After being closed for more than a year, the happiest place on earth is welcoming visitors once again.

On Friday at 8 AM local time, California’s Disneyland reopened with a limited capacity and a string of new safety measures to help protect guests and staff.

The theme park in Anaheim, California closed back in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For now, only local California residents are permitted to visit the park, due to current regulatory requirements.

“Until further clarification from the state, only California residents are allowed to visit the Disneyland Resort theme parks, in groups no larger than three per household”

Disneyland press statement

Additional health and safety measures are also in place, including the use of masks, cashless transactions and capacity limitations at attractions.

After a 13-month closure, fans were literally left in tears when Mickey opened the gates with Walt Disney Company Executive Chairman, Bob Iger.

The closure of the parks over the course of the pandemic has also led to mass redundancies – with the company letting go of more than 32,000 employees worldwide.

Disneyland’s unions have pushed California Governor Gavin Newsom to reopen the parks as COVID-19 cases continue to drop throughout the United States.