illuminations" will not be able to be held and "will be back at a later date". Likewise, the shows + The Lion King and the rhythms of the Earth + and + The Rhythm of the Jungle + will return later this summer ".

The "meetings" with the mascots will also be "temporarily suspended", even if they will be present on the site "to amuse spectators in a new way".

As for accommodation, a first hotel (Disney's Newport Bay Club) will reopen on July 15 and others will follow during the summer, but two of them (the Sequoia Lodge and the Davy Crockett Ranch) "will reopen at a date announced later, "said the group.

"We are impatient to reopen the doors of our visitor parks", underlines Natacha Rafalski, president of Disneyland Paris, quoted in the press release, which highlights "the positive momentum of the numerous reopenings in the tourism industry in Europe" .

Disneyland Paris, the leading private tourist destination in Europe, employs more than 17,000 people, making it the leading "single-site" employer in France.

© 2020 AFP