By BHIT YOON, Rafu Digital Team
Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park has an unusual request for their park-goers this summer, “Please scream inside your heart” rather than scream out loud. This campaign is part of their strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amidst their reopening.
The park included a promotional video of their Fujiyama roller coaster in which two stoic men ride the coaster in complete silence. In the video, the rider seated on the right is seen adjusting his Abe mask in order to cover his nose multiple times.
Fuji-Q Highland is one of many theme parks across Japan reopening after closures due to COVID-19. Tokyo Disneysea reopened earlier this month with new guidelines as well with an emphasis on social distancing.
開園まであと20分の東京ディズニーシー。
ゲストが増えてきています。
皆さんたくさん笑顔になってください#TDR_now #TDS_now pic.twitter.com/ZsvZvx4rMw— 東京ディズニーリゾート好き (@disneypoohduffy) July 10, 2020
With just over 20,000 confirmed cases and 982 recorded deaths due to COVID-19, Japan has had relative success compared to other countries.
Meanwhile, The United States has become the global leader of COVID-19 infections with over 3 million confirmed cases and 137,000 deaths. However, these numbers have not deterred some U.S. theme parks from reopening.
Disney reopened their famous Downtown Disney on July 9 as a part of their phased reopening with new safety guidelines. Temperature checks, physical barriers, and social distancing reminders did not seem to discourage visitors from crowding stores to capacity. California has over 328,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,042 deaths.
It’s crazy at The World of Disney store in Downtown Disney. ????
(???? by @jennydisneydreams on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/PWQxT1VIhE
— Markell Bailey (@tenorbuds) July 9, 2020
Orlando’s Disneyworld reopened July 11 with limited capacity. Currently, Florida has over 270,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,241 deaths. Florida reported 15,299 new cases on July 12, breaking their previous record of 11,458 new cases over the 4th of July.