Disney Theme Park approved in Shanghai

[DVCinderella]

Just saw this on the wires at work...

Shanghai government approves new Disney Theme Park. Shanghai's formal approval allows due diligence, planning to proceed. Shanghai Disney Park would be sixth park location.

 

[JohnnyB2]

Hi Just saw the news about the new park this morning, I would guess any hope of a new theme park at DW is not in the near future

 

[scot@dvcstore]

I also saw the news. Lots of potential $$$$ in the untapped Chinese market. Wonder if any Disney Vacation resorts are in the plans?

 

[danceintherain]

That's odd to me, because apparently the Hong Kong location has really low attendance.

 

[kmk1180]

I agree kind of odd.
I mean they already have Tokyo Disney,Disney Sea and Hong Kong Disney.
Another almost seems like overload for the area.

You would think they would expand to other areas

But then again, Orlando has 4 all it's own.

 

[ogreenlee]

They should sell the property in Hong Kong, and move all the rides over to the one in Shanghai and just start over.

 

[ogreenlee]

Oh, and like I said in this thread under the Communities Board.

Wouldn't it make sense to build one in Brazil? wink wink nudge nudge

 

[bavaria]

The vast majority of Chinese are not going to travel to HK (or Shanghai for that matter)

Shanghai has about 21 million population for day trips and millions more within a few hours radius. This is 'old' news and was just given the final 'green light' of approval; many local people have been talking about it for years and Disney runs an 'American English' school in Shanghai.

The site is well situated for foreign visitors as well, and Shanghai is a very 'easy' city for amateur travellers; too easy in fact for my tastes as it is too westernized and too German for my taste.

 

[jamie@dvcstore]

Hi DVCinderella,
Thank you for the information and this is very interesting news. Just one more park for me to visit!!

Thanks again.
________
WELLBUTRIN SETTLEMENT INFO

 

[ntikos]

I agree kind of odd.
I mean they already have Tokyo Disney,Disney Sea and Hong Kong Disney.
Another almost seems like overload for the area.

You would think they would expand to other areas

But then again, Orlando has 4 all it's own.

There are 1billion people in China.

 

[danceintherain]

Oh, and like I said in this thread under the Communities Board.

Wouldn't it make sense to build one in Brazil? wink wink nudge nudge

That would make a little more sense to me, but I guess Disney knows what they're doing.

It doesn't look like it will be open until 2014 though, which will be after I move back from Korea, but I think I'll have my hands full with making it to the Tokyo and Hong Kong Parks anyways.

 

[POB14]

That's odd to me, because apparently the Hong Kong location has really low attendance.

4,500,000 in 2008 according to this report, making it the #18 theme park worldwide, #7 in Asia (#3 outside of Japan); about the same as Universal Studios Hollywood. I don't think I'd call that "really low".

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this over to our global neighborhood board.

 

[disney_princess_85]

4,500,000 in 2008 according to this report, making it the #18 theme park worldwide, #7 in Asia (#3 outside of Japan); about the same as Universal Studios Hollywood. I don't think I'd call that "really low".

Agreed. Considering it's such a new resort, that's really not bad at all. I must say I'm a little concerned about HKDL's future though, with the Shanghai resort being built. I hope they don't abandon plans to expand.

 

[ChrisFL]

Wow, a lot of ignorant comments here. Anyone who knows about the layout of China, it's population and it's relation to Hong Kong knows that this isn't comparable to HKDL at all.

HKDL didn't have a lot of attendance because there hasn't been much there, luckily that is changing and attendance is increasing gradually. With 3 new lands it will be getting much more attendance.

Besides, Disney would never admit defeat and close a park down, it will never, ever happen.

The idea that Disney shouldn't build in Shanghai because of Hong Kong is almost like saying Disney shouldn't have built in Orlando because of Anaheim...and it's much, much more spread apart culturally than that, they don't even speak the same language in Shanghai (they speak Mandarin there, while in Hong Kong, people speak Cantonese).

I don't believe a lot of Chinese even travel to Tokyo Disneyland. I read a statistic that over 90% of Tokyo Disneyland's guests are Japanese. Amazing when you consider how small Japan is and the fact that they're constantly showing numbers that rival the WDW parks in attendance.

Now that I've said that, Disney has it's biggest challenge with building a park in Shanghai. Every other park they've built has had a long western influence and is quite familiar with the western fairy tales, etc. I don't believe this is the case with Shanghai.

This means they will probably be making the park a large departure from what we've seen from the other DL parks, if not, I think Disney might be a difficult sell.

