Thousands of people gathered in Shanghai to see Robert Iger, Disney’s CEO, and Wang Yang, Vice Premier, cut the red ribbon to open Shanghai Disneyland. The globally famous theme park that started as one of Orlando’s trademarks has extended its brand to China where they are co-founders of the first massive theme park in the country.
The whole project’s cost is estimated at $5.5 billion which highlights the financial power that the Sino-American alliance has. With a population of 1.357 billion people and a rich touristic culture, the country seems like the ideal location for the project.
Both the president of the United States, Barack Obama, and the president of People’s Republic of China, XI Jinping, sent their best regards and congratulations. The opening ceremony was full of fantasy with the all that made Disney parks famous around the world. A children’s choir started the ceremony followed by the participation of the characteristic mascots like the Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, and many others.
Shanghai Disneyland has it all, the iconic castle, the giant lake, the rivers, the resorts, the shops, and the attractions. It is rumored that the attractions such as the Horizon ride are bigger in China than in any other theme park around the world. Since the Chinese have a very lasting and strong culture, it would be safe to assume that the magic land has a bit of both cultures, the Western and the Asian.
“I would like to call this a rain of U.S. dollars or of renminbi,” Said Wang Yang, Vice Premier of People’s Republic of China.
There is a lot of market for the resort
Orlando’s Disney World attracts around 20 million people a year, which includes both local and foreign visitor. However, Shanghai Disneyland is sitting in the middle of the country with the biggest population in the world. In fact, Chinese officials said that there are around 300 million people that are within 3 hours of the park by car. In addition, the public transportation in the country is very developed including the bullet train. Moreover, China is already one of the most famous touristic places in the world. Because of this and much more, experts expect this theme park to be the most visited of the world. They expect the park to receive 30 to 50 million people every year.
The designers behind it made sure that there is something for everyone, from the average citizen that wants to have a nice time to the premium clients that want to get the most out of the lavish facilities.
China officials have expressed their interest in increasing the number of tourist coming into the country, and the CEO of the North American Company said it was Disney’s proudest moment in all the years of its existence. The website is already available, and many customers suggest to plan the trip because there is just too much to do for a single visit. In fact, the first three days June 16, 17 and 18, tickets will be exclusively sold through the website.
Source: TIME