Shanghai Disneyland closes due to outbreak of a pneumonia-like illness in China

[IanDLBZF]

In addition for Universal Beijing...

In accordance with the latest pandemic control and prevention requirement, Dine-in service in restaurants at Universal Beijing Resort (including Universal Studios Beijing, The Universal Studios Grand Hotel, NUO Resort Hotel and Universal CityWalk Beijing) will be temporarily suspended since November 26, 2022. Food and beverage service is still available for food kiosks and mobile food carts in the resort area, while the hotels will provide room service to guests.

 

[Andrew C]

And they closed again.

Things are getting a bit tense there at the moment...protests against the constant lockdowns and "zero-covid" policy...we will see how that plays out (or we won't see because communism)...

 

[TP2000]

Things are getting a bit tense there at the moment...protests against the constant lockdowns and "zero-covid" policy...we will see how that plays out (or we won't see because communism)...

China hasn't let any of the big-budget movies from Burbank play in China this year; not Dr. Strange or Thor 4 or Wakanda Forever from Marvel, not Lightyear from Pixar, nor Strange World from Disney Animation. For reasons of government censorship ranging from The Gays to just spiteful anti-American politics.

Now Shanghai Disneyland is closed indefinitely. Again.

Who needs operating theme parks and movies to make a theme park and movie company run in a country after Billions of dollars of specific investment in that country? Not Disney! Right, Bob?.... Right?...

 

[GimpYancIent]

China hasn't let any of the big-budget movies from Burbank play in China this year; not Dr. Strange or Thor 4 or Wakanda Forever from Marvel, not Lightyear from Pixar, nor Strange World from Disney Animation. For reasons of government censorship ranging from The Gays to just spiteful anti-American politics.

Now Shanghai Disneyland is closed indefinitely. Again.

Who needs operating theme parks and movies to make a theme park and movie company run in a country after Billions of dollars of specific investment in that country? Not Disney! Right, Bob?.... Right?...

The stench from the decay of a substantial and poor investment is overpowering. The investment is not aging well but rather wasting away. My suggestion is to cut the losses and divest despite the intricate difficulties of doing so.

 

[Disstevefan1]

China hasn't let any of the big-budget movies from Burbank play in China this year; not Dr. Strange or Thor 4 or Wakanda Forever from Marvel, not Lightyear from Pixar, nor Strange World from Disney Animation. For reasons of government censorship ranging from The Gays to just spiteful anti-American politics.

Now Shanghai Disneyland is closed indefinitely. Again.

Who needs operating theme parks and movies to make a theme park and movie company run in a country after Billions of dollars of specific investment in that country? Not Disney! Right, Bob?.... Right?...

Iger LOVES China, he should be able to fix this. Right?

 

[Lilofan]

Iger LOVES China, he should be able to fix this. Right?

Considering Iger was a potential as US ambassador to China in 2020, yes.

 

[Kirby86]

Yup China really seemed to be an investment that aged awfully for both Disney and Universal Parks

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Yup China really seemed to be an investment that aged awfully for both Disney and Universal Parks

Currently this is totally true, the park will have decades to make money after China gets Covid figured out though.

As long as China doesn’t decide to simply take ownership of the park it should be fine long term, I think that’s a serious threat though and why I thought it a risky venture from the start.

 

[Kirby86]

Currently this is totally true, the park will have decades to make money after China gets Covid figured out though.

As long as China doesn’t decide to simply take ownership of the park it should be fine long term, I think that’s a serious threat though and why I thought it a risky venture from the start.

Yeah dealing with the CCP is always a risky venture if and when China figures out covid they can make their money. I think the biggest issue is as long as the CCP is in charge they can take your investments from you if you don't play by their rules.

 

[DCBaker]

Shanghai Disneyland reopens December 8th -

“Shanghai Disneyland will resume operations on December 8, 2022, operating from 8:30 to 20:00 on the reopening day, marking Shanghai Disney Resort's return to full operations.”

Shanghai Disney Resort Official Site

Welcome to Shanghai Disney Resort, a one-of-a-kind destination featuring Shanghai Disneyland, 2 Resort hotels, Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and much more!

www.shanghaidisneyresort.com

 

[tanc]

Blows my mind that Disney did not consider the future leaders of China when they built Shanghai. I'm surprised Japan doesn't have another Disneyland or something. I guess OLC may not want it due to maybe quality concerns but it's sad really. Or better yet in Australia, since there is none down there.

 

[GimpYancIent]

The single biggest and most expensive blemish in the B.I. grow it big investment portfolio is S.D. There are people that talk S.D. up but it's not the global destination draw it was meant to be. There is an old real estate quote "Location, Location, Location" and B.I.'s choice of location for a park to be located in the PRC was a poor one, very poor.

 

[Rush]

Blows my mind that Disney did not consider the future leaders of China when they built Shanghai. I'm surprised Japan doesn't have another Disneyland or something. I guess OLC may not want it due to maybe quality concerns but it's sad really. Or better yet in Australia, since there is none down there.

China is getting another Disneyland in the not so far future. Supposedly in Beijing. As for Japan, I don't think OLC is interested in a third park in Tokyo, especially since they don't have enough land to build in it within the existing resort, and there's been no rumors about another resort in a different region of Japan. Australia is a curious case. Disney wanted to build an entrainment complex a few years back but plans fell through. Beyond that, there's been no indication that Disney is interested in building a resort down under.

 

[Haymarket]

China is getting another Disneyland in the not so far future. Supposedly in Beijing.

This is what I was thinking. Where did you hear about it?

