Deal on Shanghai Disneyland may come by year's end

[crazy4wdw]

Disneyland in Shanghai

If Cabinet nod is given, theme park could open its doors in four years
By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief

Shanghai is reportedly clearing a 6 sq km area near Pudong International Airport, a site four times the size of the Hong Kong Disneyland.

BEIJING - AFTER two decades of on-off flirtation, Disneyland and mainland China could finally be tying the knot later this year. Sources told The Straits Times that the theme park has never been closer to calling Shanghai home than now, and China's Mickey Mouse fans can look forward to a 2013 opening.

The deal is believed to have been given the green light in June by the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planning agency of the Chinese government.

Hints of an impending deal grew stronger in July when Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng said the city's biggest priority this year is to tie down 'big tourism projects'.

Local media cited officials as saying last week that he was referring specifically to Disneyland.

The Shanghai government and Walt Disney Co have reached an agreement on the major issues, said Mr Liu Zhengyi, a deputy chief of the city's Pudong district, where the theme park is slated to be built.

All that is missing now is the approval of the State Council or Cabinet, he added at a press conference.

'Everything is in place except the East Wind,' said Shanghai-based analyst Zhu Lianqing, who has been tracking the Disney saga. He was using a famous Chinese saying which means that a move is imminent, but for one final missing ingredient.

Still, until a formal announcement has been made by the authorities, no one can be certain that this seemingly never-ending saga will have a happy ending.

The courtship of Disney started as early as 1990, when former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was the party secretary of Shanghai. But talks crumbled over cultural differences, with the post-Tiananmen Chinese government fearful of Western influences.

Murmurs of a Shanghai Disneyland spiked earlier this year when Disney released a statement confirming its plans for a US$3.59 billion (S$5.2 billion) Shanghai park. It is believed that Disney would take a 43 per cent stake in the Shanghai Disneyland, while a joint-venture holding company owned by the local government would own the rest.

 

[randomDisneyFan3000]

D23. That's when this is announced.

 

[Condorman]

I agree.

D23 should bring announcements for Shanghai, the MK Fantasyland Refurb, Star Tours 2.0, and, fingers crossed, the possible redo of Camp Minnie-Mickey into Beastlie Kingdomme (though I think that one is a longshot).