Shanghai Disney

[GeneChing]

I couldn't quite put my finger on the trend that inspired this thread until this article.

December 27, 2011 -- Updated December 27, 2011 11:57 HKT
Theme parks enter a new Golden Age

Investment in theme parks and cutting-edge attractions like Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando rose during the recession, suggesting the business is entering a new Golden Age.

“It’s almost like a Theme Park 2.0, or a re-boot,” said Brent Young, co-founder of the Super 78 production studio in Hollywood, California. “We are really coming into a second Golden Age in theme park development,” he said.

The 1st boom, which peaked in the 1970′s, saw extensive construction of theme parks in the United States from the ground up.

Development of Walt Disney World, Six Flags, Busch Gardens and numerous regional parks led to a saturation of the US market by the 1980′s.

The New Era is a Global phenomenon propelled by technological advances and a growing middle-class in Asia and emerging countries. In the US there is a squeeze on the middle-class. But in other parts of the World, there is an expanding middle class.”

China is experiencing a theme park construction boom comparable to what occurred in the United States in the 1970′s.

The coming Disney park in Shanghai triggered an expansion of the Chinese regional theme park company Happy Valley. Disney broke ground in Shanghai in Y 2011, and anticipates a Y 2015 opening.

In the past when Disney has opened in a region of the World, it has encouraged others to enter. With the Shanghai Disney park, one expects a similar increase in construction and development.

The New Golden Age is marked by the additions of highly themed and immersive experiences using state-of-the-art technology.

The huge success of the Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando, which executives say boosted attendance by 50%, has increased demand.

Since that attraction opened in June 2010, Universal has been breaking its attendance records.

Spending on new attractions in the United States also is up, estimates are that spending rose 30-35% over the past 2 yrs, following 4 yrs of mostly stagnant attendance and deep discounting at parks. Much of the new spending is on redevelopment and additions to existing parks according to an industry source.

Several examples of recent investment in the central Florida tourist hub include; Sea World Orlando’s planned overhaul of its Penguin exhibit to include state-of-the-art interactive ride technology, and the just-completed revamp of the historic Cypress Gardens ski-show park in Winter Haven into a LegoLand.

Ride manufacturers who met in Orlando in November for the annual International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions convention have never been busier, they are almost at capacity for the next couple of years according to reports.

Experts said the end is not in sight, thanks to technological advances that will continue to create demand.

Within the next 10 yrs, the experts expect attractions will enable park guests to feel as if they are sharing space with fully rendered 3-D characters and other nearly unimaginable experiences, it will be like going to the 5th dimension.

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. writes and publishes The Red Roadmaster’s Technical Report on the US Major Market Indices, a weekly, highly-regarded financial market letter, read by opinion makers, business leaders and organizations around the world.

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr has studied the global financial and stock markets since 1984, following a successful business career that included investment banking, and market and business analysis. He is a specialist in equities/commodities, and an accomplished chart reader who advises technicians with regard to Major Indices Resistance/Support Levels.

[GeneChing]

It serves as a reminder of why this thread exists.

China's Theme Park Boom
Published February 05, 2013 in Arabic Knowledge@Wharton

In April 2011 in Shanghai, Disney Resorts made its official arrival in the city. The multinational entertainment company broke ground on a new resort site on the outskirts of Shanghai, marking the occasion with a celebration that included a choir singing in both English and Mandarin and Mickey Mouse dancing onstage in a traditional Chinese costume.

"This is a defining moment in our company's history," said Disney CEO Robert Iger to a crowd. The new park, he promised, would be "both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese."

Disney's arrival is the most high-profile example of a theme-park boom taking place in China. The government officials and Disney officers that grabbed shovels on that afternoon were at the center of a trend that has new parks opening in cities all over China and, according to analysts, attracted a total of over 100 million attendees in 2011.

"There has been amazing growth in the Chinese theme park market," says John Gerner, the founder of a U.S.-based consulting firm called Leisure Business. "The government is encouraging domestic consumption -- and when [consumers] spend more internally, one of the things they spend on is leisure."

Theme park development, says Gerner, tends to follow the growth of the middle class. With more disposable income, people have become more interested in spending on leisure and entertainment. The rule, he says, applies to growth in the middle class not only nationally but regionally within a given country. "If a market can support a theme park, then you can be sure that it has a pretty good middle class," he says.

Gerner'shypothesis is supported by climbing park attendance numbers in China. The country's middle class has expanded rapidly in the last two decades, and in 2011 alone, six major theme parks opened across the country, many in smaller, second-tier cities. These included two water parks, two sea-life parks and theme parks in the cities of Qingdao and Changzhou, a neighbor to Shanghai. By the year 2020, analysts expect theme park attendance will double to more than 200 million each year.

The rush to build new theme parks and capitalize on this new market, however, is no measure of the quality of parks that are opening. Many parks are still not turning a profit and many are aging quickly, without any reinvestment from park runners. As Disney and other international parks arrive, however, analysts expect that China's theme parks will have to improve to compete. When Disney opens in 2015, a new and improved theme park boom is expected.

The Township Model

China's first theme park opened in the early 1990s, added to residential developments as a bonus -- an extra attraction for the city's new residents. "[Developers] had the idea of building a town, and decided to include a number of theme parks to anchor the development," says Chris Yoshii, the global director of the consulting group AECOM. "That township model has caught on. It has been replicated in China and to some extent in South East Asia."

The attraction of combining a residential and commercial development with a theme park, Yoshii says, has to do with the intensive capital requirements that come along with theme parks. Parks are attractive to local governments because they can attract tourism and encourage locals to spend their disposable income within the city. A successful park, however, requires infrastructure and a large initial investment. "A lot of the cities themselves don't have money to invest themselves, but they do have land," says Yoshii. To get their theme parks, cities will offer land to developers willing to include a theme park in their plan. This way, Yoshii says, "The city gets what they want without putting out much money. All they have to do is issue land approvals."

In turn, a developer can include residential and commercial units in their theme park "township." These aspects of the development offer a quicker return on investment. "They can use the residential element to pay for some of the infrastructure costs," says Yoshii. "And at the end, you have a park that is generating a good return while some of the capital has already been paid back."

While the majority of theme parks in China are built this way, the formula does not always produce stellar results. In some cases, developers have not delivered on their promise to develop a theme park and have focused instead on residential and commercial real estate alone. In others, the theme park is an afterthought --poorly put together, poorly maintained and poorly run.

"Surveys show that the majority of theme parks [in China] have been loss making," points out Michel Brekelmans, the co-head of L.E.K. Consulting's China operationsbased in Shanghai. Local governments will often offer land at a steep discount to developers who include a theme park in their plan. "Not surprisingly, many of these parks have ben unsuccessful and leave visitors with a disappointing experience," Brekelmans says.

China's earliest parks were intended to present China to foreign tourists. These include the parks Splendid China and China Folk Cultural Village. Soon after, a park called Window of the World opened in Shenzhen, offering visitors a look at theworld-the pyramids, the Eiffel Tower-on a small scale. China's largest theme park chain, Happy Valley, opened its first park in the 1990s, offering a more Western-style format, introducing its own characters and dividing the park into different themed areas.

While Happy Valley has been successful and expanded, the majority of parks opening in China are either animal themed or loose adaptations of existing theme parks. According to Brekelmans, the majority of new parks will present visitors with an amalgamation of thrill rides, roller coasters and Ferris wheels. "More recently local operators are realizing that theming … is a key factor in marketing the park and creating the overall experience," he says. "We're seeing more attempts to come up with original concepts."

