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[Willow]

I've just noticed the Associated Press are reporting that Disney have confirmed the project.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it was going to submit a plan to build a new theme park in China in a joint venture with the Shanghai government.

The family entertainment giant released a statement confirming its plans at about the same time as The Wall Street Journal released a story on its Web site that said Disney was working with Shanghai to build a $3.59 billion park to open as early as 2014.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment on the Journal story.

"Discussions have been ongoing about the feasibility of a theme park project in China," said Leslie Goodman, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, in the statement.

"As part of this lengthy process, we worked on a joint application report with the Shanghai government which will be submitted to the central government for review. No deal has been signed, no project has been approved."

Disney shares were down 35 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $22.55 in Friday afternoon trade.

The Journal said Disney planned to take a 43 percent stake in Shanghai Disneyland, while a holding company owned by the local government would own 57 percent, citing unnamed sources.

The first phase of the project, on about 1.5 square kilometers near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, would include a theme park, plus a hotel and shopping development and would be built over six years, the paper said.

[RnRCj]

Another Disney resort?

I think there's too many already. The only Disney resorts that should ever had existed are DLR, TDL, and DLRP in my opinion.

Why can't they improve what they've already got before starting over?  It's as if they're bored with the other resorts and want to do something else.

Anyhow, since this looks like it's confirmed, I hope it all goes well and produces a park as good as DLP was at opening.

[experiment627]

Another Disney resort?

I think there's too many already. The only Disney resorts that should ever had existed are DLR, TDL, and DLRP in my opinion.

Why only these three locations and not the other two (soon three)?

[experiment627]

According to leemac on the LaughingPlace boards, the new Shanghai resort should be operational by September, 2014.

[RnRCj]

Another Disney resort?

I think there's too many already. The only Disney resorts that should ever had existed are DLR, TDL, and DLRP in my opinion.

Why only these three locations and not the other two (soon three)?

In my opinion WDW is too close to DLR, and HKDL is too close to TDL. Then putting Shanghai Disneyland pretty much right in between TDL and HKDL, it's just crazy. :roll:

DLR for people of North and South America, DLRP for people of Europe, and TDL for people of Asia and Australia... that's how I think it should be. Too many Disney resorts will make them lose some of the magic.

That's what I think anyway. :wink:

[experiment627]

Another Disney resort?

I think there's too many already. The only Disney resorts that should ever had existed are DLR, TDL, and DLRP in my opinion.

Why only these three locations and not the other two (soon three)?

In my opinion WDW is too close to DLR, and HKDL is too close to TDL. Then putting Shanghai Disneyland pretty much right in between TDL and HKDL, it's just crazy. :roll:

Well, how about looking at it from this point of view: one Disney resort for half a billion people in Europe, two for 1 billion people in China. Sounds fair to me.

As someone who grew up in the 80's when Disney was so far, far away I'm thrilled for all those children, young and old, who might have never experienced Disney magic if it wasn't for Disneyland Shanghai...

[Anthony]

I was probably as against this as any fan when it was first rumoured, but now I've got to admit it makes sense. It's the WDW to Hong Kong's Disneyland. Hong Kong and its surroundings can probably support a Disneyland all of its own whilst everyone else will be drawn to the larger resort. The only problem perhaps being that they're simply going to have opened too close (time-wise) to each other. And that in the US, the model works because DLR has the magic of its history. HKDL doesn't have that, even if it has the same miniature castle.

If they open Shanghai too soon, Hong Kong might struggle. If they wait too long, they might miss the boom.

Why can't they improve what they've already got before starting over?  It's as if they're bored with the other resorts and want to do something else.

Well you know, with the billion-dollar DCA expansion, several attractions at WDW, Monsters Inc and more at TDR, possibly 3 new lands at HKDL and possibly Toy Story Playland, Ratatouille, The Little Mermaid, hotel and Disney Village expansion at DLRP, I don't think they're bored.

In fact, a whole new resort (especially one they're aiming to be WDW-esque) is probably a brilliant opportunity to try out a whole load of new ideas, themes, attractions and technologies which will then filter back to the old resorts.

