In Reversal, Shanghai Disneyland to Allow Outside Food -- 2nd Update

Walt Disney Co. will allow visitors to Shanghai Disneyland to bring their own food inside the theme park, in a reversal that follows a public outcry over perceived discrimination against Chinese customers.

The theme park will adjust its food policy to allow visitors to bring their own food "provided they are not in containers with reheating capabilities, do not require preparation, and are for self-consumption," the Shanghai Disney Resort complex, which includes Shanghai Disneyland, said in a statement. Visitors could bring bottled beverages into the park.

The policy shift comes after a Chinese law student sued Disney in March over the entertainment giant's ban on outside food at the Shanghai theme park.

Last month, Shanghai Disneyland apologized for the "inconvenience caused to tourists" and said it was listening to suggestions. "For our visitors, security is not a fun thing, and it is the same for us," it said through its account on Chinese social-media service WeChat.

Chinese state media investigated the practice last month, decrying it as a double standard since Disney allows visitors to bring food inside its U.S. and European theme parks. The student's legal campaign then went viral on Chinese social-media websites, and was the subject of a recent Wall Street Journal front-page story.

The backlash against Disney comes as China and the U.S. spar over trade, and as Chinese consumers boycott other Western brands, from Versace to Apple, over their perceived disrespect of China's territorial integrity.

Bingyan Wang

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 06, 2019 09:33 ET (13:33 GMT)

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