In a rain-dampened ceremony attended by Chinese dignitaries, the Walt Disney Company yesterday opened its US$5.5 billion (S$7.4 billion) Shanghai Disney Resort, a theme park and hotel complex that represents a hard-fought victory in China for the singularly American entertainment conglomerate. Disney says the park’s Wandering Moon Teahouse, modeled on a building in eastern China, is the only Chinese-style structure in any of its parks.
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“Both of them benefit from the under-investment the country has made in these entertainment venues”, said Richard Huang, who analyzes China’s entertainment industry for Nomura investment bank.
Shendi is a consortium controlled by four large government-owned companies: Shanghai Media Group; hotelier Jin Jiang International, controlled by the city of Shanghai; supermarket-to-department store operator Bailian Group, and property developer Lujiazui Development Group.
YouGov, a market research firm, said 44 per cent of people it surveyed in China in May said they plan to visit Shanghai Disneyland within the next 12 months.
Anxious about overcrowding, particularly around the theme park’s entrance, Disney DIS, -0.13% cautiously allowed access to the first ticket holders only after the morning ceremonies were completed.
(For more information on Disney and everything the company owns, read “Your Complete Guide to All the Things Owned By Disney”). That estiamte is more than twice the vistor number for Disney’s flagship amusement park in Orlando, Florida.
People walk at Shanghai Disney Resort during a three-day Grand Opening event in Shanghai, China, June 15, 2016.
Some of the quirkier aspects of the park include a turkey leg station which is serving the meat, rarely eaten in China, to adventurous Disney fans.
“The Shanghai resort shows the confidence of the global business community in China’s economic potential”, said Wang, one of the four vice premiers in the country’s State Council, in a speech as a drizzle fell during the ceremony. Live shows such as Disney’s “Lion King” musical must be approved by Chinese censors.
Shanghai Disney’s opening went off without a hitch.
“I brought my daughter here because she loves Mickey”, said Ms Zhang Yan, 28, who came on opening day with her seven-year-old daughter.
“Doesn’t look like China to me at all”. However, Frontierland will not be included because the park wishes to avoid any accusations of cultural imperialism. That’s 330 million people who it deems can afford the entrance fee, which varies from $56 at off peak times to $76 at the weekends.
The Disney Shanghai experience is distinctly Chinese.
“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. Analysts suggest that it has the potential to become the world’s most visited theme park. Its enchanted castle is Disney’s largest and tallest.
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However, unlike other businesses, some of Disney’s theme park competitors are bent on forcing them to leave the country by making the tourist destination unprofitable.
