New park in Shanghai/Beijing...India?

[Loomis]

I posted this article over in the General Discussion area in regards to the film it mentions, but it also mentions the possibility of a new park:

Disney Heads to China

http://www.canmag.com/news/4/3/2629

"Along with the Disneyland theme park in Hong Kong and Disney theme stores in several Chinese cities, the film production is said to foreshadow deals for a theme park in Shanghai and a Chinese Disney television channel. Disney is reportedly attempting to break in to China’s booming entertainment business."

[Loomis]

Still in the rumbling stages, but here is a follow-up to the initial rumour:

DISNEY STARTS NEW CHINA FILM PROJECT

http://www.caltradereport.com/eWebPages ... 69186.html

"Southern California-headquartered Disney has opened Disney-brand stores in several mainland Chinese cities and is reportedly in talks on setting up a Shanghai theme park and a television channel, but its film offerings to mainland audiences have been mostly imported US productions".

[Loomis]

BIG news breaking over the net:

Now Beijing has plans for Disneyland: report

http://today.reuters.com/investing/Fina ... DISNEY.xml

"SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing is planning to build a Disneyland, a newspaper said on Tuesday, in the latest salvo of an ongoing duel between China's capital and Shanghai to build the nation's first world-class theme park.

The Chinese capital would build the park by 2010, according to the South China Morning Post, which quoted a document presented to Beijing's municipal people's congress this week".

-----------------------------------

The article goes on to say that Universal also have competing bids in the city, and this may effect HOng Kong business.

HOWEVER,

Disney Denies Beijing Theme Park Report

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7001952996

"Orlando, FL (AHN) – On Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company denies reports it hopes to build a Disney theme park in Beijing by 2010.

The company issued a statement, "Media reports that claim Disney is building a park in Beijing are inaccurate and not based on fact. Disney has no plans to build a park in Beijing at this time."

The South China Morning Post, an English-language daily in Hong Kong, reported Disney had revealed plans to open a second Disney theme park in China.

The report claimed the city’s development and reform commission proposed the theme park be built in Beijing’s southern Daxing district."
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They did say 'at this time'. Still, the wide reporting of this gives some hope that we will see another Disneyland park in mainland China some time in the future.

[Escapay]

Hmm...if Disneyland Beijing does happen, think we'll have HUDs* and Whuffies* and backups* and deadheads* by then?

Escapay

*Futuristic kickass stuff from the novel "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom", which has a Disneyland Beijing

[Loomis]

Disney admits talks over Shanghai park

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... con_type=1

<img src="http://www.thestandard.com.hk/newsimage ... disney.jpg" align=left> Wendy Leung

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

In a sign that a deal may be imminent, Disney officials have for the first time admitted it's negotiating to build a theme park in Shanghai, shortly after disclosing that the Lantau park contributed to the California-based entertainment giant's stellar results in the quarter ended December.

But Hong Kong tourism officials rejected fears that a new park in the mainland would significantly hurt the six-month-old Penny's Bay attraction.

Speaking Tuesday after revealing the plan that has been widely rumored for years, Walt Disney chief executive Robert Iger said: "We have ongoing discussions - ongoing and ongoing and ongoing - with the Chinese government about a park in Shanghai."

Throughout last year, Hong Kong and mainland media reported Shanghai hopes to start construction of a Disneyland theme park in 2008. But neither Iger -who described Shanghai as attractive due to its high population and rapid economic development - nor city officials would comment on a timetable Tuesday.

A Shanghai city government spokesman said: "Since building a Disney theme park is an international project, we ultimately will have to get central government approval."

While noting that no deal has yet been inked between the two sides, a Hong Kong Disneyland spokeswoman reiterated that another Chinese park would not open before 2010.

Dismissing worries that the new park will trip up the Lantau attraction just as it is getting its footing, Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents chairman Michael Wu said: "Shanghai attracts mainland tourists, while Hong Kong's visitors are from Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and so on."

Democratic Party lawmaker Fred Li, a critic of the Lantau park, said: "Since Disney is planning to open another theme park in China, it must position us and Shanghai differently, otherwise this is stupid commercial behavior."

While less sanguine, Tourism Board public relations manager Lucinda Wong said: "A Disney theme park in Shanghai would not present a significant threat to the success of Hong Kong Disneyland. China is a huge market that can easily support more than one Disneyland."

At Tuesday's conference call, Iger expressed satisfaction with Hong Kong Disneyland, which had early trouble meeting its projections for ticket sales, but had four sold-out days last week.

Disney's latest results are for its first quarter in the 2005-2006 financial year and the first full quarter to include Hong Kong Disneyland.

While the company as a whole spurted up by 7 percent, its parks and resorts revenues rose by 13 percent to US$2.4 billion (HK$18.72 billion) and the segment's operating income rocketed 51 percent, to US$375 million.

[singerguy04]

as long as the two parks are somewhat different and have different things to offer, i don't see why either would have trouble attracting people. It's the same as Disneyland and WDW here in the U.S. they are almost completely different places so people here want to go to both.

Also (this may be a personal wish) i hope that disney chooses a new princess to base the castle on for this theme park. since Cinderella is in tokyo and Sleeping Beauty is in Hong Kong it'd make better sense to have a new design and a whole new princess for this castle. I'd love to see a Snow White or a Beauty and the Beast Castle. That would attract people from all over the world i would think!