[Hathaway Browne]

If they open Shanghai too soon, Hong Kong might struggle. If they wait too long, they might miss the boom.

Agreed, too long and the ship has sailed. However I think that, thankfully, they've now passed the "too soon" barrier for Hong Kong. If Shanghai does open in 2014, then Hong Kong will be 9, so it should be further down the line of being more established by then.

[Kristof]

Jim Hill Media hints today how changed SDL will look & feel compared to the other existing parks...

proposed theme park, hotel & shopping center

this all-new version of the Magic Kingdom will be the largest ever (in sheer land size, anyway). More importantly, that the park itself will feature several noticable departures from the look & layout that one normally associates with a Disneyland-type theme park

You want a hint of what Shanghai Disneyland will look like? Well ... Though these plans will most likely change in the coming months, Main Street U.S.A., Tomorrowland and Frontierland are the parts of this proposed theme park that will most likely be reimagined. Taking into consideration The Walt Disney Company's main objective for this mainland China project (i.e. get the country's 290 million consumers under the age of 14 to really connect with the Disney / Pixar characters), you should expect SDL to have a far toonier take on America's past & future.

Source

[Pete's Dragon]

Suppose it makes sense in a way. Main St USA will probably end up as Tiananmen Square or something to that affect :?  Hopefully they find a nice balance between the 2

[Parkfisch]

Another Disney resort?

I think there's too many already. The only Disney resorts that should ever had existed are DLR, TDL, and DLRP in my opinion.

Why only these three locations and not the other two (soon three)?

In my opinion WDW is too close to DLR

But it's the only Disney World and due to its size and number of attractions (including water parks) it's unique to the world. Disneyland and Walt Disney World were both planned by the master Walt Disney, so it's ok that there are 2  Resorts in America. And the company is from the USA, so there should be the largest Resort.

But I agree with the rest although I write it a little different:
There should have only been built one Disney Resort per continent outside of America.
Tokyo, Paris, anywhere in Australia and maybe someday in Capetown.

All that's going on in Asia now is making Disney less unique (like Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe or Rainforest Cafe) and even the quality of the rides doesn't reach the high standards from the "western world". And there are not many rides in Hong Kong Disneyland.

Generelly I think Disney shouldn't build Resorts in countries that cannot really be compared with democrazies. At least Hong Kong is a liberal corner in China.

[Quark]

Hm. "Democracy" is an interesting term as well - how about Universal Studios Singapore? Is that still acceptable? Or is Singapore already too much of a one-party democracy?

In any case, suggesting to build a Disney resort in Australia or South Africa is quite esoteric, I'm afraid. They're struggling to attract the numbers in Hong Kong, and it's only slowly getting better in Paris. Shanghai is a bit of a gamble because of the potentially unstable economic and political situation in China, but at least there's a huge number of potential visitors. I can't think of any potential region with a similar amount of footfall that Disney hasn't already exploited.

[luke85]

I think that as a company, they should focus on getting HKDL up to scratch before planning more Asian parks, but that's just my opinion. There's so much that needs to be done to HKDL to make it a decent park, I feel like it still needs to earn its "Disneyland" name. I've not been, and would love to go one day, but would not consider going until more has been done there to make it worth my while (& money!).

[CentralPlazaPerson]

What about a park for the continent of Africa? TDL and HKDL for Asia and Oceania, DLRP for Europe and DLR and WDW for North and South America.
No one is mentioning and are forgetting African fans of Disney. I suggest South Africa or possibly Egypt (no excuse for no Splash Mountain because of bad weather :wink:)

I also found this, supposedly the plans for Shanghai. This is probably not true.

[Kristof]

I also found this, supposedly the plans for Shanghai. This is probably not true. http://usathemeparks.files.wordpress.co ... disney.jpg

Here's the link where CentralPlazaPerson found that photo:

http://usathemeparks.wordpress.com/2009 ... hai-china/

It's probably some Dubai project