Spirited Shanghai Musings:
Well, we finally get a real announcement and it isn't surprising in any real way (this is both good and bad) beyond, perhaps, the fact that the CCP let Bob Iger on site to do PR for HIS ABC News division.
Amazingly, we still don't have an opening date announced or ticket structure and pricing.
BTW, the best coverage (and most balanced) has been in the Los Angeles Times, somewhat surprisingly. Very few US media were/are in Shanghai for what's really an unveiling. Julie Makinen had three stories that were all solid. The first one touched upon the construction quality issues and the one below is interesting because ithits on the fact the Chinese haven't been hppy with design choices made by Bob Weis and his team and that Disney still needs to teach China what its IP is and what it isn't (no, the Transformers will be in Bejing in 2019, but would you like to draw Thor?!)
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...e-will-shanghai-disney-be-20150715-story.html
The NY Times piece was by far less PR than normal but that's because Brooks was left in LA and David Barboza penned most of it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/business/shanghai-disney-resort-plans-unveiled.html
Not to pat myself on the behind, but if I don't who will (oh yeah, my fanbois minions!), but the plans for the park's menu that I put on this site back in 2013 (and no one else had them anywhere!) turned out to be 97% accurate. Toy Story Land, thrown in at last minute was pulled out at last minute because Bob Iger wanted his newest acquisitions (Marvel and Star Wars) to have a presence in the park. So, instead of crappy flat rides, we get two boxes with largely meet-greet-and-grunts, movie props and displays and the like. As near as I can tell, there are largely temporary type (think Disney temporary) attractions that probably won't make it to the park's tenth birthday.
But hey WDW fans, there is an upside to you (OK, this was sent to me as a RUMOR, so I am not stating this as fact or as news) as one little birdie told me since Disney had purchased the attractions for Toy Story already that they could be repurposed in the swamps. Again, haven't vetted this as it isn't that important to me. Just throwing it out there.
I wish I had deep thoughts on this stuff because I am looking forward to visiting, but I don't because I've placed them all out there. This stuff wasn't a surprise and I've told y'all about it for years now. It's nice to see the art for it. Things that I had high hopes for, I still do (PotC, RR, Pan, CG). Things that didn't sound impressive, still don't.
I know there's been some confusion because Disney has released a lot of information, but not all. For instance, there is a Winnie the Pooh dark ride being built. I'm not sure why it wasn't announced as you can clearly see it and it has been known for years. Also, every food location hasn't been announced, again not really sure why or if it matters at all.
Some people have asked about Mulan not being included and there being some cultural reason why. Not true. She is part of the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, part of the Fantasyland stage show and part of the high-end castle dining locale.
The biggest question mark (beyond the opening date and ticketing) remain where the $800 million of additional attractions went. The NYT again mentions it being added but there is absolutely nothing announced for this park that wasn't already known, except for the cheap Marvel and Star Wars experiences that simply were a swap for the cheap Toy Story ones.
So, we got some pretty artwork and models, details on attractions we knew were coming and Bob Iger finally (six years in) can prove (unless it was CGI) that he has been on the site of China's Disney Resort.
Now trying to find out how much of this stuff will be displayed in Anaheim next month!