Although Brekelmans believes the majority of new parks opening in China are still poorly planned and unlikely, in the long run, to succeed, he also sees changes in the market. With the arrival of Disney and other multinational projects, he says, more expertise and dedication is being shown across the board. "A wave of [joint ventures] with foreign players is entering the market, bringing with them the skills and concepts to succeed in China," he says. "Slowly local players are learning lessons, and many smaller upstarts have exited the market."

continued next post

[GeneChing]

International Arrivals

Disney is not the only multinational theme park company to arrive in China. DreamWorks recently announced they would be investing more than $3 billion in a dining, shopping and entertaining district that will include theme park attractions based on some of the animation studio's popular movies. Both companies are entering the market in joint-venture structures, partnering with the Chinese state-owned enterprise Shanghai Shendi, in Disney's case, and China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd., in DreamWorks' project.

While the presence of international players may drive some domestic theme parks out of business, Yoshii says in the past, the arrival of Disney Resorts in international markets hasactually boosted the theme park market overall. "When parks like Universal or Disney open, they raise the standards of what people in that market consider a good theme park environment," he says. At the same time, the arrival of a Disney park helps familiarize people with what a theme park experience entails.

"Americans are very familiar with theme parks," points out Leisure Business's Gerner. "Walt Disney was very smart when he worked out a deal with the ABC TV network to do a show." The Disney show helped promote the theme park to its audience, educating them on what to expect from the Disney experience. "Outside the U.S., a lot of people don't really know what theme parks are, and it takes quite a bit to educate them," he notes. "This is not in any way a formal education, but by hearing commercials and news stories people get a better understanding."

This education process happens faster when there is a major resort entering a market. For these reasons, Gerner says, the arrival of Disney typically leads to an increase in the number of theme parks in a market. In Japan, for example, the opening of Tokyo Disney led to a wave of new theme parks, many of which are still very successful.Disney's high ticket-prices also have a tendency to buoy the rest of the market, says Yoshii. "Disney is going to come in at the highest price, and that has a bit of an umbrella effect," he notes. "They can raise their pricing a little bit and still be under Disney. Overall, it's a positive impact."

Shanghai Disney is expected to anchor an entertainment district that will fit the pattern of other Chinese theme parks. The Disney resort will include a theme park, an entertainment district, a shopping district and restaurants. Shanghai Shendi, says Yoshii, will be responsible for the residential and other development around the Disney resort.

Chinese-style Attractions

As more multinationals arrive, adapting to the Chinese market has been a priority. Disney has emphasized the fact that their park will incorporate Chinese cultural elements to the traditional Disney fare. Modifications to the design of the park have been announced in public, including the elimination of "Main Street," a central feature in all other Disney resorts, and the inclusion of the largest storybook castle in the world.

Chinese audiences, says Yoshii, do demonstrate different preferences from their Western counterparts. "It's less about the thrill roller coaster in China," he says. "There's a very strong preference for shows. Chinese audiences tend to like music and dancing and animal shows. These are more passive attractions."

While multinational operators are trying to adapt to Chinese consumer habits, Brekelmans believes that China's theme park developers are slowly becoming more creative and savvy about the market, adding their own cultural flavor to home-grown parks. "We are seeing attempts to come up with original concepts based on Chinese culture and history such as Ming dynasty parks or The Monkey God," he says. "These could be hugely successful if executed to high operational standards, as they would enhance the overall experience and customer satisfaction which would drive return visits and merchandising sales."

Part of the learning curve, he adds, is the realization that smart marketing and well-placed reinvestment provide an important boost to theme park revenue. Spending on retail and concessions make up an important part of park profits. "Besides ticket revenue, themeparks also need to drive value by getting people to open their wallet for drinks, food and merchandising," says Brekelmans. "Creating a strong themed experience is critical in this respect."

Globally, the most successful parks also continuously invest in new attractions, opening a new ride or a new show on a regular schedule. "For theme parks to be successful on their own, it's critical to drive repeat visits," Brekelmans says. This means re-investment, offering new attractions that can bring visitors back for their second, third and fourth visits. "In China, this does not necessarily mean coming up with a new attraction every two years, as these can be highly risky and capital intensive investments," Brekelmans says. "China has a great tradition in staged acrobatic performances, for instance, and these could be a great draw for people if done well and to a high standard."

While many of the parks opening today are buoyed by growth in the market overall, Brekelmans believes the operators who understand these dynamics have a better chance at survival in the long-term. And, while many of today's new parks will close, China's theme park boom isn't expected to slow down any time soon.

"There will likely be another wave of development after Disney's arrival," says Gerner. "That wave may include more foreign brands, but it will continue to boost the domestic brands as well."

Actually, you really don't have to read this whole article to know why this thread exists. You can just look at DJ's post above to get the picture.

[GeneChing]

Robert: Obviously, there's been a demand for that, but now we're at a point where they're contracting out and building the real thing. There's going to be a real Disneyland in Shanghai. Chinese are contracting with companies such as Thinkwell, who know how to build a real Western theme park. How do you see this trend playing out?

Dave: I think the demand for a real, quality, Disney-style theme park is no different that the burgeoning demand there for luxury goods: the real Prada bag and not the fake Prada bag. Knock-off culture is what it is there. It's the elephant in the middle of the room in a lot of ways. But that's changing because you have two or three generations of people who have been educated overseas. They're understand why those extra steps in creating technology, or entertainment, or goods, or services, make for a better product and will make your audience fall in love with it.

Like you said, the Tumblr blogs show us these scary Small World clones. I've ridden them, and they are creepy as hell. But that's because they copied just what the saw and not necessarily what they felt. At least that's my own B.S., psychological evaluation of that. I went on one of those Small World rides. It was trying to be Small World. It had all the blocky graphics, sort of like Mary Blair, or I always like to switch the first letter of someone's name when it's the knock-off, so it's Barry Mlair.

At the end of the ride, I look up in the sky above all the singing dolls and there's this sort-of starburst pattern on a little logo and I squint and look at it said "Mattel" on it. And I went, why is there a Mattel logo? Then I realized it's because Mattel used to sponsor the one here [at Disneyland in Anaheim]. So they had just taken a picture of the set and copied everything, not knowing what the context of that meant.

This is just cultural misappropriation, misunderstanding. They're trying really hard to get the same feeling, when the feeling of that ride isn't just the way it looks. It's many other things, too. That's an education for them, as it's an education for us to learn how to adapt to Chinese culture and audience.

Another one I saw was a park in Beijing where they'd obviously went to Islands of Adventure. There was one area of the park where right next to each other was the facade for The Cat in the Hat dark ride, the giant arm from the collapsed Poseidon statue, and a row of sets from Port of Entry. I mean, I was working there [at Islands of Adventure] at the time when all of that was being built, so I saw it come out of the ground. I have a photographic memory of that park. So I walked in and I went, "Wow, this is deja vu." They literally took a picture and said "We want that." But the seams of where they went together were not there. And that's the kind of thing that we can help them with.

Hong Kong Disneyland had an impact there, but there's a bit of dissonance when we deal with mainland China clients. They see [Hong Kong] as a different audience. That's changing, but I think a lot of our clients reacted that way because [Hong Kong Disneyland] initially was seen not as a success. But we all know that Disney's just going to turn on the money hose until it works. So now it's working, and very well. Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor are two of the best things they've done in the world in a long time. That Mystic Manor ride, I can't wait.

Robert: And what's interesting about Mystic Manor, that final, climatic scene...

Dave: ...It's Monkey King!

