Disney Park Approved in Shanghai

[Huggles]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8341570.stm


Wonder how this one will compare to HK's park. See they intend to have it open by 2014.

 

[greenpea89]

That's great! I only hope they learned their lesson with the HK park and will have more rides at the Shanghai park. Otherwise, we will probably just go when it opens and then skip it in favor of Tokyo (the way we typically skip HK and do TDL/TDS instead).

 

[AnnaS]

Just saw this on Good Morning America.

 

[lttlmc3]

I hope it has a lot more than HK. I hear that park is practically non existant.

 

[ogreenlee]

I can't even fathom the idea of it being in HongKong. There is hardly enough room for one more boat, much less a theme park.

Having it in mainland China also strikes me as odd. I think they should offer the southern hemisphere a park before giving Asia another one, but then again... most of the people in the world live there.

Don't you think Brazil should get one? Maybe it would cut down on the complaints regarding the tour groups.

 

[greenpea89]

Actually there is tons of room on Lantau Island in HK. Enough room to build another park and at least 2 more hotels - probably more. It just wasn't Disney's plan to have a lot of rides - lots of photo ops seemed to be more the focus. They have plenty of room to expand and add more rides so I will cross my fingers and hope that they add Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain (at least).
I think that Disney may be pushing Shanghai because Singapore will have a major Universal Theme Park opening early in 2010 that will syphon off a lot of guests from HKDL and attract a lot of visitors from China but I could be wrong.

 

[RadioNate]

I'm not sure what to make of another park in China since Hong Kong is so dead. It just isn't busy that I don't know what adding another gate will do. I get how far apart and how many people there are but putting a park between Tokyo and Hong Kong seems unnecessary.

 

[pogo791]

The New York Times has a bit more info:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/b...Disney Shanghai&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print

The 2014 opening date may be optimistic. It may not be until 2015 or 2016.

quote:

"The initial resort, with a mix of shopping areas, hotels and a Magic Kingdom-style theme park, will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district — with the theme park occupying about 100 of those acres. It would be a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo. It is expected to open in five or six years.

Disney’s plans are ambitious: If further development of the resort happens as expected over the coming decades — still a big if — it will encompass more than 1,700 acres and have a capacity rivaling Disney World in Florida, which attracts about 45 million annual visitors."

(note: the Pudong district is the very modern district that is just across the river from the old centre, which means it would be very accessible indeed)

and also:

"Details about rides are still being worked out, but there are to be a smattering of classic attractions and new rides developed specifically for Shanghai, perhaps incorporating Chinese stories and history."

 

[Jennasis]

Where the heck is there room in Pudong for this thing??? I was in Shanghai two years ago and there is barely room to fit a McDonalds.

 

[MulanUSAF]

I'm so excited!!! My grandparents live in Shanghai and I can't wait to go the new park when I visit them in the coming years. My grandmother went to Disneyland with us for the very first time five years ago and her eyes were popping out of her head as she took in all the sights. Her favorite ride was "It's a small world" and she rode it like 10 times! It was great to see my 76 years old grandmother turn into a 5 year old kid.

 

[Deb in IA]

Where the heck is there room in Pudong for this thing??? I was in Shanghai two years ago and there is barely room to fit a McDonalds.

I would guess somewhere in all the miles of empty land between the airport and the downtown/business area.

 

[Mom21]

Don't you think Brazil should get one?

 

[Jennasis]

I would guess somewhere in all the miles of empty land between the airport and the downtown/business area.

Hmmm..I DID sleep during the ride from the airport. Must've missed that part of Shanghai.

 

[pogo791]

Where the heck is there room in Pudong for this thing??? I was in Shanghai two years ago and there is barely room to fit a McDonalds.

Jennasis, I know what you mean! I've always understood "Pudong" to refer to the area around Century Park, along the Huang Pu River.

http://maps-guide.org/china/shanghai/pudong-map.htm

This is an area that has been developed only the past few years, and it is pretty much already covered with glitzy modern buildings. No way you could fit a 1000 acre Disneyland there!

However, it seems that this is only one small corner of Pudong:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/images/map/shanghai/suburban.jpg

Like Deb in IA said, there is lots of empty space between the downtown area and the Pudong Airport (which is located about 30 miles away from downtown). Who knows - maybe the location will be on the high-speed maglev train line, and you can whiz from downtown to Mickey in three minutes flat!