In the morning of December 25, an important notice was released on the WeChat official account of "Shanghai Disney Resort Release": "Crazy Animal City: Heat Tracking" resumed operation in the morning of that day.
It has been less than 12 hours since Shanghai Disneyland officially announced the temporary suspension of the above-mentioned projects the day before.
As a new park promoted before the end of this year, the Crazy Animal City theme park has attracted much attention from the outside world since its announcement of its upcoming opening in October this year, and its marketing methods have also been eye-catching. On both sides of a transfer escalator at the Shanghai People's Square subway station, wall advertisements with "Crazy Animal City" printed on them and more than ten vertical screens linked together cannot help but attract people to stop and take photos.
However, even the hottest theme parks in China cannot avoid sudden safety incidents. A 21st Century Business Herald reporter noticed that in November this year, a vehicle collision accident occurred at the Shenzhen Happy Valley roller coaster "Snowy Eagle" project, which resulted in 17 people being hospitalized for treatment.
The two popular theme parks in China have experienced related problems, further sounding the alarm on how to ensure safety.
"Horror" for 12 hours
Sort out the timeline.
At 14:07 on December 24th, Shanghai Disney Resort posted a message on its official Weibo account: "The 'Zootopia: Heat Tracking' is currently temporarily suspended. Please visit the official app of Shanghai Disney Resort to learn the latest information about the attractions."
Afterwards, at 18:03, the Weibo account once again posted: "The 'Crazy Animal City: Heat Tracking' is temporarily suspended and will not reopen today. Other experiences within the 'Crazy Animal City' theme park, including entertainment performances, catering, and merchandise, will continue to operate normally."
The 21st Century Business Herald reporter noticed that in this Weibo post, Shanghai Disneyland officially expressed apologies and "hopes to invite tourists who hold park tickets that have been used on December 24, 2023 to choose a day between January 2 and June 30, 2024 to return to the park and experience the attractions."
At 21:10 p.m. on the same day, Shanghai Disneyland Resort successively announced important notices on the official microblog and WeChat official account: "The 'Crazy Animal City: Heat Tracking' is temporarily suspended, and the time to resume operation is yet to be determined. Other experiences in the 'Crazy Animal City' theme park, including entertainment, catering, and commodities, will continue to operate normally." Similarly, in this notice, Shanghai Disneyland Resort proposed to return and change services, For tourists who have already purchased tickets to the amusement park on December 25, 2023 and wish to change their travel dates, the relevant policies also apply to the early admission card for the amusement park on December 25, 2023.
Regarding the specific reasons for the project's appearance, a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald called customer service as a tourist and learned that the specific reason is unclear, but a child was indeed knocked down. As the incident continued to escalate, suspected witnesses posted online claiming that a child was getting off the car and picking up something while playing the "Zootopia: Heat Tracking" project.
According to public information, the "Zootopia" theme park of Shanghai Disneyland officially opened on December 20th this year, making it the eighth largest theme park of the park and the world's first park with the theme of "Zootopia". Among them, "Zootopia: Heat Tracking" is the core amusement project of the theme park. According to the official introduction, its visitors can be of all ages and heights, with a thrilling level of "slight descent and darkness".
In fact, as the first trackless ride amusement facility project in China, the "Zootopia: Heat Tracking" project has indeed become the main reason for many tourists to visit recently. On the day of the incident, a netizen left a message on the official Weibo account of Shanghai Disney Resort, saying, "I played outside for a whole day just to wait for the heat to fix, but there was nothing left."
Fortunately, the project shutdown did not last long.
At 08:35 on December 25, Shanghai Disneyland Resort announced on the official microblog and WeChat official account that the "Crazy Animal City: Heat Tracking" project would resume operation from the morning of that day. However, it also added, "In the early stages of operation, we anticipate that 'Zootopia: Heat Tracking' may experience occasional interruptions or brief shutdowns."
From the official announcement of temporary shutdown on the evening of December 24th to the resumption of operation in the morning of December 25th, the new Shanghai Disney project experienced a "shocking" moment in less than 12 hours.
