Disney to Open First Theme Park in Mainland China in June
January 12 2016 - 4:50PM
Dow Jones News
After more than a decade of planning and five years of
construction, Walt Disney Co. plans to open its first theme park in
mainland China on June 16, according to people close to the
project.
After initially setting a plan to launch it in 2015, Disney said
last year that the Shanghai Disney Resort would open in the first
half of 2016. The official date, on the tail end of that time
frame, represents not only the significant construction challenges
of a $5.5 billion, 963-acre theme park, hotel and entertainment
complex, but the political and cultural barriers of such a massive
project undertaken in partnership with a state-owned
consortium.
Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger previously said he hoped to
announce an opening date by the end of 2015—a goal that appears to
have slipped due to the political challenges of coordinating an
announcement with Chinese officials.
Major construction on attractions such as the company's biggest
princess castle, a land based on the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
movies, and a Toy Story hotel, is close to complete, one of the
people familiar with the plans said. The next several months are
expected to be spent largely on hiring and training employees,
testing systems and working on entertainment, including a
Mandarin-language version of "The Lion King" musical.
Disney has so far hired 2,000 of the 10,000 employees it will
need to operate its new resort.
About 8,000 people have been involved in construction.
Tickets aren't yet on sale and Disney hasn't announced prices
for the Shanghai Disneyland theme park.
For those hoping to attend in the opening days or months, Disney
is likely to sell tickets usable only on certain dates to manage
demand, as it has done when opening other theme parks.
In selecting the opening date, a Thursday, the company had a
number of cultural considerations, including holidays earlier in
the month, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and
local belief that the number four is unlucky.
Shanghai Disney is 57%-owned by a state-backed consortium,
Shanghai Shendi, and 43% by Walt Disney Co. Local partners are
responsible for construction and the accompanying infrastructure,
including a subway extension.
However, the media giant is 70% owner of the joint venture that
will operate the park, and its executives are largely overseeing
that process. Any problems at Shanghai Disneyland won't just affect
the theme park, but could hurt public perception of all of Walt
Disney Co.'s businesses in the world's second-largest economy.
In 2014, Mr. Iger announced an $800 million expansion of the
park beyond initial construction plans, which included a $4.7
billion budget.
Disney hasn't said what the capacity of Shanghai Disneyland will
be, but it is expected to be among the largest of the six parks
total that the company will have following the launch.
Some of the expansion will still be under construction on June
16, but all of the previously announced attractions, including a
Tron-themed roller coaster, a new Tomorrowland and a reimagining of
the Chinese zodiac with Disney characters, are expected to be open,
according to one of the people close to the project.
Disney has been looking to build a park in Shanghai since the
1990s. In 2002, it signed a letter of intent with the local
government with the goal of a 2008 opening. Construction finally
began in April of 2011.
Ben Fritz and Yang Jie
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2016 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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