Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company’s new theme park in Shanghai would be “China’s Disneyland ... authentically Disney and distinctively Chinese," and would enable the company to unleash the “incredible potential” of a market where its movies are already highly popular. And he said the company was already considering expanding the $5.5 billion park, which formally opens Thursday.

The park, in which Disney owns a 43 percent stake in partnership with a company owned by the Shanghai government, is the company’s sixth worldwide, and its first in mainland China. It was first mooted as long ago as 1990, and was finally approved by China’s government in 2009. Construction has taken five years — the opening was originally planned for last year, but Iger said that after ground was first broken, the company had “paused to recognize the growth” in Chinese tourism, and decided to increase its investment and expand the site beyond the original plan.

He said this was a sign of the company’s desire to show “great respect” to the people of China, adding that it was in the country as an "invited guest."

"When we first started thinking of bringing a Disneyland to China we knew it had to be special and different to anything we’d ever done before,” Iger said. “We didn’t just build Disneyland in China, we built China’s Disneyland.”

He noted that the park's “Enchanted Storybook Castle” was the tallest and largest of any Disney park worldwide, and said this was a “statement.” The company has also brought in Chinese acrobats and martial arts experts for a show based on the Tarzan story — which Iger said featured stunts “beyond imagination” — and for a "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed show, “Captain Jack’s Stunt Spectacular.” 

(Source: ibtimes)