Magic! Mickey and gang bring Disney to town
By Zhang Fengming |
01:41 UTC+8 April 9, 2011
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Walt Disney Co executives and local government officials dug into Shanghai's earth with golden shovels yesterday to break ground for the first Disneyland on Chinese mainland.
The ceremony began with drummers in dragon-festooned outfits playing upbeat rhythms, followed by Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in traditional Chinese costume taking to the stage alongside Donald Duck, Cinderella and Snow White.
Disney's first theme park in the Chinese mainland and its third in Asia will cost 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion). Hotels, additional entertainment and retail facilities will be built at a cost of 4.5 billion yuan.
The park in Shanghai's southeastern suburbs will feature the world's biggest "Magic Kingdom" castle and have a huge 405,000 square metre lake.
Robert Iger, Disney's president and chief executive officer, said the Shanghai Disney Resort would be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.
"Today is the culmination of many years of hard work, dedication and partnership," he said. "This is a defining moment in our company's history."
Behind the happy and upbeat "a dream come true" sentiments, down-to-earth questions were also raised yesterday.
At a news briefing after the ceremony, the first question raised was how Disney could make its two parks in China profitable following the Hong Kong park's reported years of losses.
But Iger shrugged off such concerns by responding that he was confident in the future of Hong Kong Disneyland, which is currently being expanded. China, he said, with a much greater population than the United States was "more than capable of supporting and sustaining two wonderful Disney destinations."
Iger didn't answer questions about the cost of tickets at Shanghai Disneyland or when the park would break even.
Though the Hong Kong park is gaining in popularity, it failed to turn a profit again for the fiscal year of 2010 although losses had narrowed from the year before.
The Hong Kong park reported a loss of HK$718 million (US$92.3 million) in the fiscal year ending October 2, 2010. It lost HK$1.315 billion in 2009.
The number of visitors to the Hong Kong park rose 13 percent last year to a record 5.2 million, 42 percent of whom were from the mainland.
Disney's parks and resorts division accounted for nearly 27 percent of the company's revenue in the most recent quarter, second only to a television and radio division that includes ABC and ESPN.
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday the resort "will improve the city's international profile" as a tourism attraction.
Shanghai Shendi Group Co Ltd, which represents the city government's stake in the project, will hold a 57 percent stake in the project, while Disney will take the remaining 43 percent.
A joint venture management company will also be formed, with Disney having a 70 percent stake and Shanghai Shendi Group holding a 30 percent stake.
The Shanghai government regards the Disney project as an important step in its bid to build the city into a world-class tourist destination.
Discussions on the Disneyland project have been ongoing for a decade, with local officials visiting other Disney theme parks.
Shanghai has already paved the way for Mickey Mouse. While construction on the park only began yesterday, work on roads surrounding the site has been ongoing for months. About 2,000 households and 297 enterprises have been relocated to make way for the project.
Two Metro lines will converge on the area. Line 11 is included in the project's first phase while the Line 2 stretch will be introduced later.
The ceremony began with drummers in dragon-festooned outfits playing upbeat rhythms, followed by Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in traditional Chinese costume taking to the stage alongside Donald Duck, Cinderella and Snow White.
Disney's first theme park in the Chinese mainland and its third in Asia will cost 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion). Hotels, additional entertainment and retail facilities will be built at a cost of 4.5 billion yuan.
The park in Shanghai's southeastern suburbs will feature the world's biggest "Magic Kingdom" castle and have a huge 405,000 square metre lake.
Robert Iger, Disney's president and chief executive officer, said the Shanghai Disney Resort would be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.
"Today is the culmination of many years of hard work, dedication and partnership," he said. "This is a defining moment in our company's history."
Behind the happy and upbeat "a dream come true" sentiments, down-to-earth questions were also raised yesterday.
At a news briefing after the ceremony, the first question raised was how Disney could make its two parks in China profitable following the Hong Kong park's reported years of losses.
But Iger shrugged off such concerns by responding that he was confident in the future of Hong Kong Disneyland, which is currently being expanded. China, he said, with a much greater population than the United States was "more than capable of supporting and sustaining two wonderful Disney destinations."
Iger didn't answer questions about the cost of tickets at Shanghai Disneyland or when the park would break even.
Though the Hong Kong park is gaining in popularity, it failed to turn a profit again for the fiscal year of 2010 although losses had narrowed from the year before.
The Hong Kong park reported a loss of HK$718 million (US$92.3 million) in the fiscal year ending October 2, 2010. It lost HK$1.315 billion in 2009.
The number of visitors to the Hong Kong park rose 13 percent last year to a record 5.2 million, 42 percent of whom were from the mainland.
Disney's parks and resorts division accounted for nearly 27 percent of the company's revenue in the most recent quarter, second only to a television and radio division that includes ABC and ESPN.
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday the resort "will improve the city's international profile" as a tourism attraction.
Shanghai Shendi Group Co Ltd, which represents the city government's stake in the project, will hold a 57 percent stake in the project, while Disney will take the remaining 43 percent.
A joint venture management company will also be formed, with Disney having a 70 percent stake and Shanghai Shendi Group holding a 30 percent stake.
The Shanghai government regards the Disney project as an important step in its bid to build the city into a world-class tourist destination.
Discussions on the Disneyland project have been ongoing for a decade, with local officials visiting other Disney theme parks.
Shanghai has already paved the way for Mickey Mouse. While construction on the park only began yesterday, work on roads surrounding the site has been ongoing for months. About 2,000 households and 297 enterprises have been relocated to make way for the project.
Two Metro lines will converge on the area. Line 11 is included in the project's first phase while the Line 2 stretch will be introduced later.
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