Exciting Details Revealed via Beijing Review!!

[RandySavage]

Mickey Finds a New Home -- Beijing Review

Alright, maybe not that exciting, but five lands, lots of water and the biggest park (I know we've heard both sides of that coin before). There are also several points where "park" & "resort" are used interchangeably (as constantly happens in the Chinese media), so keep that in mind.

November 25th, 2010

Most interest parts:



"The whole project, which is to cover 1.16 square km, will be the largest Disneyland in the world, said He Jianmin, Director of the Tourism Department of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, which participated in the appraisal of the project.


The construction will be divided into three phases. The first phase, including a nearly 1-square-km theme park area (1sqkm=250 acres), is to involve an investment about 25 billion yuan ($3.68 billion) and is planned for completion around 2014. After it opens, the number of tourists is expected to add up to 10 million every year, while the total tourists visiting the whole park will be 30 million annually, He said.


Water will be one of the main features of the first phase of the Shanghai Disneyland. A 0.39-square-km lake will be built in the first phase, which will take up a sizeable proportion of the entire park. It will be used as a base for water recreation activities and transportation.


In the northeast of the lake, a 7,000-square-meter artificial island will be built. On the north side of the lake are spaces for the construction of a public transportation hub, entertainment facilities and hotels. A river which will surround the park has been under construction since October. As a whole, the park will present to tourists an impression of a water world.


The section to be built in the first phase will focus on the theme of a magic kingdom. It will include five different theme areas.


A 20-square-km Shanghai International Tourism Resort will be built to surround the theme park. A joint venture set up in August by Disney and the SSG will be in charge of operating the Shanghai theme park.


A special Disneyland subway line is to be built to link the fun park with the urban area of Shanghai.

***

EDIT: False model pic removed

[Dagobert]

Is Tim Delaney working for WDI again? I thought I read somewhere that he left Disney.

Is there an unthemed steel coaster in the middle of the model? Hopefully not!
It would be great if he is involved. DLP's Discoveryland looked so great before it was invaded by Pixar.

[RandySavage]

^ He did get fired, but the Space Mountain art is from a few years ago and labeled 'Project Bueno" which was a code for Shanghai DL. Concepts for the park have been in development for years.

There is the possibility Delaney is or will be among the former-imagineers-now-3rd-party-vendors that resort executive Al Weiss brings in.

That naked coaster is one of the reasons I'm not sure whether that model is really a Shanghai Disneyland model, but similar things have been proposed at WDI - with themed support pylons.

[Dagobert]

The park in the model seems to be themed around various cities around the world. I think I can see the Sydney opera house on the right side of the model. The red bridge could be the Golden Gate bridge in SF.

Thanks for the info about Tim Delaney. It's a shame he got fired. He definately created some great attractions for Disney. Hopefully he will be part of the project.

[Incrediboy]

The lagoon in the middle of the resort reminds me of the 2006 park concept:



This is very exciting! What does it mean for it to be the largest park in the world? I'm not sure if that tiny picture is showing the park itself or the whole Disney resort.

[Omegadiz]

Ok im a bit confused. Is the park getting something similar to Seven Seas Lagoon or is this body of water actually gonna be in the park? And in the article it said something about the Shanghai International Tourism resort was going to be 20sqkm----Thats 20x the size of the park! That cant be right. I also am curious about that lake surrounding the park, Is it gonna be like HKDLs berm of trees, or tha the lake gonna be in a spot were the park cant expand?

[Spacemtuk]

Judging by the blurry concept art we have seen I am thinking the body of water is almost like the Seven Seas lagoon at WDW....around the lake will be a Magic Kingdom style park, hotels and what sounds like a downtown disney area. The MK park also looks like it has quite a large body of water infront of the castle/hub area so who knows what they have planned....if you look on Tim Delaneys site there is a sketchy piece of art that actually looks like the lagoon area as you approach the MK park...the drawing is actually called "Resort Lagoon".....if you look at this then at the aerial view concept art we have seen it does kinda match up

[TimmyTimmyTimmy]

With all the water they should call it Shanghai DisneySEA.

[Incrediboy]

If you look at the model picture, you can see a piece of artwork of a volcano, not unlike the one in TDS, in the backround behind the model. JTTCOE anyone?... Unfortunately, I also interpret the picture next to the volcano as people riding an open coaster.

[CaptainEO,ATIS]

^ Good find. If it's Journey in roller coaster form this will be interesting, although I don't really like the sound of that so far. It wouldn't give you enough time you admirer the details put in to the attraction.

[theeighthpassenger]

It looks like this park might finally reinvent the Magic Kingdom judging from that dome that could be a version of Space Mountain and that concept art with the lake and lands around it.

[Incrediboy]

It looks like this park might finally reinvent the Magic Kingdom judging from that dome that could be a version of Space Mountain and that concept art with the lake and lands around it.

i love everything about this model except for what appears to be an open steel coaster. Also I don't see any other mountains in this park besides the "Space Mtn?" and the volcano in the artwork behind the model.

[yoyoflamingo]

Looks like it could be a visually stunning park, but I think I will hold off judgment until it's built. I REALLY hope Iger doesn't want to build another park on the cheap.

[LongIslandGuy]

I am pretty sure that that picture of a model is not a disney park. I believe it is a proposed park for another place from one of the recent attractions conventions or something like that. If i recall correctly there was an image form it with a swings ride inside of an apple, and a lot of of stolen disney concepts... many of them not the finest...

[RandySavage]

^ I think you're right (that the model was erroneously labeled Shanghai DL). Landmarks like the Sydney Opera House and Golden Gate Bridge seem to be staple placeholders for Dubailand/generic Chinese-style theme park models, not Disney ones.