“This is one of the proudest and most exciting moments in the history of the Walt Disney Co.”, Iger said after the choir sang.
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“I would like to call this a rain of US dollars or of renminbi”, Said Wang Yang, Vice Premier of People’s Republic of China.
“All of their films are handsome”, said Wang Yilin, another early arrival.
The crowds consisted of thousands of eager people ready to experience Shanghai Disneyland for the first time.
It’s one of Disney’s biggest projects to date, with grounds that span almost a thousand acres.
The rain, which drizzled for most of the day, broke into a tropical downpour around 4 p.m.
Teng said that this growing demand for recreational services and products gives business establishments such as the Shanghai Disneyland Resort a good head start.
Besides the weather, the China opening was dampened by the death of toddler who was dragged under water by an alligator at a Disney World resort in Florida. Disney hopes to lure China’s emerging middle class to make the latest theme park a big success, reports Market Watch. Several celebrities attended the event while messages from both Xi Jinping and Barack Obama were also presented. “This is chaos. I know something like this would never happen at Tokyo Disney Resort, as their management is very well organized”, she added. But with rain falling with increasing intensity as the afternoon wore on, there seemed to be more traffic heading away from the park than to it; Baidu’s online map service sent out an alert saying roads leaving the resort area were clogged around 5 p.m.
Chinese officials approved all the park’s rides and encouraged the park to be designed with Chinese visitors of all ages in mind, according to The New York Times, taking into account China’s longtime one-child policy. The new park will feature six themed lands: Mickey Avenue (their version of Main Street USA), Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Adventure Isle, Treasure Cove, and Tomorrowland.
“If they have run a test operation for weeks, why couldn’t they predict problems like this would happen?” complained Wang Li Juan, a 52-year-old retiree who came from Jiangsu province.
The almost 500-acre park is expanding to include a new Scandinavian-themed area for DisneySea with attractions based on the hit movie “Frozen”.
Though well attended, Disney’s worldwide parks in Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo haven’t made a profit in six of the past 10 years, Drexel Hamilton analyst Tony Wible told the Associated Press.
Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 and has been faulted for a lack of big ticket attractions and small size, at less than 300 acres.
“The technology was so advanced”.
“It was totally worth it”, said Yang with a smile.
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The wait for most rides was under an hour. In recent days, engineers were racing to finish an elaborate white-water raft ride, and Soaring Over the Horizon, a flight simulator that whisks riders to world monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, was having some technical difficulties resulting in four-hour lines at one point. Since he’s due to retire in 2018, many Disney watchers say it will be his crowning glory, and the legacy likely to linger longest once he departs.