The thing people need to know is that Monkey King isn't some licensed character. It started as oral tradition, told between families, and then it was written down and now it's what they call one of the five greatest books in Chinese literature. Then it turned into operas, and stage plays, and animated series, and comic books, and toys. There's a version for it with a very famous Chinese actor that was made for television in the 70s, and that's the one that the current generation of adults, like our age, know and absolutely love. We got it on DVD when we were over there and watched it and it's so charmingly funny. The Gen Xers will know what I'm talking about -- it looked like a Sid and Marty Krofft show, with slightly cheesy costumes and goofy special effects. It was like Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, or Wonderbug, or any of those things. Seeing that really helped me understand that this isn't some creaky old novel. This is something that every generation reinvented.

There was that great HD video of Mystic Manor that hit the day after the ride opened… by the way Internet, I love you. Theme park nerds out there, first know that we're one of you, and we love all of you. We travel a lot for work, but I can't get out there and see everything. But when something opens, all I have to do is go to Google. The day after it opened, there was this gorgeous first-person video that showed everything. So thank you for that, whoever you were.

Then it got to that last scene, and I'm like, "Holy crap, it's the Monkey King!" He's being used as a cultural touchstone. If the story of this ride is that all of statuary and objects come to life and reveal their magical properties, well, he's a trickster. Of course, he's going to screw things up at the end. It's a brilliant little get for them. And it's a perfect example of why you can't necessarily do the Haunted Mansion in a Chinese park. Ghosts are not the same. In most Asian cultures, ghosts are different, but in China ghosts are very, very different. It's usually about magic, and whether or not that magic is good or bad. It's more about demons and elemental spirits than it is about the ghosts of dead people.

So you go through Haunted Mansion [as a Chinese visitor] and it doesn't quite read. People don't understand the idea of your friends and family, or strangers, people in the graveyard singing at you. We have an affinity for that because we've been told that old New England-style houses and graveyards are creepy places. That has no cultural relevance at all [in China]. It doesn't push any buttons.

I thought that ride in particular was a brilliant retelling of the tenets of the Haunted Mansion but as something entirely different. And also, it starts with a monkey, too. The whole mischievous monkey idea, it's great. Monkeys are celebrated as tricksters in the culture, and sort of adored as cute things.

Robert: As you were talking about all these knock-off parks that copied the form, but totally missed the function. Here's something that got the function of the Haunted Mansion [as a spirit-driven magic show], but it's in a completely different form.

Dave: Now [clients in China] see that Disney's going to make this work, they're going to adapt to the audience, not the other way around. Shanghai is a perfect example of that. From what little I've seen, it has only the most tenuous connection to the physic design of Magic Kingdoms we know. It shares a lot of the philosophies, but it's expressing them in a completely different way.

For more of our interview with Dave Cobb, including the challenges of designing for a multi-generational audience, the damage of the Coaster Wars, and the power of letting your audience be part of the show, download Episode 4 of Theme Park Insider podcast on iTunes.

This could almost go on our Chinese counterfeits thread instead.

[GeneChing]

I would love to go on the Disney HK Haunted Mansion ride.

I would also still love to see the Chinese cut of Iron Man 3.

To Lift Hong Kong Park, Disney Deploys Iron Man


Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
The Mystic Point ride is a twist on the famed Haunted Mansion and now operates at Hong Kong Disneyland.
By BROOKS BARNES and KEITH BRADSHER
Published: October 8, 2013

HONG KONG — Iron Man has proved his might at the Chinese box office. Now Disney is betting that the Marvel superhero has enough muscle to complete a turnaround at its underperforming theme park here — a task of crucial importance as the company hurtles toward the opening of a mega-resort in Shanghai.


Disney/Marvel
A rendering of the planned Iron Man Experience at Hong Kong Disneyland, with a shopping area, which is due to open in 2016.

An Iron Man-themed thrill ride, photo pavilion and shopping area will open at Hong Kong Disneyland in late 2016, said Thomas O. Staggs, Disney’s theme park chairman. The Iron Man Experience, which analysts say will cost at least $100 million, will be Disney’s first ride based on Marvel. Disney bought the comic book company for about $4 billion in 2009.

At its core, the expansion is about shoring up a resort that Disney is counting on to act as an engine in Southeast China for its broader portfolio of merchandise and movies. Hong Kong Disneyland, criticized for its small size and locked in heated competition with nearby Ocean Park, has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since opening in 2005 because of smaller-than-expected attendance.

Hong Kong Disneyland reported its first profit — a slim $14 million — for its last fiscal year, a signal that turnaround efforts, including a torrent of new rides and retooled marketing campaigns, are working. But the park remains a work in progress, and Disney needs to prove, to itself and others, that it can find the right success formula for Hong Kong Disneyland as a prelude to the much bigger undertaking in Shanghai.

An exclusive Iron Man offering could greatly increase Hong Kong Disneyland’s momentum. “Iron Man 3” took in $121.2 million in China this year. The related “Avengers” movie took in $84.1 million.

“It’s important for us to have a story for our Hong Kong guests, a little bit of bragging rights that they have something that nobody else has,” said Bill Ernest, the president of Disney’s theme parks in Asia.

The decision to deploy one of its mightiest assets at Hong Kong Disneyland reflects the delicate balancing act that Disney faces as it prepares to open the Shanghai resort in 2015. To achieve its growth goals in China, Disney needs both beachheads to thrive. Disney must also fend off competition in the booming Chinese theme park market, including an $8.2 billion movie-themed resort and real estate development announced late last month for the seaside city of Qingdao.

Disney insists that its two Chinese parks will draw from different population bases, much like its resorts in Florida and California do. “We are confident that Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland will complement and reinforce each other,” Mr. Staggs said in an e-mail.

Some economists here agree. But Disney at the very least faces a very local challenge: Hong Kong leaders, already feeling a bit insecure about the ascension of Shanghai as a financial capital, do not want their Disneyland to be viewed as less than successful and are counting on it to help fuel tourism growth to the city. The Hong Kong government owns 52.44 percent of Hong Kong Disneyland, with Disney controlling the balance.

Disney has 11 major parks worldwide that recorded 126.5 million visitors last year and delivered profit of $1.9 billion.

Disney gave few details about the planned Iron Man ride, saying only that it will allow guests to take flight with the superhero as he fights alien invaders across the streets and skyline of Hong Kong — a tease that will surely make Marvel’s rabid fan base salivate. Even without specifics, the announcement will also help to end what has long been Hong Kong Disneyland’s biggest question: Is it big enough?

After building a theme park complex outside Paris in the early 1990s that was much bigger than demand ultimately warranted (and is still causing the company headaches), Disney pursued the opposite strategy with Hong Kong, where plans called for growth in phases. “We wanted to get our bearings when it came to our Asian consumers,” Mr. Ernest said, noting that Chinese children have not traditionally grown up with Mickey Mouse and his cartoon friends.

But the park’s small size annoyed many local guests, who wanted more rides to go with the extravagant landscaping.

Opening-year attendance missed projections, and the number of visitors dropped by more than 20 percent the following year, to about four million people. (To compare, the older Disneyland Paris now attracts 11.2 million visitors annually.) The Hong Kong park did not offer enough attractions to draw the expected interest from China’s adjacent Guangdong province in particular, economists say. About 106 million people live in Guangdong.

In terms of attendance, “we could easily triple it or quadruple it,” said Nicholas Kwan, the research director at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, an advisory group originally created by the government that now works closely with local chambers of commerce.

When Disney has a will, it generally finds a way. Since 2011, the company has spent about $465 million on an aggressive expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland. New areas include Grizzly Gulch, a gold rush town that features a roller coaster that runs backward; Mystic Point, where a twist on the famed Haunted Mansion now operates; and Toy Story Land, a lavishly themed collection of rides and shops.

“We think we are successful, and a lot of that success is balanced around new product,” including parades and seasonal events, Mr. Ernest said, stopping short of trumpeting a formal turnaround. He declined to discuss continuing talks with the government to build new hotels at the resort — it currently has two — and add a Downtown Disney shopping district.

