Shanghai Disneyland is a go!

[sir clinksalot]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/bu...y.html?_r=2&hp

LOS ANGELES — After a courtship of about 20 years, the Walt Disney Company has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said Tuesday.

The agreement for a Shanghai Disneyland is a landmark deal that carries enormous cultural and financial implications. Analysts estimate the initial park — not including hotels and resort infrastructure — will cost $3.5 billion, making it one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China.
The initial resort, with a mix of shopping areas, hotels and a Magic Kingdom-style theme park, will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district — with the theme park occupying about 100 of those acres. It would be a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo. It is expected to open in five or six years.

No concept art is available yet.

ADMIN NOTE: MiceChat now has a Shanghai Disneyland Forum! For lots of news and discussion about Shanghai Disneyland, please visit the Shanghai Disneyland Discussion Forums

[winder*wonder]

i can see so many problems that can arouse during this....poltically speaking ofcourse..

[Dustysage]

Originally Posted by winder*wonder

i can see so many problems that can arouse during this....poltically speaking ofcourse..

I guess we all knew that Mickey was a secret Communist.

[Barbossa]

I wonder how many locals will afford to go this park. Probably not many.

That's 3 parks in Asia now. So when can we expect Disneyland: Canada built in BC?

[Jgooss]

I can't think of a better ambassador for capitalism and freedom than disney. Looking forward to another beautiful park to visit.

[yoyoflamingo]

From the rumors about how much they are trying to add a different identity to this park, it will be interesting to see what the concept art finally looks like.

[Dustysage]

Originally Posted by Barbossa

I wonder how many locals will afford to go this park. Probably not many.

That probably isn't going to be a problem. There are PLENTY of really wealthy people in and around Shanghai. Probably more potential park visitors live in that region than in the LA metro area.

The bigger issue is do they know Disney well enough to care about visiting the park?

Originally Posted by Jgooss

I can't think of a better ambassador for capitalism and freedom than disney.

I totally agree.

[netenyahoo]

I am excited to see the concept art too. I am sure it will be a heavily Pixar themed park. Wonder what the castle will look like. Can't really do the Anaheim castle as Hong Kong has it. I hope they don't do Cinderella's castle. Hopefully it will be something completely new and different. This park better open with lots of rides too.

[astrologic]

Originally Posted by Jgooss

I can't think of a better ambassador for capitalism and freedom than disney.

Definitely

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by Dustysage

That probably isn't going to be a problem. There are PLENTY of really wealthy people in and around Shanghai. Probably more potential park visitors live in that region than in the LA metro area.

The bigger issue is do they know Disney well enough to care about visiting the park?

You're correct. Shanghai is incredibly wealthy. The city is is where all the hip and trendy clubs are, major shopping venues, dining.... this city is like if New York mated with Las Vegas.

And if you want fast transportation, they have a Maglev that takes you from the airport to the city in less than 7 minutes (normally a 40 minute drive).


Shanghai Disneyland, at its worse will be a local driven park. But if built properly, can be a major tourist destination for all of China.



Americans have to understand that China isn't like the United States where we travel the world often. The people of China typically do not leave. They don't have that kind of money. Even with Tokyo and Hong Kong so close, it would be too expensive to travel to those parks. Shanghai Disneyland will basically make it that much easier for the people to see a Disney park in their lifetime. They'll take trains, busses, and maybe planes, but staying on Chinese soil will probably be more attractive to them than anything else.



I'm hoping that they really pull out the stops on this park, give it a unique castle, great attractions, and really make it unique and complete.

[Barbossa]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

I'm hoping that they really pull out the stops on this park, give it a unique castle, great attractions, and really make it unique and complete.

I'm hoping they design a uniqur castle too and don't pull a Hong Kong with a carbon-copy of Anaheim's. Anaheim's should've been exclusive to Anahaeim and not used anywhere else.

[OC2Epcot]

Originally Posted by Barbossa

I wonder how many locals will afford to go this park. Probably not many.

In general, many Chinese have a lot more in their bank accounts than Americans, and far less debt. I see the Shanghai park doing very well. At about 750 miles from Hong Kong, it will put the two parks at around a 90 min. airline flight apart. For a visitor wanting to see both parks, it makes it easy. For Hong Kong, I think it will hurt their attendance. I think they had planned for a certain number to come from the mainland. There are still a lot of people in southern China who will still be closer to Hong Kong, but I predict the Shanghai park will pass Hong Kong in annual attendance.

[adormouse]

It's exciting to know another Disneyland park is being built. With that being said I'm much too weary about visiting Shanghai for right now. Maybe in the future things will be different.

[astrologic]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

You're correct. Shanghai is incredibly wealthy. The city is is where all the hip and trendy clubs are, major shopping venues, dining.... this city is like if New York mated with Las Vegas.

And if you want fast transportation, they have a Maglev that takes you from the airport to the city in less than 7 minutes (normally a 40 minute drive).

Shanghai Disneyland, at its worse will be a local driven park. But if built properly, can be a major tourist destination for all of China.

Americans have to understand that China isn't like the United States where we travel the world often. The people of China typically do not leave. They don't have that kind of money. Even with Tokyo and Hong Kong so close, it would be too expensive to travel to those parks. Shanghai Disneyland will basically make it that much easier for the people to see a Disney park in their lifetime. They'll take trains, busses, and maybe planes, but staying on Chinese soil will probably be more attractive to them than anything else.

Thanks for this information!

[lighttragic]

Originally Posted by adormouse

It's exciting to know another Disneyland park is being built. With that being said I'm much too weary about visiting Shanghai for right now. Maybe in the future things will be different.

Why So Weary? Visiting Shanghai or china in general?