Ikspiari Reopens at Tokyo Disney Resort

Ikspiari at Tokyo Disney Resort has reopened today, June 1, 2020, after being closed since February 29. The announcement for the reopening came shortly after Japan lifted its state of emergency throughout the country.

This shopping complex is the Resorts version of Disney Springs or Downtown Disney. Ikspiari is also where you’ll find the Disney Ambassador Hotel, which still remains closed.

I headed to Ikspiari to see how the mall is handling new procedures due to COVID-19. While we don’t know when Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, or the Resort hotels will reopen, this gives an idea of how Tokyo Disney Resort is handling things. However, Tokyo Disney Resort did announce on June 1 they’re extending the closures again until further notice.

Ikspiari at Tokyo Disney Resort

At this time, Ikspiari is asking those who aren’t within Chiba prefecture to refrain from visiting the are for the time being. The Disney Store reopens on June 2, 2020. I’ll have a video showing everything you see in this article on Youtube soon, so make sure you subscribe.

You’ll also see me for a split second on a TV newscast.

【#臨時休園 を継続】#東京ディズニーリゾート 内の商業施設 #イクスピアリ は約３か月ぶりにきょうから営業を再開。

しかし、#東京ディズニーランド と #東京ディズニーシー は臨時休園を継続すると発表しました。 pic.twitter.com/ks8ILIaCZI

— 日テレNEWS (@news24ntv) June 1, 2020

Queue & Temperature Checks

To get into Ikspiari there are marked queues and a touchless temperature check. If you have a temperature over 37.5°C you won’t be allowed in. The queue markers are easy to follow and straight forward. When the mall first opened, there were much fewer people than I thought there would be. The temperature checks are done with a camera, so there’s no need for anyone to touch your forehead with a device or any sort.

Overall, the procedure was quick and easy.

Shops & Restaurants

Quite a few of the restaurants and shops were open for business. I noticed that Tully’s (a Japanese coffee chain) was closed along with a few other restaurants in the food court on the first floor. Both Starbucks locations were open on the first and second floors. I had lunch at my favourite spot, Guzman Y Gomez and grabbed a coffee from Starbucks.

Cinema Ikspiari has also reopened with limited seating (and social distancing). As for movies, there’s not much coming out so what’s playing are movies that have been around for a while.

The Crowds Were Light

Being a Monday on a weekday combined with asking people to refrain from visiting if they’re not in Chiba lead to what seemed like light crowds. A lot of school kids have gone back to class too. Time will tell how the crowds could ramp up in the coming days. We don’t know how many people Ikspiari will allow into the area they will limit the number of people if needed.

Social Distancing

Throughout the mall, there were markers on the grounds telling people where to stand and sit. I felt it was quite consistent and didn’t come off confusing. Since it wasn’t overly busy, it’s tough to tell how effective these are. Time will tell. Employees in many places had either vinyl curtains or plastic walls to keep a barrier between themselves and guests.

Even in the men’s washroom there were markers tell you where to stand if there was a queue. Along with every second sink and urinal being blocked off to keep that social distance. I didn’t take photos in the washrooms for obvious reasons.

Hand Sanitizers Everywhere

Each store asks you to sanitize your hands as you enter. There are hand sanitizers with foot pedals around Ikspiari as well, which I thought was a nice touch (pun intended).

Some of the hand sanitizers have foot pedals so you don’t have to touch the bottle. pic.twitter.com/WkD0OwUMNQ

— Chris Explorer (@tdrexplorer) June 1, 2020

While we don’t know how the Parks are going to handle their reopenings exactly, this gives us a glimpse into the methods and signage that could be used. Everyone was wearing masks, including myself, but that’s expected since mask-wearing is a common practice in Japan.