The new areas that are already open, which have increased the park’s size by about 25 percent, contributed to an 14 percent increase in attendance last year, to about 6.7 million, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. Disney says that 45 percent of Hong Kong Disneyland’s customers now come from mainland China, compared with 34 percent in 2006. The company, feeling confident about increased demand, raised ticket prices by 12.8 percent in March; general admission now costs about $58.

“The new attractions are much more fun than the old ones,” said Kevin Lau, a Hong Kong hotel manager. “Before we always found it small.”

Still, Mr. Lau said that the less expensive Ocean Park, which was visited by 7.4 million people last year, retains his loyalty, in part because of his own childhood memories there. Despite its progress, Hong Kong Disneyland still has areas that need improvement, he said.

“The food in the park could be more attractive with better quality,” Mr. Lau said. “We always give up eating inside the park and go back to town for dinner.”

Disney is proud of its food offerings, which now includes halal-certified cuisine for Muslim visitors. But new food could presumably accompany Iron Man’s arrival at the park. As any Marvel fan knows, he is a huge aficionado of the American cheeseburger.

[GeneChing]

Chow Yun Fat will have to make the opening. Embarrassingly, I still haven't seen PotC2.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN COMING TO SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND
March 19, 2014
Shanghai Disneyland to feature first Pirates-themed land in a Disney park

March 19, 2014, Shanghai – Shanghai Disney Resort today announced that the first of its Magic-Kingdom theme park's six themed lands will be dedicated to characters and stories inspired by the blockbuster movie franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean. This first-ever Pirates-themed land in a Disney park, to be named Treasure Cove, will be unique to Shanghai Disneyland and include a major attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure, an all-new high-technology boat ride attraction. Today's announcement coincides with the completion of key structural work on the Pirates attraction, and marks another exciting milestone in the resort development.

Seamlessly blending Disney's storytelling and state-of-the-art technologies, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure will be the first attraction built since the release of the Pirates films, and the first to heavily feature the characters and scenes derived directly from the movies. Employing many never-before-seen effects and technologies, Guests will be enlisted to go with Captain Jack Sparrow on an epic journey to find Captain Davy Jones' treasure. The ride will take Guests down to the ocean depths, through the bellies of pirate ships, and straight into the heart of a ferocious naval battle, all the while braving the nautical twists, spins and turns of a pirate adventure.

"We are excited to celebrate this new milestone in Shanghai Disney Resort's development," said Bill Ernest, President and Managing Director, Asia, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. "And we're thrilled to announce that the resort's theme park will be home to a first new themed land and attraction, inspired by the phenomenal Pirates of the Caribbean movies that were originally inspired by a Disney attraction. It is truly unique to Shanghai Disney Resort!"

"We are excited to see the Disney Imagineering team continue to bring the most advanced technologies and construction techniques to China, working collaboratively with local talents, in building this modern and innovative park," said Fan Xiping, Chairman of Disney's Chinese joint venture partner in Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai Shendi Group.

"We are committed to creating experiences which honor both Disney heritage and appeal to our Chinese Guests," said Mike Crawford, General Manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. "With a combination of new cutting-edge technology and innovation, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure will take our Guests at Shanghai Disney Resort on a first-of-its-kind pirate adventure you will never experience anywhere else in the world."

Progress continues with construction at the Shanghai Disney Resort's build site in Pudong Shanghai and the resort remains on target to open at the end of 2015.

# # #

About Shanghai Disney Resort

Shanghai Disney Resort, the first Disney resort in Mainland China, will be a place where friends and family can escape together to a whole new world of fantasy, imagination, creativity and adventure. The resort will include a park designed in the rich tradition of Disneyland theme parks around the world with the uniqueness and beauty of China, two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue and an array of recreation facilities.

The resort will be located in Pudong, Shanghai and is targeted to open at the end of 2015.

The resort is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group comprised of two owner companies (Shanghai International Theme Park Company Limited and Shanghai International Theme Park Associated Facilities Company Limited) and a management company (Shanghai International Theme Park and Resort Management Company Limited). Shanghai Shendi Group holds 57% of the shares and Disney holds the remaining 43% of shares of the owner companies. Disney has a 70% stake and Shanghai Shendi Group has a 30% stake in the joint venture management company. The management company is responsible for creating, developing and operating the resort on behalf of the owner companies.

[GeneChing]

This is why this topic fascinates me. It's a unique barometer of China's growth.

China is building way more theme parks than it needs
By Lily Kuo @lilkuo June 26, 2014


A not so magical kingdom. Reuters/Stringer

Six Flags Corp announced plans this week to build some of its iconic amusement parks in China. But the company and other entrants into China’s increasingly crowded parks and leisure industry may be in for a roller coaster ride caused by a rapidly inflating theme-park bubble in the country.

China’s quirky amusement parks have long been famous. Developers built a park in Bruce Lee’s ancestral home, a “Kingdom of Little People” in Kunming, which hires only performers shorter than 4 feet 3inches tall, as well the “Window to the World” park in Shenzhen, which consists of imitations of the world’s most famous tourist sites. One amusement park in Sichuan province is reportedly preparing a reenactment of the Titanic’s fatal collision with an iceberg.

In all there are already more than 2,000 theme parks (link in Chinese) in China already, according to estimates by Chinese tourism experts, compared to just over 400 in the United States, with another 64 due to launch in the next six years. It’s no wonder global entertainment firms from Six Flags to Disney, which is building a Disneyland in Shanghai, are clamoring to enter the Chinese market: More than 108 million people visited theme parks in China last year, up 6% from 2012, and Chinese theme park groups like Oct Parks China, Fantawild Group, and Haichang Group, have entered global rankings (pdf, p. 9) in terms of attendance.


Part of a theme park in Hebei province scheduled to open in October.Reuters/Petar Kujundzic

But whether this growth will continue is another matter. Investors are already worried that a slower-growing economy will weigh on families’ propensity to shell out for a day of amusement. In March, Chinese theme park developer Haichang Holdings saw its share price sink 16% on the day of its IPO in Hong Kong.

Industry observers claim that less than 10% of the country’s existing theme parks are profitable, and the prospects for new developments are dubious. “They can’t all really develop, some of them won’t happen,” Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services in the US, told the China Daily.

Others worry that theme parks are just the latest way for real estate developers to buy up land. A tourism expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Liu Simin, said that a “park plus real estate” model, in which real estate developers buy land from local governments cheaply and use it to build apartments as well as a park, is becoming increasingly common. (Because parks and recreation facilities are seen as in the public interest, land for these purposes is generally cheaper.)

Moreover, starting last year, Beijing began allowing revenue-starved local governments the authority to approve theme park projects under 5 billion yuan ($800 million) in investment. The theme park boom is likely to continue ascending steadily upwards like one of Six Flags’ signature rides, but look out for the first big drop—it could be a doozy.

Cathy Sizhao Yi contributed additional reporting.

59 theme parks to be built in China by 2020

Staff Reporter
2014-06-22
09:04 (GMT+8)


A child plays with a cartoon character at a movie-themed park in Changchun in Jilin, May 1. (Photo/Xinhua)

China is slated to build 59 theme parks and five water parks by 2020 with total investments of US$23.8 billion, expected to attract 166.3 million people, a scale far exceeding the United States and Japan, Chinese-language Beijing Business Today reports, citing global engineering firm AECOM.

The market is relatively immature, however, compared to the US and Japan, and most of the nation's theme park developers focus more on the value of the enclosed land for the parks.

From 2012-2013, 14 theme parks opened offices in China, AECOM said.

According to the firm's statistics the US has fewer than 40 theme parks, Japan has more than 30, while China has 40 times the amount of the two countries combined.

