Disneyland Shanghai to open 2016

Relaxnews
Friday 08 April 2011 00:00 BST
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On April 8, a ceremony will break ground on a Disneyland theme park in Shanghai, China, after 10 years of negotiations between Disney and the government.

The $3.7 billion first phase of construction will cover 1.5 square miles for the park, a lake, and include two hotels, with another 1.1 square miles to be developed, reported China's Xinhau news agency on April 4, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Disneyland Shanghai is set to open in 2016 in the Pudong district, where the World Expo was located in 2010 with an anticipated attendance of 7.3 million.

The three-phase project is a co-venture with the Chinese government. It is the sixth Disneyland theme park around the world, in addition to Tokyo and Hong Kong as well as the Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California locales in the US, plus France.

In addition, Disney is involved in Mandarin language co-productions on films such as Trail of the Panda. China's box office was up 64 percent in 2010, an indication of the growing economy. Also there are discussions about building a cable television company.

"The park has ambitions to be both authentically Chinese and authentically Disney," explained Greg Brown, an analyst with the equity research firm Wunderlich Securities.

The park ownership will be 57 percent owned by Shanghai Shendi Group and 43 percent by Disney, per Chinese media reports, a similar arrangement to Hong Kong Disneyland.

RC

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