Disney Parks chairman Tom Staggs said, "Scheduled to open in about five years, our new resort in Shanghai will include things that you know and love about a Disney theme park such as Disney characters, attractions and storytelling… but it will also feature all-new experiences and stories that were inspired by and created for the people of China."
And that's about as much detail as Disney's publicly given. A look at the concept art doesn't reveal much: Disney will build the Florida/Tokyo version of its castle, rather than the Anaheim/Hong Kong version. It looks like there will be a carousel and a Dumbo-style ride, as well.
A wider view concept art reveals the largest known detail about the new Magic Kingdom park:
It appears that there will not be a traditional Main Street USA, but rather a larger entry plaza to the park, featuring water elements and, presumably, some of the nods to Chinese culture to which Staggs referred.
Remember, this will be the Walt Disney Company's second theme park in China. Andrew Kam, Managing Director of the Hong Kong park, issued a statement today about the Shanghai project, through Hong Kong Disneyland's Facebook page:
"Asia, including China, is a growing market with a population of several billion, large enough to have more than one Disney resort. As we prepare to expand with 3 new themed areas, we look forward to growing together with Shanghai and capturing the significant growth of the Asian Leisure Travel market in the years to come."
Of course, the role of Tokyo in that market is an issue, too.
There will be much more to come in the next few years as this project moves into construction, designs are leaked and details revealed.
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I have been to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, in addition to several visits to Disneyland and WDW, and I have to say that the experiences were completely different! Even if you compare the "Magic Kingdom-style parks" only. Each one is very distinct!
One thought I always had was that Disney could do really well by building something in Australia and South America too. It is a market with a huge potential! And just like China, countries like Brazil and Argentina have a lot of people who really can't afford traveling overseas to visit WDW, for example... So, lots of money to be made!!!
This year I'm going back to WDW (after 2 trips last year!) and plan on visiting Disneyland Paris in 2012... Hopefully one day I will be able to hit Hong Kong and then Shanghai!
Unfortunately, Disney is first and foremost a corporation. They are doing the profitable thing. Fixing the Yeti and refurbishing other American parks with new concepts and ideas isn't going to bring in millions of new guests; building a new park with existing attraction designs in China, however, will.
David Kirby -
I agree. Even the American embassies have different designs from country to country.
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