[Loomis]

Also (this may be a personal wish) i hope that disney chooses a new princess to base the castle on for this theme park. since Cinderella is in tokyo and Sleeping Beauty is in Hong Kong it'd make better sense to have a new design and a whole new princess for this castle. I'd love to see a Snow White or a Beauty and the Beast Castle. That would attract people from all over the world i would think!

Or be really radical and different by making an Ariel inspired 'underwater' themed castle, or even an Arabian palace for Jasmine. I like your thinking, singerguy. If the world needs another Disneyland (and as obsessed as I am, perhaps it doesn't) then it really needs to do something bold that can't be found anywhere else. Tokyo's DisneySea is a great example of a "different" secondary park, that maintains originality and the 'Disney' feeling. However, given that it will most likely be a single-park entity, the castle is a great place to start.

[singerguy04]

Also (this may be a personal wish) i hope that disney chooses a new princess to base the castle on for this theme park. since Cinderella is in tokyo and Sleeping Beauty is in Hong Kong it'd make better sense to have a new design and a whole new princess for this castle. I'd love to see a Snow White or a Beauty and the Beast Castle. That would attract people from all over the world i would think!

Or be really radical and different by making an Ariel inspired 'underwater' themed castle, or even an Arabian palace for Jasmine. I like your thinking, singerguy. If the world needs another Disneyland (and as obsessed as I am, perhaps it doesn't) then it really needs to do something bold that can't be found anywhere else. Tokyo's DisneySea is a great example of a "different" secondary park, that maintains originality and the 'Disney' feeling. However, given that it will most likely be a single-park entity, the castle is a great place to start.

i'm glad at least someone in this world is on the same page as me, lol. I've always kinda held out hope that disney would make a water park that would have Ariel's castle. A Aladdin and Jasime castle would be freakin sweet also though. Even if they don't change the princess, at least give the castle a different look! i absolutely HATE how the Hong Kong castle is a clone of the Disneyland castle and how the Tokyo castle is a clone of the WDW castle. Maybe someday i can be CEO of disney and that will be one of the thing's i'd change! i'd just give Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland Paris a paint job and call it Belle's. and then completely change the two in Tokyo and Hong Kong to some other princess's. MUAH HA HA HA HA

[Loomis]

Disney is back-peddling again:

Disney denies park deal with Shanghai

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006- ... 154657.htm

'Walt Disney Co yesterday moved to quell speculation that it is on the verge of reaching a deal with the government over a proposal for a Disneyland theme park in Shanghai.

Rumours of an impending agreement reached fever pitch on Tuesday after Robert Iger, Disney's president and CEO, was quoted on Hong Kong Cable TV as saying talks with the Chinese Government were "ongoing."

On Wall Street, Disney stock climbed almost 7 per cent by the market's close on Tuesday, its highest price in six months, but company spokeswoman Allanah Goss was quick to dispel any ideas that an agreement was imminent.

"There is nothing new to report on the progress of Shanghai discussions," she said. "The Walt Disney Co has not reached an agreement with Shanghai to build a second theme park in China. If we were to reach an agreement for a second park in China, it would not open before 2010.'

[Loomis]

Parks in India, China's future

Disney CEO: Lack of infrastructure, other issues in way

"Robert Iger thinks the Walt Disney Co. will build theme parks in India and mainland China during his lifetime though maybe not during his tenure as the company's chief executive officer."

"At a conference sponsored by the Bear Stearns brokerage house earlier this week in Palm Beach, Iger said big challenges with local infrastructure such as transportation and waste disposal need to be overcome before such widely speculated developments can occur."

More...

[Loomis]

Shanghai awaiting central government approval for Disney theme park - mayor

SHANGHAI (AFX) - Shanghai is awaiting final approval from the central government for a Disney theme park, Shanghai mayor Han Zheng said, according to China News.

Han, who is also a deputy of the National People's Congress, said they hope to build the park soon, but a starting date for construction has not been set.

When asked about possible competition between Shanghai and Hong Kong, which already has a Disney park, he said he hopes for co-operation instead.

Hong Kong and mainland media earlier reported that Shanghai hopes to start construction of the theme park in 2008.

[Loomis]

Then there is this article from the Shanghai Daily:

City laying red carpet to coax Disneyland

SHANGHAI is moving ahead with plans to welcome the Magic Kingdom, Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday, marking the first government acknowledgement that Walt Disney Co may follow its Hong Kong theme park with one on the Chinese mainland.

"Shanghai has been hoping to build a Disneyland for a long time," Han told reporters in Beijing, where he was attending the annual meeting of the National People's Congress.

"Shanghai has the conditions for a Disneyland," he said. "Preliminary preparations are ongoing, but the final decision will be made by the State Council."
[...]
Disney, the second-biggest US media company, said it is involved in a continuing dialogue with China on a variety of initiatives, including theme parks, but has not reached an agreement with Shanghai to build a second Disney resort in China.

"There is nothing new to report on the progress of Shanghai discussions," the company said in a statement e-mailed to Shanghai Daily yesterday. "If we were to reach an agreement for a second park in China, it would not open before 2010."

Disney set up a theme park operations unit in Shanghai last July to accelerate negotiations with city government.