Disneyland Korea

[SpaceRacer2003]

From The Korea Times Newspaper.

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Disneyland Eyed for Kwachon

By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Seoul City and the Walt Disney Company are discussing a plan to establish an amusement park at Seoul Grand Park in Kwachon, south of Seoul, Seoul City officials said Sunday.

Officials from the U.S. entertainment giant recently visited City Hall in central Seoul for a workshop with related city officials to discuss details of the plan, the city government said.

The project to establish a Disneyland in Kwachon is part of the company's plan to expand its business in the Asian market. The Walt Disney Company opened a theme park in Tokyo in 1983 with one in Hong Kong, currently under construction, scheduled to open next year. The company is also planning to build another in Shanghai in the 2010s.

City officials said the company had asked the Ministry of Finance and Economy for further information related to the project. The ministry originally proposed four candidate sites for the amusement park, of which the Walt Disney Company selected Seoul Grand Park in Kwachon for a number of advantages, including traffic considerations and accessibility for subway and public buses, they added.

Three other candidate sites are Yongjongdo, an islet where Incheon International Airport is located, and two other islets. They all belong to a free economic zone in Inchon, which is under construction to help transform South Korea into a Northeast Asian business and transportation hub.

``If the theme park is set up, it would create a lot of jobs for Korean people and bring other economic benefits for the surrounding area,'' a Seoul City official said.

The plan to establish a large-scale theme park near Seoul is part of the campaign pledges made by Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak during the mayoral election in 2002. He said he would build a giant theme park for the capital, citing those in the United States and Japan.

Officials said the Walt Disney Company had requested Seoul City to remove towers set up at Seoul Grand Park for power lines. Until the plan is finalized, Seoul City will suspend various construction projects scheduled for the park, the officials said.

Founded in 1984, Seoul Grand Park is home to zoos, botanical gardens, parks and various leisure facilities. The city government operates the zoos and botanical gardens directly, while private companies own the other facilities.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr
11-07-2004 16:36

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More on the Free Economic Zones here.

 

[General Grizz]

Eek. Don't think Korea is where Disney needs to build a park right now.

Just can't stop expanding, can it?

Sounds like an empire. North, west, east, and south, all roads led to Disney. :lookaroun

 

[m star]

It seems to me that Disney will soon have enough parks in asia. ...Let's put in a new park in Texas! and Chicago! and New York! and Colorado!

 

[goofyfan13]

It seems to me that Disney will soon have enough parks in asia. ...Let's put in a new park in Texas! and Chicago! and New York! and Colorado!

And Michigan! :lookaroun I can dream can't I?

 

[tigger248]

All this sudden, mass expansion kinda scares me. I'm afraid that all these newer, lower quality parks are gonna do more harm than good to the company. I hope they don't end up losing any of the magic and I also hope this doesn't turn them into "just another amusement park". That would be like the end to Walt's dream. Mass expansion like this, is sorta what happened to the Disney Stores. They put them everywhere and lost money; now they're not even owned by Disney anymore (at least not as of next week). I hope I don't get flamed for this, but that's just how I feel.

 

[TimeTrip]

All this sudden, mass expansion kinda scares me. I'm afraid that all these newer, lower quality parks are gonna do more harm than good to the company.

I'm not so sure that Disney Seas would qualify as a low quality park.

 

[the-reason14]

All this sudden, mass expansion kinda scares me. I'm afraid that all these newer, lower quality parks are gonna do more harm than good to the company. I hope they don't end up losing any of the magic and I also hope this doesn't turn them into "just another amusement park". That would be like the end to Walt's dream. Mass expansion like this, is sorta what happened to the Disney Stores. They put them everywhere and lost money; now they're not even owned by Disney anymore (at least not as of next week). I hope I don't get flamed for this, but that's just how I feel.

I agree.

 

[jrriddle]

Just want to mention that there is a 2 page thread on this in the Tokyo/Hong Kong page in the Other Resort Forums.

 

[deix15x8]

Why would Disney even think of putting a park in Korea. That's to unknown and un traveled a place. It's not a vacation destination. They also have to stop with all the parks in Japan. Japan is not that big of a country and they just keep building parks. I predict that by 2100 there will be one big monorail that travels through all of Japan connecting the 2,672 parks. The US is where they are needed. There is alot more land to cover in the US so have parks in more locations would be alot more beneficial thatn putting alot of parks in close proximity to each other in Japan. About 2 or so years ago there was a rumor that the Meadowlands in New Jersey was going to be developed. Part of the plan was to add a stock car track and a Disney Park along with Disney hotels and various hotel chains added to the area. Lots of hotels have been added and the track is now going to be built on Statin Island but nothing ever happened with the Disney stuff. They never said we are putting it somewhere else or even we are canceling our plans. Anyone have any more recent information on that?

 

[jrriddle]

Never heard of the Meadowlands park. Heard about the Coney Island rumor.
Have to disagree about Korea's tourism. In 2000 they had over 5 Million visitors and that was more than Australia during 2000.
The Japan parks do very well (better than alot of the other Disney resorts). Considering that the country's economy is not all that great right now, the parks are doing very well.
But don't worry. Unless the start building out into the bay, Tokyo Disney is out of room. So no 3rd park for a while.

 

[tigger248]

I'm not so sure that Disney Seas would qualify as a low quality park.

That one would definitely be an exception (based on what I've heard).

But, what about Disney Studios Paris? I've heard that it's not that great. Or what about DCA? I've heard a lot about that park as well. And, from what I hear, Hong Kond Disneyland won't be as good as the others either.

Then there's also the consideration of the incomplete "half day parks" like DAK and MGM (Some can spend whole days there, but many others agree that they're lacking in attractions).

I think the parks they have should be improved/finished before they rush into another park.

 

[cherrynegra]

Just want to mention that there is a 2 page thread on this in the Tokyo/Hong Kong page in the Other Resort Forums.

SOUTH KOREAN PARK

 

[Fraisie]

While they're at it, they should build one in Montreal... It'd be cheaper for me !

 

[nicholas]

So Disney theme parks in Asia are going to be more common that McDonalds and Starbucks here now at this rate.

 

[maelstrom]

I've never heard of the Meadowlands rumour, but that sounds good. I live pretty close to the Meadowlands (oh, excuse me, the Continental Airlines Arena). That's where I saw Disney On Ice for a zillion years when I was little. Adding a track and a Disney park would be awesome there. There are rumours of adding a Nascar track to our fairgrounds (Orange County, NY). Why not just throw a Disney park in there, too? Orange County, NY; Orange County, Florida; Orange County, California. Works for me!