Lin Huanjie, the director of the China Theme Park Research Institute, said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald reporters, "Since this accident was not caused by the equipment itself, but by human factors, after excluding human factors and strengthening subsequent management, the project can be quickly reopened."
However, this incident still had a certain negative impact on the short-term operation of Zootopia: Heat Tracking.
On the afternoon of December 25th and the morning of December 26th, 21st Century Business Herald reporters checked the official app of Shanghai Disneyland and found that the longest waiting time at the entrance of the "Zootopia: Heat Tracking" theme park reached 180 minutes, and the waiting time for the "Zootopia: Heat Tracking" project reached 90 minutes.
Security issues cannot be ignored
The reason why the safety incident caused by the new project of Shanghai Disneyland has attracted external attention is that: firstly, the new project has a high level of external attention and the topic is easily spread; Secondly, it has only been two months since another popular theme park in China, Shenzhen Happy Valley, experienced safety issues.
So far, Shenzhen Happy Valley is still in a closed state, and the opening time is awaiting notification.
Since the accident of the "Snowy Eagle" roller coaster project in Shenzhen Happy Valley on October 27th this year, the final investigation results of the accident have not been announced yet. But the number of tourists injured in this accident was relatively high: according to the "Notice on Medical Treatment for the" 10.27 "Roller Coaster Collision Accident in Happy Valley Scenic Area" released on October 29th, three hospitals received 28 patients on the night of the accident, of which 11 left on their own after passing the examination without any problems, A total of 17 people were hospitalized for diagnosis and treatment (4 people were observed and treated in the ICU due to traumatic brain injury, pelvic fracture, and other injuries, with stable vital signs; 13 people were observed and treated in the general ward due to soft tissue contusion, minor fractures, and other injuries).
Lin Huanjie told 21st Century Business Herald that the Shenzhen Happy Valley accident was caused by a malfunction in the project equipment, which is fundamentally different from the safety incident that occurred at Shanghai Disneyland.
"The common reasons for safety issues with large amusement equipment include equipment installation issues, especially for some highly stimulating projects. It is necessary to ensure that safety devices are equipped and that safety awareness in management is in place. In addition, human factors are also one of the main reasons. For example, safety education for tourists, equipment management and safety details for park staff, and timely handling of emergencies." Lin Huanjie told 21st Century Business Herald reporters.
"China's inspection and testing of special equipment is the strictest in the world," Lin Huanjie further stated that the safety issues encountered by the Disney new project also remind theme park operators to fulfill their safety reminder obligations to tourists. "In addition to necessary textual reminders, it is necessary to tirelessly provide voice reminders before the start of the project, and take timely preventive measures from a management perspective. Of course, tourists' own safety awareness is also very important."
It is worth mentioning that in 2016, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China approved the implementation of the "Innovative Reform Pilot for Safety Supervision of Large Amusement Facilities" at Shanghai Disneyland, which abolished administrative approval for operators and replaced it with training and certification at the amusement park; Cancel the repair permit and notification, and let the amusement park repair it on its own; Transform the regular inspection method and strengthen the self inspection responsibility of the amusement park; Transform the use of registration methods and strengthen the responsibility for park safety management; Promote safety liability insurance and establish social assistance and supervision mechanisms.
The above "reform pilot" exploration is in line with international practices, which is the first in China and has played a role in reducing burden and increasing efficiency. This is also an important reason why Shanghai Disneyland has been able to efficiently launch two theme parks in recent years.
The newly opened "Zootopia" theme park is of great importance to Disney's parent company, Walt Disney.
According to Disney's 2023 annual report released in November this year, the company achieved a revenue of $88.898 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.47%; Realized a net profit of 2.354 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 25.15%. However, under the decline in revenue growth and net profit, its theme park business sector has become the main source of growth. Taking the performance of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 as an example, the experience business (including Disney theme parks, hotels, peripherals, etc.) had a revenue of 8.16 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13%, making it the fastest-growing business in terms of revenue growth.
In fact, Shanghai Disneyland has become the strongest theme park in Disney's overseas market since its opening in 2016. Therefore, the opening of the "Zootopia" themed park this time is also known as another golden attraction of Disney.