Walt Disney Co. has finally done it, with the new Shanghai Disney Resort set to open its gates on June 16th. The brand’s largest foreign investment in the Chinese economy, this incredible thing cost $5.5 billion to build and it’s Disney’s first theme park in mainland China.
Visitors will find here the company’s tallest castle, two extraordinary hotels and a pirates-themed land, among other things that surely will keep them busy and excited throughout the day. Just to have a proper image about this resort’s size, the Shanghai Disney Resort covers 963 acres, making it three times larger than the Hong Kong Disneyland, for instance.
The world’s largest theme-park operator is counting on 330 million people in the vicinity of this attraction to come here, have some fun and pay up accordingly, and since Shanghai is the country’s wealthiest metropolis, there’s no reason to doubt Disney’s plans and calculations.
The Shanghai Disney Resort is already open to special guests, Disney employees and their families as part of a six-week trial run. The ravishing park was originally set to open at the end of last year, but an unplanned expansion and an extra attraction have delayed these plans a couple of months.
It’s been 5 years since this stunning project has been started, but Disney’s work and impressive investment will surely pay off; the brand owns 43 percent of the resort, while a consortium of Chinese state-owned businesses controls the rest. If you ever get to Shanghai, have fun!
