Walt Disney May Build Theme Park Near Seoul, City Mayor Says

[wannab@dis]

Walt Disney May Build Theme Park Near Seoul, City Mayor Says

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co., the second-biggest U.S. media company, is considering a theme park outside South Korea's capital, Seoul Mayor Lee Myung Bak said, extending its reach in the world's most populous continent.

Seoul Metropolitan Government is in talks with Burbank, California-based Disney, said Lee, who made attracting the U.S. company one of his campaign pledges in 2002.

"We've made significant progress on our plan to attract a world-class theme park near Seoul and may officially announce it early next year,'' Lee said in an interview.

Hong Kong Disney's Public Affairs Manager Esther Wong directed calls to the company's U.S. headquarters.

Disney this month opened a theme park in Hong Kong and is considering another attraction in Shanghai, as rising Asian incomes bring Mickey Mouse merchandise, Donald Duck DVDs and theme park holidays within reach of millions more children and adults.

Disney is considering building the venture at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, southern Seoul, said Jun Sung Soo, director of the foreign investment division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He said no details have been decided.

Lisa J. Haines, Vice President of Strategic Communications for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in Burbank, didn't respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.

Hong Kong

Disney, which opened the first of two theme parks in Tokyo in 1983 and another in Hong Kong on Sept. 12, is in talks with the Chinese government about building a Disneyland facility in Shanghai after 2010, President Robert Iger said on Sept. 9.

Hong Kong's government spent $3 billion bringing attractions such as Space Mountain and the Sleeping Beauty's Castle to the park, which officially opened on Sept. 12.

The government in Hong Kong expects the park will lure tourists and create 18,400 immediate jobs and another 17,400 by 2025. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Financial Secretary Henry Tang has said the theme park will generate HK$148 billion ($19 billion) in income over 40 years.

Disney expects 5.6 million visitors to the Hong Kong park in its first year, with about a third coming from mainland China. That compares with 25 million last year at Disney's Tokyo resorts and 12.4 million in the year through Sept. 30 at Disney's theme park outside Paris.



http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aC.PC6doXzow&refer=news_index#

 

[wannab@dis]

Disney eyeing theme park in S.Korea -Seoul official
Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:29 AM ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. is in talks with the city of Seoul on opening a theme park near the South Korean capital, an official at the city government said on Tuesday. The talks were still at an early stage and a decision by Disney, which currently has two attractions in Asia, was not likely until next year, the official at the city's investment division said by telephone.

"Disney is conducting a viability study," said the official, who declined to be named.

The study centers on an existing theme park just south of Seoul, which is owned and operated by the municipal government. Once a popular attraction that drew from Seoul's more than 10 million population, Seoul Grand Park has since been overshadowed by newer competition.

It is not clear whether South Korea, which has a population of 48.4 million, can offer a market large enough to attract Disney's investment.

"Among the things Disney is looking at is the market," the city official said.

Disney officials in California could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier this year, Disney denied a South Korean media report it had reached a deal to build a theme park in Seoul.

Disney on September 12 opened its new theme park in Hong Kong in one of the biggest media events in the city since the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997.

Hong Kong Disney, which is half the size of the original Disneyland in California, is expected to draw 5.6 million visitors in its first year.

It is Disney's first theme park in China and second in Asia after Japan. In July, Disney reacted to local media reports that it planned a theme park in Shanghai by saying it was unlikely to open a second Chinese park before 2010.

Tokyo Disneyland, operated by Japan's Oriental Land Co. Ltd., is one of Asia's top tourist sites and, with the adjacent DisneySea, drew 25 million visitors in the year ended March 31, down 1.8 percent on the previous year when it celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The operator of the Magic Kingdom on the outskirts of Tokyo has targeted 25.5 million visitors for the current year to end-March.


http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...TRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-LEISURE-DISNEY-KOREA-DC.XML

 

[cherrynegra]

Wow. I don't even know where to start. Let's just play pretend and say that Disney winds up building a park in Shanghai, Seoul, and let's not forget the rumored Indian park. Along with TDL and HKDL, that would make five Disney parks in that corner of the world. Aren't they afraid of oversaturating the market a bit? I would understand one large park in China and then one each in Korea and India.

 

[wannab@dis]

Wow. I don't even know where to start. Let's just play pretend and say that Disney winds up building a park in Shanghai, Seoul, and let's not forget the rumored Indian park. Along with TDL and HKDL, that would make five Disney parks in that corner of the world. Aren't they afraid of oversaturating the market a bit? I would understand one large park in China and then one each in Korea and India.

But the population of those areas is HUGE. I think there's around 300 million in the US and we have two parks. There's what, 1.5 billion in china and another billion or so in India? In addition, how many people in those countries travel to the US or France?

With that said, it makes sense to think hard about opening new parks in every corner of the world. But I think there's a huge untapped population that loves the American culture and also everything Disney. Hopefully, it will be a winning deal.

 

[m star]

We've got 6 parks in the U.S. Why can't China have 2, when they have like 5 times as many people as we do. I don't think it would be oversaturating the market.