Most of the construction focuses on the model of "parks plus properties," aiming partially to develop the property market.

Chinese theme parks received 180 million of tourists in 2013, up 6% from 2012.

By 2025, the nation's theme parks could receive 320 million tourists, surpassing the US, according to statistics from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).

According to an unnamed executive of a property and hotel management company in Hainan, the 1990s was the peak of China's theme park development, with more than 2,500 theme parks being completed from 1990-1994, but over the past 10 years, 80% of the theme parks closed down, resulting in economic losses of 300 billion yuan (US$48 billion). Currently, only 10% of the surviving theme parks are profitable, 20% are breaking even, while 70% of them are losing money.

Tourism industry insider Xu Fan said less than 10% of China's theme parks are profitable.

It costs lots of money and requires a long period of investment before any returns to develop a theme park. China typically sets a profit return period of two to three years for a theme park, faster than the six to eight years taken internationally. Theme parks, therefore, ignore the importance of regular transformation, which creates a vicious cycle of theme park development.

References:

Xu Fan 徐汎

[GeneChing]

The Nanfang / Blog
Charles Liu charlesliu@thenanfang.com
Disney Unveils Plans for Massive Shanghai Theme Park
Posted: 11/17/2014 1:00 pm



Set to open next year, Shanghai Disney Resort has unveiled its plans for an enormous entertainment complex next to a manmade lake, reported Xinhua.

Details released at the 2014 China International Tourism Trade Fair, indicated that the theme park will have two main hotels, one of which will feature a “Toy Story” theme.



Shanghai’s Disney Resort will be the sixth in the world, and will include the largest castle to date. Of the six entertainment sectors, one will have a “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme, while another will have Chinese characteristics and be called the “12 Friends Park”.

In other Disney developments, Hong Kong Disney World recently announced admission prices will increase from HKD $450 to $499.

More concept photos of the new Shanghai Disney Resort are shown below:





Photos: Xinhua, Hexun

Was hoping for that Star Wars theme...

[GeneChing]

It just occurred to me that Mickey Mouse probably sounds really annoying in Chinese.

Shanghai Disneyland will be 'basically' finished this year



It looks like the folks behind Shanghai Disneyland are feeling a little less confident about that previously projected 2015 finish date. Construction of the theme park will be "basically" finished this year, Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong said yesterday, adding that the Shanghai Disney Resort's opening is still being discussed.

Frankly, we were a bit surprised that the 2015 completion date for the Magic Kingdom-style theme park was still being pushed, considering the rather bleak state of things over at the Pudong site as of recent. But then again, this is the Middle Kingdom, where entire cities seemingly pop up overnight.



Basically.

A source familiar with the resort told China Daily earlier in January that there 'might be some difficulty with a 2015 opening'.

Shanghai Construction Group Co. Ltd., one of the major contractors behind the resort, said at the beginning of December that the first phase of of the theme park would be completed by the end of January, or yesterday. Mayor Yang's remarks seem to express a bit less certainty.

The latest milestone in the resort's development as of December 5 was the theme park's landmark "mountain", the second highest structure at Shanghai Disney Resort, getting topped-out (below).



Upon its eventual completion, the resort will become the sixth theme park of The Walt Disney Co., joining the likes of those in LA, Orlando, Florida, the US, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.

[Images via iFeng]

[GeneChing]

When I launched this thread in 2011, I could see this trend coming. If only I had figured out how to invest in it.

Theme park operators rush to join boom in China
Backers of Zhejiang theme park see bright future despite poor results at similar ventures in China
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 22 February, 2015, 8:44pm
UPDATED : Monday, 23 February, 2015, 12:26pm
Celine Sun in Beijing celine.sun@scmp.com


The Hello Kitty Park in Anji county, Zhejiang province, opened on January 1. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Billed as the cutest place on Earth, the newly opened Hello Kitty Park is the latest addition to an increasingly crowded market for amusement parks on the mainland.

Since its soft launch last month, the park in Anji county, Zhejiang province, has been drawing swarms of tourists to a pastel wonderland, set on 60 hectares, that houses a grand castle, a themed theatre, an aqua amusement zone and a dozen rides including a skyscraping Ferris wheel.

While the centre's shops are ringing up brisk sales of Hello Kitty dolls, along with the restaurants serving up Hello Kitty-shaped cakes, the park's backers are out to defy a number that is far from pretty: of the roughly 3,000 theme parks on the mainland, only 30 per cent are profitable, according to Yang Yanfeng, a researcher at the China Tourism Academy.

Sanrio, the patent owner of Hello Kitty, is banking on a "bright future" for the mainland's theme park market. But a reminder of the competitive pressure is just three hours' drive away in Shanghai's Pudong district, where the first Disneyland on the mainland is under construction and is due to open at the end of the year.

In Beijing, US media group Comcast Corp gained government approval last year to build one of the company's Hollywood-themed Universal Studios parks in the east of the capital.

Dalian Wanda Group, controlled by one of the country's richest men, Wang Jianlin, has been making headlines for an ambitious expansion of its entertainment empire. Wanda last month opened The Han Show and Wanda Movie Park in Wuhan, Hubei province, as the mainland's largest commercial property developer shifted its focus to entertainment, culture and tourism.

"China's theme parks market absolutely has a bright future, given the fast economic growth and robust consumer demand. This is especially true when e-commerce takes a bigger influence in China's economy, which will make 'real experience consumption', such as theme parks, more popular than ever," said Yoshifumi Kawai, the chairman of Sanrio (Shanghai) International Trading.

Sanrio founded a joint venture with a local real estate developer to invest 1.5 billion yuan (HK$1.9 billion) to build and run the park, with first-year expectations of a million visitors. The park carries the cartoon cat's image everywhere and indulges fans with photo opportunities with costumed characters on parade floats. Many of the rides are yet to open.

Also seeking to provide escapism for hundreds of millions of newly affluent mainland families is South Korea's Lotte Group, which operates what is billed as the world's largest indoor theme park as part of an integrated resort in Seoul. It plans to replicate the indoor complex in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Meanwhile, US media conglomerate 21st Century Fox is hunting for a site on the mainland for a park featuring themes from hits from the film and television world such as Ice Age, Alien and The Simpsons.

"These foreign brands are bringing not only world-level amusement facilities but also different business patterns and ideas," Yang said.

He said the development of theme parks on the mainland had long followed a pattern. In many cases, park developers used the idea of building a theme park to secure a block of land from local governments at a relatively low price. The opening of the theme park and the upgrading of public facilities nearby will then boost property values in the neighbourhoods and enhance profits for the developers. "As for the future of the theme park, they don't care that much," Yang said.

The mainland's first theme park appeared in 1989 when Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Holding teamed up with China Travel Service (Hong Kong) to launch Splendid China, which features scaled-down replicas of the country's historical buildings and renowned natural scenes.

The park's success spawned hundreds of imitators, but most closed down within years due to poor locations and a lack of innovation.

"At one time, there were dozens of parks on the mainland, all themed with China's ancient classics like A Dream of Red Mansions or Journey to the West," Yang said. "You can guess what their fate was in the end."

After the turn of the century, theme parks again became a favoured play for real estate developers with their bets on leveraging the projects to boost property values nearby. But the parks often struggled to make a profit, given the huge outlays in construction and maintenance.

The most successful ventures are Guangdong's Chimelong Paradise and Shenzhen's Happy Valley. Park developers' reliance on property revenue might change soon with the increasing involvement of top foreign park operators.

"The real business opportunities for theme parks actually lie in retailing, dining and entertainment services," said Amy Meng, an associate director of real estate consulting firm DTZ and a consultant for the planning of Beijing's Universal Studios.