HOPEFULLY they've learned finally from the disasters of DCA, HKDL and Disney Studios Paris

 

[bavaria]

Thank you for voicing my thoughts - I was trying to be politically correct but I too was rather stunned. I said that the vast majority of Chinese won't make it to HKDL or even HK. Even those young Chinese who have told me that they would like to know that it is rarely going to happen for them.

HKDL visitors from China tend to be wealthy, or expats, or 'foreign' visitors. There are some bus tours from China, but due to the cost and requirements it is simply not feasible for most. They also have a lot of day visits from the local area.

Having said that, I do hope that Disney continues to build on the cultural respect they are trying to show at HKDL. The park is built to local tastes, and reflects local customs, rather than only American ones. A big reason why Disney first failed in Europe is because they marched in and expected us all to adapt our tastes and customs. They have learned over the years to respect their workers and their guests, but it took quite some time to do so. I suspect the reason why so many posters here make negative comments about the non-American parks is that they are expecting American things, and don't understand that Disney has had to adapt to local cultures and tastes.

Unfortunately I have lost a little faith in Disney based on the ABD affair, and I don't like the way that they market their English language schools in Shanghai as I find it slightly offensive to those of us who don't speak the apparently only correct form of 'American' English (which means the vast majority of English speakers in Shanghai are speaking English 'incorrectly')

Hopefully they will focus on what has worked for them around the world, and will continue to be culturally sensitive.

 

[steve76]

Agreed. Considering it's such a new resort, that's really not bad at all. I must say I'm a little concerned about HKDL's future though, with the Shangai resort being built. I hope they don't abandon plans to expand.

Other websites are reporting that HKDL are actually bringing their expansion plans forward in response to Shanghai Disneyland.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Other websites are reporting that HKDL are actually bringing their expansion plans forward in response to Shanghai Disneyland.

Well that is good news.

 

[queenie82]

Wow, a lot of ignorant comments here. Anyone who knows about the layout of China, it's population and it's relation to Hong Kong knows that this isn't comparable to HKDL at all.

HKDL didn't have a lot of attendance because there hasn't been much there, luckily that is changing and attendance is increasing gradually. With 3 new lands it will be getting much more attendance.

Besides, Disney would never admit defeat and close a park down, it will never, ever happen.

The idea that Disney shouldn't build in Shanghai because of Hong Kong is almost like saying Disney shouldn't have built in Orlando because of Anaheim...and it's much, much more spread apart culturally than that, they don't even speak the same language in Shanghai (they speak Mandarin there, while in Hong Kong, people speak Cantonese).

I don't believe a lot of Chinese even travel to Tokyo Disneyland. I read a statistic that over 90% of Tokyo Disneyland's guests are Japanese. Amazing when you consider how small Japan is and the fact that they're constantly showing numbers that rival the WDW parks in attendance.

Now that I've said that, Disney has it's biggest challenge with building a park in Shanghai. Every other park they've built has had a long western influence and is quite familiar with the western fairy tales, etc. I don't believe this is the case with Shanghai.

This means they will probably be making the park a large departure from what we've seen from the other DL parks, if not, I think Disney might be a difficult sell.

HOPEFULLY they've learned finally from the disasters of DCA, HKDL and Disney Studios Paris

Well said.
Reading the first bunch of posts I was thinking...huh

Shanghai and Hong Kong are different in SO many ways. Culturally it is significantly different. Yes it is all China NOW...but 90? years of British rule in HK made it a very different place.
I have a friend from Mainland China and her mother will NOT go to Hong Kong. So to think that Shanghai and surrounds would just go there is very incorrect.
And as to Tokyo. No...MOST Chinese won't travel to the Tokyo park. Proximity does not determine where you go.

A co worker from Shanghai also has MOST of his family back in Shanghai and so we have learned quite a bit about it there and a significant factor is that they only get VERY few days off from work so if they can get to a Disney park close by they will go there...and I suspect it will be very well attended.

It is correct that most of Tokyo's visitors are the Japanese (I saw maybe 1 or 2 western families over the 5 days). But they are starting to try and attract more and more westerners. NEVER have they advertised directly to the Australian tourist until this year.
The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel also finally has rooms that cater for more than 2...as in FAMILIES. There is a range of room types.

As to Paris...the studios are fantastic now

 

[bavaria]

I suspect that most of the initial responders have not been to China, or HK, or Paris, or Tokyo. Even within China there are such broad ranges of cultures and differences in income levels and outlook.

The fact that they have not travelled to those areas however does not make me feel better about the responses, although I must remember that this website is still very American-focussed and we outsiders are few and far between.

Disney has also started to focus on the Indian market, where theme parks are on the rise.