I was concerned that joining Universal in Beijing might be a bit much, but I do see the trend of the Beijing area getting the most investment generally for almost everything; the northeast needs it and it'd be a good state investment to encourage consumption, etc. Also, there's the rivalry between the cities; I'm sure the local administration wants a Disney resort because Shanghai has one.

 

[OzAn]

The single biggest and most expensive blemish in the B.I. grow it big investment portfolio is S.D. There are people that talk S.D. up but it's not the global destination draw it was meant to be. There is an old real estate quote "Location, Location, Location" and B.I.'s choice of location for a park to be located in the PRC was a poor one, very poor.

Location wise it is the biggest city in the most populated country. Disney targeted it precisely for the location.
Even TDR with all its success has less than 10% of visitors in international tourists and relies on Japanese attendance. The same goes for Shanghai Disney. Its success is measured by local popularity, not whether it becomes a global destination. SDL's attendance pre-COVID was good and stable each year (iirc first year was higher than expected, and higher than when Tokyo Disney first opened). It was profitable from the get-go, unlike Paris and HK, and will continue to be after China gets over COVID with pent up demand. It wasn't the only park to shutdown for COVID. SDL was opened most of 2020 and whole of 2021 whilst other Disney parks were shut for varying periods. It only started its sporadic shutdown/re-opening in 2022. Disneyland still beats SDL for longest continuous period of shutdown.

From a financial standpoint, the 'bad' investment in Asia that Disney made was HK, but it had less to do with location, but more so how underbuilt it was.

I'm surprised Japan doesn't have another Disneyland or something. I guess OLC may not want it due to maybe quality concerns but it's sad really. Or better yet in Australia, since there is none down there.

Whilst I would really love a Disney in Australia, there just isn't enough population and too far from rest of world to sustain a full size Disney. Building a 'smaller' one would just end up like HK.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Location wise it is the biggest city in the most populated country. Disney targeted it precisely for the location.
Even TDR with all its success has less than 10% of visitors in international tourists and relies on Japanese attendance. The same goes for Shanghai Disney. Its success is measured by local popularity, not whether it becomes a global destination. SDL's attendance pre-COVID was good and stable each year (iirc first year was higher than expected, and higher than when Tokyo Disney first opened). It was profitable from the get-go, unlike Paris and HK, and will continue to be after China gets over COVID with pent up demand. It wasn't the only park to shutdown for COVID. SDL was opened most of 2020 and whole of 2021 whilst other Disney parks were shut for varying periods. It only started its sporadic shutdown/re-opening in 2022. Disneyland still beats SDL for longest continuous period of shutdown.

From a financial standpoint, the 'bad' investment in Asia that Disney made was HK, but it had less to do with location, but more so how underbuilt it was.

Whilst I would really love a Disney in Australia, there just isn't enough population and too far from rest of world to sustain a full-size Disney. Building a 'smaller' one would just end up like HK.

Profitability? Depends on how it is looked at. For instance, ticket prices:
"Beginning January 9, 2022, the pricing will increase for one-day, standard tickets:

• Regular – ¥435 ($67.13 US)
• Regular Plus – ¥545 ($84.11 US)
• Peak – ¥659 ($101.70 US)
• Peak Plus – ¥769 (118.68 US)"

As for international tourism, yes, there are tourists going to China but by no means is the place a tourist mecca and SD is no attraction beacon.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Whilst I would really love a Disney in Australia, there just isn't enough population and too far from rest of world to sustain a full size Disney. Building a 'smaller' one would just end up like HK.

Yes, I can't see a Disney park ever working in Australia. A population of 26 million is just not enough to support one and tourism is never going to be enough to make up the difference. I'll be interested to see how the cruises based in Australia go, but that is something that I can see being a success in part because I also have the impression the cruise industry in Australia is a little under-developed in terms of quality family-friendly options.

 

[el_super]

As for international tourism, yes, there are tourists going to China but by no means is the place a tourist mecca and SD is no attraction beacon.

How many tourists visited Shanghai per year prior to the pandemic? How does that stack up to other places like California or Florida?

 

[OzAn]

Profitability? Depends on how it is looked at. For instance, ticket prices:
"Beginning January 9, 2022, the pricing will increase for one-day, standard tickets:

• Regular – ¥435 ($67.13 US)
• Regular Plus – ¥545 ($84.11 US)
• Peak – ¥659 ($101.70 US)
• Peak Plus – ¥769 (118.68 US)"

As for international tourism, yes, there are tourists going to China but by no means is the place a tourist mecca and SD is no attraction beacon.

How many tourists visited Shanghai per year prior to the pandemic? How does that stack up to other places like California or Florida?

However, does it really matter how many international tourist Shanghai gets each year ?

Just like Tokyo, Shanghai (and the rest of China) has enough population alone by itself to sustain a Disney park. Neither TDR nor SDL need to rely on international tourism.

In any case, Pre-COVID, Shanghai has more international visitors than both Los Angeles and Orlando. Link
But the most internationally visited city on that list, Hong Kong, struggles all these years to make HKDL profitable because it is not popular with the locals. So at the end of the day local attendance matters much more.

As for the ticket prices being listed is the point being they are increasing prices or that it is cheaper than US?
It is cheaper than US because expenses are also cheaper in China. Margin may be the same or better for all we know.
The price increases just like any other Disney park around the world, to cover inflation and bank on pent up demand.

 

[GimpYancIent]

How many tourists visited Shanghai per year prior to the pandemic? How does that stack up to other places like California or Florida?

Fair questions. The numbers available vary depending on the sources but annual visitors are in the neighborhood of 11 million with an estimated 50% not being from the immediate Shanghai area, however, numbers or statistics for visitors to SD from outside of China are another issue. All in all, not a profit maker.