Shanghai gets ‘distinctly Chinese’ $5.5B Disneyland
Among the first group of visitors, Shanghai resident Wan Wenqiang visited the theme park together with her mother and seven-year-old son.
Walt Disney Co.’s $5.5-billion Shanghai theme park-its first in mainland China-opened with fireworks, a dancing Mickey Mouse, dignitaries and messages of support from two of the most powerful presidents in the world. It features six themed areas with a mix of lands and attractions that are staples of other Disney parks as well as new ones in Shanghai.
Disney owns 43 percent of the $5.5 billion dollar resort, with the majority stake held by its Chinese state-owned partner, the Shanghai Shendi Group, The New York Times reported.
The Walt Disney Company has opened the gates to its first theme park in the Chinese mainland.
Xinhua contributed to the story.
“I am very excited”, said Lu Cunting, a local retiree who said he has been coming to take a look at the park’s progress most evenings.
“We wanted to make a strong statement. whatever we built here had to be significant enough to have real impact”, Iger commented, who is now in Shanghai for the opening.
Despite the sometimes uneasy blending of cultures, many Chinese citizens are eager to see what the arrival of Disney has to offer.
A woman from Shanghai’s suburban Jinshan District said she had waited for at least an hour at the entrance to go through the security check, but found she had to join another queue to get the ticket she’d booked online and then waited at another entrance with her ticket in hand.
Robert Iger, the Disney Chief Executive Officer, read another letter at the ceremony which was sent by US President, Barack Obama.
To reduce the U.S. feel, Main Street has also been replaced by Mickey Avenue while attractions include a Wandering Moon Tea House, a Chinese Zodiac-themed garden and a Tarzan musical featuring Chinese acrobats.
It’s now the sixth Magic Kingdom in the world, joining parks in Florida, California, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
An arched doorway with the address 33 and flanked by painted trees apparently is one entry to the exclusive club, located just west of Mickey Avenue and facing the Enchanted Storybook Castle and Gardens of Imagination.
Shanghai represents a market of 300 million people living within three hours of the park by vehicle or train in one of China’s most affluent regions.
“We should recognize that we are invited guests in China”.
The park itself covers nearly 1000 acres and cost around 4 billion pounds (5.5 billion dollars) to make. The Walt Disney Grand Theatre, also in Disneytown, is now playing the Mandarin premiere of Disney’s hit musical, THE LION KING, a separately ticketed event.
A BBC Shanghai correspondent had difficulty gaining an interview with Iger and Disney about the opening.
“Some people with average incomes may find Disney too expensive”, Professor He Jianmin of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics said, adding that Disney needs to attract people with higher earnings living in the country’s booming eastern region.”The Shanghai park has the potential to become one of the world’s most profitable Disney parks”, he said.