Asian Times: Shanghai Wishing on a Fading Disney Star

[mgf]

This can be moved. I considered filing on another section but I thought it had relevance to the whole parks division.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/LB05Cb01.html

Is Disney likely to scale back efforts in China? Asia? What implications this will have on new parks in general? Could this be an impetus for increasing improvements to existing parks?

Thoughts on this interesting article?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Great. Scrap the project.

Give the money to EPCOT. EPCOT can then share with the rest of WDW. :wave:

 

[BrerFrog]

Great. Scrap the project.

Give the money to EPCOT. EPCOT can then share with the rest of WDW. :wave:

I fully support this. :sohappy:

 

[imagineer boy]

Agreed Explorer! I would much rather them scrap the project than build yet another half-@$$ed theme park.

 

[TalkingHead]

According to that article, China is home to 2,500 theme parks!

Who knew?! How many are in the U.S.?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I fully support this. :sohappy:

Agreed Explorer! I would much rather them scrap the project than build yet another half-@$$ed theme park.

:lol:

I was being facetious, but honestly, our parks could use some hardcore investment. :lol:

According to that article, China is home to 2,500 theme parks!

Who knew?! How many are in the U.S.?

Probably little half defunct ones, though...Like NaraDreamland.

 

[uklad79]

According to that article, China is home to 2,500 theme parks!

Who knew?! How many are in the U.S.?

China population 1,325,639,982 Theme Parks 2500 (not verified)
USA population 304,059,724 Theme Parks 238 (source themeparkcity.com)

I wonder if the Chinese figure includes waterparks and zoos too.

 

[Tar Heel]

The money could be put to good use in DAK, Epcot ,and DHS. If they are going to build a new park in China at least wail until HKDL has been completed for a few years.

 

[_Scar]

China population 1,325,639,982 Theme Parks 2500 (not verified)
USA population 304,059,724 Theme Parks 238 (source themeparkcity.com)

I wonder if the Chinese figure includes waterparks and zoos too.

214 being Six Flags.... :lol::lookaroun


If this project was put on hold until HKDL becomes profitable, then the money probably would go into HKDL for now and the Shanghai park would probably be pushed until 2014.

 

[Figment632]

Great. Scrap the project.

Give the money to EPCOT. EPCOT can then share with the rest of WDW. :wave:

Yes put all that money into FW and then some for TL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ChrisFL]

:lol:

I was being facetious, but honestly, our parks could use some hardcore investment. :lol:


Probably little half defunct ones, though...Like NaraDreamland.

Nara Dreamland was in Japan, not China, and its closed now

 

[_Scar]

What's the park made famous for being the fake Disneyland. Complete with a creepy looking Goofy costume and half-assed Dwarf costumes.

Is that Nara Dreamland? :shrug:


Edit- Found this map and I recognize the horrible Matterhorn knockoff, so I assume it is Nara Dreamland.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Nara Dreamland was in Japan, not China, and its closed now

Ah, interesting.


Glad it's dead. :lol:

What's the park made famous for being the fake Disneyland. Complete with a creepy looking Goofy costume and half-assed Dwarf costumes.

Is that Nara Dreamland? :shrug:


Edit- Found this map and I recognize the horrible Matterhorn knockoff, so I assume it is Nara Dreamland.

That's the one!:ROFLOL:

 

[tomm4004]

Beihai Park in Beijing had a couple kiddie rides, including - if I recall correctly - spinning tanks and MIGs. That probably constitutes a park.

This ordeal baffles me. I, and many others, said at the time that HK was a poor locale for a Disney park and that Shanghai was better situated. I hiked Lantau Island years ago and it didn't scream MK, unlike that swamp in Florida. HK has a small population - compared to Tokyo or Shanghai - and it's hard and expensive to get to. The attendance and job numbers they threw around seemed far fetched. It seems politicians are not always good businessmen and can easily fall prey to hype. But it appears that Shanghai's minders are getting a clue.

 

[_Scar]

That's the one!:ROFLOL:

It has more attractions than HKDL!


:ROFLOL:




:lookaroun Couldn't resist....

 

[tomm4004]

The outdoor section of Lotte World (Magic Island) in Seoul has a very Disneyesque looking castle. The indoor section has a Jungle Adventure and a Sindbad ride similar to Pirates. The place is quite good actually.

 

[wm49rs]

This is not much more than the local government of Shanghai worrying about their majority stake in a Disney project. I'm willing to be that if Disney comes back and agrees to up their percentage of the holding, everything will once again be satisfactory to all.....

 

[DisneyMusician2]

This is not much more than the local government of Shanghai worrying about their majority stake in a Disney project. I'm willing to be that if Disney comes back and agrees to up their percentage of the holding, everything will once again be satisfactory to all.....

The real question is whether it is smart to do that. Perhaps the $3 billion would be better focused on their own domestic parks experience.

Could you imagine how far $3 billion could go in WDW? And is this the time to be taking a increased equity stake in a park that might not show any profit for 5-7 years?

 

[wm49rs]

The real question is whether it is smart to do that. Perhaps the $3 billion would be better focused on their own domestic parks experience.

Could you imagine how far $3 billion could go in WDW? And is this the time to be taking a increased equity stake in a park that might not show any profit for 5-7 years?

Well, therein lies the proverbial rub. I honestly have no idea what they're going to do. But the comments of the council members did come across as a prototypical negotiating tactic. I think both sides want the park (because even for the losses Disney took, the HK park still brought in billions to that economy in the midst of a global epidemic and economic downturn) to happen.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Interesting article. I am impressed that Happy Valley had 25 million guests in 2008 :veryconfu They need to go back and check their facts again because Happy Valley had just over 3 million guests in 08'. The Magic Kingdom was the most visited themepark in the world in 2008 with 17,063,000 guests visiting. I wonder how many other numbers in this article are completely false?

Below is part of the TEA/ERA 08 theme park attendance report showing Happy Valley's attendance

​

Top 10 Asian/Pacific Rim Amusement/Theme Parks (2008)
Rank,Park and Location,2008 Attendance,% of Change
​

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]1 TOKYO DISNEYLAND, Tokyo, Japan 14,293,000 2.8%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]2 TOKYO DISNEY SEA, Tokyo, Japan 12,498,000 0.7%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]3 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN, Osaka, Japan 8,300,000 -4.7%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]4 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]EVERLAND, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]1[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]6,600,000 -8.3%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]5 OCEAN PARK, Hong Kong SAR 5,030,000 2.2%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]6 YOKOHAMA HAKKEIJIMA SEA PARADISE, Yokohama, Japan 4,555,000 -4.5%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]7 HONG KONG DISNEYLAND, Hong Kong SAR 4,500,000 7.9%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]8 LOTTE WORLD, Seoul, South Korea [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial] 4,236,000 n.a.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]9 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]NAGASHIMA SPA LAND, Kuwana, Japan 3,734,000 -4.5%[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]10 HAPPY VALLEY, Shenzhen, China 3,180,000 -4.2%​

[/FONT][/FONT]