She said the company's Beijing project would have a City Walk business zone outside the main entrance. The complex would be filled with shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas and nightclubs in a concept established at the company's other properties, including Osaka and Singapore.

"It's estimated that around 70 per cent of visitors, after leaving the park, still want to find somewhere to buy souvenirs, have dinner or watch a film. It would be a big market and an important source of revenue for the park," Meng added.


The Ferris wheel at the Hello Kitty Park in Anji county, Zhejiang province. Photo: SCMP Pictures

This business model is evident at Disney's theme parks, where about 50 per cent of revenue typically comes from admission tickets, with about 30 per cent generated by visitor spending on shopping and dining.

"But in most mainland parks, you can hardly find a decent place to eat or shop. That's not a smart way to do business," Meng said.

In the Hello Kitty Park in Anji, the shops selling the namesake dolls and themed cakes are packed most of the time.

"We describe our park as the cutest place on Earth. There's no doubt that our shops and restaurants are an important part of it that no one would want to miss out on. They are just as popular as all the other attractions at our place," said a marketing manager at the park.

[GeneChing]

Why, it's just like L.A. but even more so...

Fri, June 5, 2015
First Disneytown Tenants Announced for Shanghai Disney Resort
Disneytown Offers Unique Dining, Shopping and World-Class Entertainment

While construction continues on Shanghai Disney Resort, the resort today announced the names of the first tenants for its exciting shopping, dining and entertainment district, Disneytown. The tenants include well-known and trusted local and international brands including renowned restaurants Shanghai Min, Crystal Jade, and The Cheesecake Factory operated by Hong Kong Maxim’s Group, as well as various retail options including stores under I.T group, i.t and BAPE STORE®, and a LEGO Brand Retail store. Other exciting high-profile brands including Food Republic, Coconut Paradise, The Dining Room, Hatsune, blue frog, Xin Wang Restaurant, BreadTalk, Toast Box, and Chow Tai Fook will also be the first of several dozen tenants that will work closely with Shanghai Disney Resort to offer world-class shopping and dining options.

Shopping, dining and entertainment areas are key features of Disney resorts around the world, helping guests enjoy an integrated resort experience alongside world-class theme parks and hotels. Shanghai Disney Resort’s Disneytown will initially be comprised of a 46,000 square meter pedestrian-access area and will be located next door to Shanghai Disneyland, and within walking distance from both Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Toy Story Hotel. When the resort celebrates its grand opening in spring of 2016, Disneytown will feature nearly 50 tenants including a high-quality, diverse mix of retailers – premium, affordable luxury and fast fashion options – and exciting restaurants for families and convention guests alike. While located next to the theme park, there will be no charge for admission to this unique area.

“Shanghai Disney Resort has worked closely with Chinese and international partners to develop new, fresh and exciting versions of these brands for guests visiting Disneytown,” said Philippe Gas, general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. “This area will offer a distinctive Disney experience, treating guests by both day and night to great dining, shopping and entertainment amid beautiful open-air promenades and lakeshore charm.”

With Chinese guests in mind, Disneytown has been designed by an international creative team to demonstrate the perfect blend of Disney traditions and classic Chinese and Shanghai design and cultural elements, including traditional Shikumen architecture in homage to the unique heritage of Shanghai. Disneytown will be composed of five distinct districts, including Lakeshore, Marketplace, Spice Alley, Broadway Boulevard, and Broadway Plaza, to create a variety of experiences and unique offerings within each district.

Tenants of Disneytown will work closely with Shanghai Disney Resort to provide exclusive dining, shopping and entertainment experiences by tailoring every detail of the venues – from the decorations to menu design. Dining options will vary across the districts. Guests may enjoy fine dining experiences at upscale table service restaurants in the romantic theatre district, Broadway Plaza, where Shanghai Min and Crystal Jade will provide authentic Shanghainese and Cantonese cuisine with stunning views of Shanghai Disneyland from both balconies. The first Asia flagship restaurant of The Cheesecake Factory operated by Hong Kong Maxim’s Group and blue frog’s new-concept restaurant will be featured in Broadway Boulevard. Spice Alley will offer a variety of popular Asian cuisines in a casual, yet eclectic and fun environment and its dining experiences will offer something for everyone, including unique Southeast Asian cuisine and local Chinese delights from Food Republic, Thai food from Coconut Paradise and new Shanghainese dim sum and cuisine from The Dining Room. Casual dining experiences will be provided in Marketplace by Xin Wang Restaurant, the all-day Cantonese tea house, as well as fresh bakeries BreadTalk and Toast Box. Guests will also be able to experience a variety of waterfront dining options in the Lakeshore district such as California-style Japanese restaurant Hatsune, while enjoying views of both the lake and the Enchanted Storybook Castle to the north and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel to the south.

Guests who visit retail shops at Disneytown will find exciting and exclusive Disney merchandise and a wide range of other options, including the popular fashion store i.t, premium trendy fashion apparel for young adults and kids at BAPE STORE®, and luxury jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook. The area will also feature many other new experiential entries to the mainland China market, including the first flagship retail store operated by the LEGO Group in Asia to provide an integrated and diverse shopping experience with resort-exclusive offerings.

Shanghai Disney Resort is continuously striving to identify globally–known international and Chinese brands to enrich the guest experience in Disneytown. It will be a place where guests can relax and reconnect with family and friends with amazing new experiences waiting around every corner. With something for everyone, this festive venue will be a “must-visit” for anyone living in or traveling to Shanghai.



View of Disneytown: the district will incorporate unique Chinese and Shanghai architectural elements



Rendering of Disneytown’s Lakeshore



Rendering of Disneytown’s Broadway Plaza

[GeneChing]

They had me at Star Wars.

Shanghai Disney theme park trading Main Street for the Garden of the Twelve Friends


Bob Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive, unveils a huge model of the Shanghai Disney Resort in a presentation at the Shanghai Expo Centre.
Shanghai Disney
Caption Shanghai Disney
Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times

Displays showing the new Shanghai Disney attractions during a presentation at the Shanghai Expo Centre include artist renderings of the "Star Wars" attraction.
By Julie Makinen contact the reporter

Walt Disney Co. will roll out attractions based on “Star Wars” and Marvel superheroes at its new Shanghai theme park when the $5.5-billion facility opens next year, Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Iger said here Wednesday as the company kicked its publicity efforts for the long-in-the-making resort into high gear.

After stumbling with the launches of California Adventure in Anaheim in 2001 and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005, the company is out to prove that it has learned from past mistakes such as building less ambitious parks and failing to understand the cultural and culinary habits of its customers. Disney has spent handsomely to expand and upgrade Hong Kong Disneyland and California Adventure since their openings.

At a splashy news event, Iger unveiled a huge model of the resort in front of Chinese journalists, thanked the Chinese government and promised that visitors would discover Disney's “most technologically innovative park.”
Construction begins at Shanghai Disney Resort

“Here in Shanghai we are applying everything that we've learned from our six decades of relentless innovation and creativity to deliver a world-class destination,” Iger said. “Our goal was to create something that was authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese, and we believe we've achieved the perfect blend.”

The appeal of China is obvious: The most populous country — with roughly 1.3 billion people — is home to an expanding class of consumers that relishes the slick products that Disney generates.

It wasn't always that way. Disney films were briefly banned in China in the mid-1990s after the company distributed a film about the Dalai Lama. But that changed in 1999 with the release of “Mulan,” which was based on a Chinese tale. Now Disney's superhero and action films do massive business here. “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which was released in China in May, grossed about $240 million here.

When the Shanghai Disney Resort finally opens next year, it will be after years of negotiations and one major delay. In spring 2014, Disney said it would spend an additional $800 million to add attractions; earlier this year, it said it would delay the opening until 2016. No specific date has been set.

