Disney Begins Preliminary Work on Theme Park Site To Mobilize for Construction Beginning in January 2011.
-- Hiring for operations of Down Under Resort castmembers and the tendering process for the theme park construction are underway --
GOLD COAST (July 11, 2010) – Down Under Resort executives provided an update on the progress of the project and a first look at the preparation and plans for the construction and operations of the 60 square mile site between Brisbane and Sydney that will become to the Down Under Resort, Disney’s sixth resort destination in the world.
During the media briefing two of the Down Under Resort's top executives, David Gunn, Group Managing Director, responsible for operations of the Down Under Resort and John Watts, Managing Director, Walt Disney Imagineering Australia in charge of construction, walked the media through the steps necessary to create a world-class Disney theme park including staff recruitment, contractor procurement and construction planning for this highly complex theme park resort explaining what the first phase is to contain.
Resort Phase I
The first phase of the Down Under Resort is to include the Magic Kingdom, a kingdom of dreams and fantasy, Downtown Disney, a nighttime resort district, and the Official Disney Hotels, a set of hotels and resorts across the property.
The Magic Kingdom, opening sometime in March 2013, is set to open with 6 themed lands: Main Street U.S.A., a turn of the century American town where you can explore the good old days. Come ride in a classic Fire Engine, or eat in "Walt's - An American Experience." Visit Edison Square and meet Thomas Edison or take a carriage ride to the Hub. Across from Main Street U.S.A. rises the majestic Snow White's Castle. This spectacular fantasy castle seems to rise out of the rock that surrounds it. To the right of Main Street U.S.A. is Tomorrowland. Come explore the future with the Timekeeper in The Visionarium or hop aboard a pair of rockets and blast off to the moon on Space Mountain. Come eat in the Pizza Port or enjoy shopping at Star Traders. If you continue counter clockwise, you'll encouter Toontown! It's where all of the characters live and play. Run wild with Roger Rabbit on a car chase, or visit Mickey in his home. Enjoy fine shopping such as the Celebrity 5 and 10. Next to Toontown is Fantasyland, where fnatasy lives and wakes. Visit Snow White's Castle or see a live show in the Castle Stage or the Fantasyland Stage. Get scared with Snow White's Scary Adventures or laugh along with It's A Small World. Next to Fantasyland is Frontierland. Come ride with Brer Rabbit in Splash Mountain or shop in the Brair Patch. Hop aboard a runaway mine train or on the Mark Twain Riverboat for a tour around the Rivers of America. Climb and jump in Tom Sawyer's Island or catch the daily nightshow "Fantasmic!". Can Mickey use his imagination to defeat the forces of evil? You're about to find out! Enjoy plenty of live entertainment and fine dining and shopping. Next to Frontierland is the famous Adventureland where you can climb aboard the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse or ride the world famous Jungle Cruise and tour the rivers of the jungle. Catch fine entertinament like "Mickey's Adventureland Mardi Gras" or shop along Royal Street and hop along Pirates Of The Carribean. If you want to leave, just go across Royal Street, and right into Main Street you'll be, because Main Street blends into Adventureland. Daily entertainment and parades are to be performed.
Along with the Magic Kingdom will be Downtown Disney, a nighttime resort area with hot places like Planet Hollywood or the House of Blues. Or stay comfortable in a Disney Hotel. On opening day, there will be two hotels: The Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Yacht Club Resort.
Magic Kingdom Australia Construction
Preliminary work is underway on the Magic Kingdom theme park site, as Disney’s team mobilizes to officially begin construction in January 2011. The GCLC will be paying a total of 7 billion for the first phase of this resort project with the Walt Disney Company adding in 850 million. The park and resort will be continuously expanded. The Magic Kingdom park is partially built over a bay with the rest of the resort across the bay in order for the Magic Kingdom to be the centerpoint, and the most expandable into the surrounding area. Over the next two months, The GCLC will be finalizing their work on the reclamation and preliminary infrastructure work to officially turn over the site to Disney to begin building the theme park resort project.
“Over the last 18 months, the GCLC has built one of the most spectacular sites for any Disney theme park in the world,” said Gunn. “It is now Disney’s job to bring this beautiful site to life by creating a flagship Disney theme park for the people of the Gold Coast.”
The development for the Down Under Resort will include a theme park, two hotels, back-of-house support facilities, infrastructure, parking and one of the largest landscape projects in the Gold Coast area. The project scope and details are unlike any development project ever built in Australia. The structures average less than three stories with the exception of the Park icons like Sleeping Beauty Castle, Space Mountain and the two hotels, which range from five to twelve-story buildings.
Contractors working on this theme park project are sure to have a one-of-a-kind experience to help build elaborate shows and attractions elements such as a river, treehouse, quaking temple ruins, erupting geysers, extensive rock work, village huts, flying elephants, as well as an Intergalactic Spaceport and many more exciting elements that make up the the Down Under Resort experience.
Walt Disney Imagineers have been working on the theme park for the past two years with preliminary designs taking place at Imagineering’s headquarters in California. The design work has been supported by local Australian architectural firms and has recently been transferred to the Gold Coast in preparation for the construction. The tendering process has been underway for several months and five construction contracts have already been secured with the remainder to be awarded over the next 18 months. In total, the project will award 15 to 35 contracts for large-scale and specialty work that will result in significant job opportunities in the construction industry throughout the two-year theme park construction process.
“We are relying on the Gold Coast construction industry to build the Down Under Resort,” said Gunn. “At the peak of construction approximately 10,000 workers will be on site to help build the theme park resort and this does not even begin to account for the thousands of jobs created industry-wide to support the logistics and production of this large-scale development project.”
The size and remote location of the project add to the complexity as Disney and the Government must create new infrastructure, roads and support systems at the early stages of construction to accommodate the thousands of workers and activity taking place on site. To create the theme park resort project, the site will have 57 kilometers (35 miles) of pipeline, 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) of cable, 1,000 manholes, and 2 million cubic meters (2.5 million cubic yards) of topsoil created solely to support the extensive landscaping on the site.
Walt Disney Imagineering is the master planning, creative development, design, engineering, production, project management and research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company. Its talented corps of Imagineers is responsible for the creation — from concept initiation through installation — of all Disney resorts, theme parks and attractions, real estate developments and regional entertainment venues. It is headquartered in Glendale, California.
The Down Under Resort project was announced in July 2010 as a venture between The Walt Disney Company and the GCLC. Currently under reclamation by the GCLC, Disney is targeted to begin construction in early 2011 with the project scheduled to open in March 2013. The opening day program for Hong Kong Disneyland will include a 20 million annual visitor Disneyland-style theme park, two hotels and retail, dining and entertainment uses. The project is estimated to create 25,000 new jobs at opening both Disney and other employment, growing to 40,000 once the first park reaches build-out. At the completion of Phase I, the project will include a 20 million annual visitor Disneyland-style theme park, 2,500 hotel rooms, and a giant district of retail, dining and entertainment.
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