Three employees of companies working on site said extra time was also necessary to remedy construction problems caused by Chinese contractors who cut corners and didn't meet Disney's standards.
Water show


Concept art of Shanghai Disneyland suggests a water show could be featured at the Chinese theme park. (Disney)

Asked about the reasons for the delay, Disney spokesperson Angela Bliss said: “Shanghai Disney Resort is our most ambitious project and represents the Walt Disney Company's biggest foreign investment. It is also one of the largest foreign investments in the history of China. As a result of accelerating our expansion plans, we decided to target the spring of 2016 for opening.”

Gary Goddard, a former Disney Imagineer who runs his own entertainment design firm and has worked extensively in China, said he thinks the delay was a positive sign.

“I don't think Mr. Iger wants to open Shanghai and then have to fix things for the next 10 years as had to be done with parks of the last decade and a half,” Goddard said. “Hopes are high.”

Shanghai Disney, which is 57% owned by the state-owned investment consortium Shanghai Shendi and 43% by Disney, represents a huge potential new revenue source for the Burbank-based entertainment giant, complementing and enhancing its film, TV and merchandising businesses. Although the Chinese government remains cautious about “foreign cultural influences,” Disney has managed to gain a substantial foothold in the country.

Disney movies including “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Big Hero 6” earned more than $400 million in Chinese theaters in the first half of this year alone, and its cartoons are among the few foreign animations aired on state-run television. The company has a chain of language-training centers called Disney English, and last month it opened a flagship Disney store in Shanghai — the largest in the world at 54,000 square feet.

Although Shanghai Disney has not disclosed target attendance figures or ticket prices, about 330 million of China's 1.3 billion people live within a three-hour drive or train ride from Shanghai, a metropolis of 24 million, giving the resort a huge potential audience for years to come.

Walt Disney World in Florida, the world's most-attended theme park, attracted 19 million visitors last year, according to the Themed Entertainment Assn. Disney parks worldwide attracted 148 million visitors; nine of the top 10 most-visited parks were Disney properties.


Shanghai Disneyland

Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investment at Peking University and author of the “One Hour China Consumer Book,” noted that the Shanghai Expo, a world's-fair-type event in 2010, attracted 73 million visitors in just six months.

“Demand for Shanghai Disneyland is going to be overwhelming,” he said. “Usually in emerging markets, you never quite know if the demand is there before you start selling, but this is a rare exception to that rule — the demand is so abundantly clear.”

Towson said pricing will be crucial in managing visitor flow. A one-day Hong Kong Disneyland ticket costs about $64. It is unclear whether the opening of Shanghai Disney might diminish crowds at Hong Kong Disneyland, which finally began turning a profit in 2012. Last year, 48% of visitors to that park were from mainland China.

The 2016 opening of Shanghai Disney will come as China is in the midst of a wave of theme-park building. China is expected to add 59 theme parks by 2020, according to a report last year by industry analyst Aecom. Universal Parks & Resorts announced last fall that it would build a $3.3-billion, 300-acre theme park in Beijing to open around 2019.

But many Chinese theme parks tend to be modestly budgeted facilities underpinned with weak or no intellectual property and little lasting appeal.

In Shanghai, Disney is jettisoning Main Street and some of the strongly American features of its other parks and adopting concepts unique to China, such as the Garden of the Twelve Friends, with popular Disney characters representing the dozen signs of the Chinese zodiac amid cherry trees.

Chinese cultural elements will also be expressed during live entertainment coordinated to Chinese holidays and traditions. Although a Chinese-tiled roof for the Enchanted Storybook Castle was rejected in early planning stages, subtle Chinese flourishes are in evidence — the finial is topped with a peony, the national Chinese flower. The castle is billed as the “tallest, biggest and most complex” of any Disney castle, an important bragging right for the Chinese market.

Stefan Zwanzger, a Singapore-based theme park expert, said one difficulty might be maintaining Disney's traditional practice of visually isolating visitors from the outside world because the park is situated not far from some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. “I hope you won't see a Chuansha town office tower from the Dumbo the Flying Elephant” ride, he said.
Usually in emerging markets, you never quite know if the demand is there before you start selling, but this is a rare exception to that rule -- the demand is so abundantly clear. - Jeffrey Towson

Pollution and weather also could be challenging factors for Shanghai Disney; a recent spate of torrential rains has affected the resort's round-the-clock construction schedules and turned the site into what one worker described as a “big mud pit.”

Shanghai Disney will have six distinct “lands,” including the pirate-themed Treasure Cove, anchored by an all-new, high-tech “Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure” attraction. Other lands include Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Attractions will include a Tarzan live show featuring Chinese acrobats and a “Frozen”-themed production.

Outside the main park, a theater situated in a shopping, dining and entertainment district will present a Mandarin-language version of the Broadway production “The Lion King.” The resort will include two hotels.

“We know about the new Shanghai Disney Resort and we plan to visit,” said Li Jinping, a 16-year-old student from China's Guangxi province who was attending a “Frozen”-themed ice show in Beijing. “I want it to be more thrilling than the one in Hong Kong, where the rides were a bit naive for us.”

julie.makinen@latimes.com

Tommy Yang and Harvard Zhang in The Times' Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

[GeneChing]

Disney's $5 billion Chinese theme park set to open
by Charles Riley @CRrileyCNN
January 13, 2016: 5:15 AM ET

The countdown has begun. Disney fans in China have only five months to wait before the company's mega theme park opens in Shanghai.
After a decade of planning and investment of $5.5 billion, the entertainment giant's first park in mainland China will open on June 16.
The Shanghai Disney Resort represents a major bet that China's growing middle class will spend more and more of their money on travel, tourism and leisure.
The massive project includes two hotels, a shopping district and six themed lands -- Mickey Avenue, Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Adventure Isle, Treasure Cove and Tomorrowland. It will dwarf the company's parks in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Disney (DIS) has been talking about building a Shanghai theme park since the mid 2000s. The latest version of the project was due to open in late 2015, but construction problems and design changes pushed the date back.
The park features storytelling and design features that Disney hopes will appeal to a Chinese audience. Shanghai's traditional Shikumen-style architecture will be highlighted, as will themes from the Chinese zodiac.
CEO Bob Iger told investors in November that all the major structures and landmarks were in place, and that Disney was holding job fairs in order to hire thousands of staff. Despite slower economic growth in China, Iger expressed confidence about the park's potential.
"We feel great about what we're building, and we still feel great about the market," Iger said. "We continue to be impressed with the buzz that we see whenever we go to China."
Theme parks and resorts generated more than $16 billion in revenue for Disney in 2015, making them the company's second biggest business behind TV.
Disney shares have suffered recently as investors worry about "cord-cutting" (households dropping cable TV) and "cord-shaving" (households choosing smaller bundles of cable). ESPN, the company's most profitable channel, has lost 7 million subscribers since 2013.
CNNMoney (New Delhi)
First published January 13, 2016: 5:15 AM ET

June 16 this thread will ttt.

[GeneChing]

The House of Mouse brings mucho moola.

Disney Resort expected to bring realty-and-retail boom to Shanghai
By WU YIYAO (China Daily)
Updated: 2016-02-01 07:40


Two sales people introduce a housing project to a potential buyer at a Disney commercial property promotion event.[Photo/China Daily]

Shanghai Disney Resort, which will open in June, is expected to transform the metropolis' economy

Lu Jianxin, a real estate agent with Shanghai Huayu Property Ltd, has had some of his busiest business weeks in January since he joined the sector in 2002. Lu receives more than 50 phone calls every day asking him if he can find unoccupied retail properties near Shanghai Disney Resort, the long-anticipated multi-billion-dollar amusement project that is scheduled to open this summer (June).
Typically, Lu tells his callers they should have acted earlier. "Supplies of retail properties are really limited now and prices have more than doubled in the past 12 months. Obviously, investors believe that even a 10 square meter space for a noodle stand will be really profitable if it is close enough to Disneyland," said Lu.

It's not just business-minded people who are all excited about Shanghai Disney. Even 13-year-old Zhang Zihao in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, can't wait for Disney to open its gates. He has been saving his pocket money for a long time so he could visit Shanghai Disney Resort during the summer vacation.

"The admission ticket price is expected to be announced this week. I have saved 500 yuan ($75.92) so far for the ticket alone, and another 1,000 yuan for dining and accommodation, and another 500 yuan for merchandise like stuffed animals, stationery, T-shirts and gifts for friends. That's about 2,000 yuan in total."

The project has been under construction for more than six years now. Jun 16－that is, 6-16-2016－has been apparently chosen as the date of opening because the three 6s are believed to be auspicious, heralding success.

Real estate professionals believe any success of Shanghai Disney Resort would entail all-round benefits for the area. For example, visitors in huge numbers would likely spark a retail boom in Shanghai.

According to Centaline Property Agency, the average price of commercial properties within a 5 kilometer radius of Shanghai Disney Resort, including shops and restaurants, has grown more than 300 percent in the past five years.

What used to cost some 20,000 yuan per square meter in 2011 would now command a price of more than 60,000 yuan per square meter. Some properties are even priced more than 72,000 yuan per square meter, about 50 percent higher than that of other suburban areas in Shanghai.

The growth rate is among the highest for premier locations such as Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road and Lujiazui.

In comparison, the average price of residential properties in the same area doubled from 20,000 yuan per square meter to 40,000 yuan per square meter in the same period, similar to that of the city's average growth rate.


Two sales people introduce a housing project to a potential buyer at a Disney commercial property promotion event.CHINA DAILY

"Surging prices of commercial properties are a result of limited supply and great demand. We estimate that the prices may grow further but at a more steady pace in the second half of 2016, after the opening of the resort," said Joe Zhou, head of research for JLL East China.

Besides the Disney fever, another reason for the rocketing retail property prices is the expectation that foodfalls will be huge, exceeding 10 million visitors/trips in the first year, and reaching some 30 million in the years to come.



Their annual combined consumption in one year during Disney visits and other locations in the city may exceed 45 billion yuan, according to a report by commercial property services firm RET.

When 70 million visitors visited the May 1-Oct 31 Expo 2010 Shanghai China, their combined consumption exceeded 48 billion yuan, according to data of the city's Statistics Bureau. Spending on dining alone was more than 2 billion yuan.

Property market people expect Shanghai Disney Resort's impact on the retail market to be stronger than that of the 2010 Expo for the simple reason that the resort project is a permanent one, and may attract visitors who wish to stay in the city for a longer time.

Lu Wenxi, manager of Centaline Property Agency, said it is estimated that for every 1 yuan spent on resort admission tickets, another 8 yuan will be spent on retail consumption such as dining, hotels, and franchised products.

"Just consider the more than 10,000 employees who work at Shanghai Disney and their day-to-day consumption in the neighborhood. The combined size is huge, and it will not only benefit the resort but the entire city," said Lu.

Urban infrastructure in the Shanghai Disney Resort area and its neighborhood will further facilitate visitors' traffic, dining, accommodation and shopping, making consumption touch-points more accessible, said analysts.

The metropolis administration has already planned the Shanghai International Tourism and Resort Zone or SITRZ, an international tourism stretch covering 20.6 square km, including 13 square km for hotels, restaurants, entertainment centers, parks and sports facilities, which will be linked by two subway lines that will reach the city center.

Hotel chains have been developing new properties around the Disney project, including budget hotel chains such as GreenTree Inn and Jinjiang Inns. As many as 1,000 bed-and-breakfast rooms may be available in villages that are close to the Disney resort when they pass the safety and other requirements to serve visitors demands, according to Pudong District authorities.

Department stores and outlets are also under development around the resort.

In 2014, retail outlet developers Value Retail and Shanghai Shendi Group, the operator of SITRZ, announced a joint venture to build luxury shopping compound next to the Shanghai Disney Resort covering 50,000 square meters, hosting more than 100 brands.

Siu Wing Chu, head of retail at Savills China, said key retail hubs in Shanghai, including the Yuyuan Garden, the Bund, Huaihai Road and Nanjing Road are all going through brand upgradation and renovations, to sport a new, cheery look.

"We have seen several franchised Disney product stores scattered around Shanghai, and we believe that visitors to Shanghai Disney will also go sight-seeing around the Bund, Nanjing Road and Yuyuan Garden area. We expect rentals to grow in these key locations," said Chu.

[GeneChing]

$56 USD might be the cheapest ticket in the world for a Disney one-day pass.

Disney Is Setting Prices at Its New Shanghai Park to Attract a Broad Market
Rachel Chang, Bloomberg - Feb 03, 2016 6:00 pm


A plan of Shanghai Disney Resort. Walt Disney World Resorts

Skift Take
Disney says it is setting prices to manage expected demand at the new Shanghai park that opens in June. Fans of the resorts in Florida and California know the direction those prices tend to go over time: up.
— Hannah Sampson

Tickets for Walt Disney Co.’s $5.5 billion Shanghai park will be priced at about 20 percent cheaper than for Hong Kong, as the company aims to draw families across income levels to its first theme park in mainland China.

Daily regular tickets go on sale from March 28 and will be priced at 370 yuan ($56), compared with HK$539 ($69) for a one-day adult ticket to Hong Kong Disneyland, while those for children and the elderly will cost 280 yuan. It’ll also charge higher prices during peak periods such as weekends and public holidays, Disney said in a statement.

“Shanghai Disneyland’s two-tiered pricing and date-specific tickets will allow the park to manage the extraordinary anticipated demand,” Disney said Wednesday. The park, scheduled to open June 16, will limit the maximum number of guests and adhere to local capacity regulations, it said, without specifying the allowed numbers.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger has called the China resort Disney’s greatest opportunity since Walt Disney himself bought land in Central Florida in the 1960s. The company is counting on a pool of 330 million Chinese who live within a three-hour train or car trip of Shanghai to buy tickets.

Grand Opening

Tickets will be priced at 499 yuan during the park’s two- week grand opening from June 16 to June 30. Following that, the same price will apply to adult tickets during high-demand periods such as designated Chinese holidays and during summer holidays in July and August, said Disney. Hong Kong doesn’t charge peak period prices.

Similar to practices at its two other parks in Asia, Shanghai Disney’s discount for visitors aged 65 and older is a nod to ageing populations and extended family structures, which could see two sets of grandparents accompanying each child in the world’s largest populous nation. Seniors and children with height above 1 meter and up to 1.4 meter, will also get discounted peak period tickets.

The Shanghai park, Disney’s sixth worldwide, is estimated to attract 25 million visitors annually, less than about 31 million who visit Tokyo Disney Resort annually because of the lack of the “novelty premium” as the park is the third one in Asia, Deutsche Bank AG analysts Tallan Zhou and Karen Tang wrote in a Feb. 1 report.

Still Spending

At 963 acres, the Shanghai resort is three times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland and the company has been allotted enough land in the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone to expand up to 2.5 times in the future.

It will open at a time when the world’s second-biggest economy is slowing, but Disney’s Iger said he’s still confident about betting on the Chinese consumer.

“We’re very bullish on China,” Iger said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in December. “We actually believe that the Chinese consumer is still spending. And the Chinese consumer represents, as far as we’re concerned, a great market for our company.”

—With assistance from Christopher Palmeri.