Tag: Shanghai Disney Resort

Disney Parks Releases Statement Regarding Reopening of Parks

Earlier today Disney released a statement on their plans and processes for reopening its theme parks.  Although it doesn’t offer any specifics on dates or what specifically they’ll do once the parks do open, it does present the first official details on what Disney is planning.

From Disney Parks Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pamela Hymel:

Dear Guests, 

As you may have heard at Disney’s Q2 FY20 Earnings Results Webcast, our CEO Bob Chapek announced that Shanghai Disney Resort will begin the phased reopening of Shanghai Disneyland on May 11 – an encouraging sign for Disney parks and retail locations all over the world. After so much time at home, I know many of you are eager to enjoy the magic of a Disney parks visit, and we can’t wait to welcome you back.

I’m fortunate to work with Disney’s extraordinarily talented team of health and safety experts who are some of the most experienced in the industry. Together, with our colleagues in operations, and local health and government authorities, we’re evaluating several new and enhanced safety measures to do our part towards helping us stay well while we work, stay, and play at a Disney resort and a Disney store. I’m also working closely with the US Travel Association on a set of guidelines the travel industry may tailor to their individual businesses to help demonstrate that safety of travelers is a top focus.

To that end, I want to share an update with you about our plans and considerations as we prepare for the reopening of our parks, resorts and stores. At Disney, we’re exploring:

  • Phased reopening: We’re looking at all of our locations and how best to begin the reopening process, including a gradual reopening and/or partial reopening of certain locations. For example, the opening of retail and dining locations prior to the opening of our theme parks.
  • Physical distancing and capacity measures: As you can imagine, managing guest density in queues, restaurants, hotels, ride vehicles and other facilities throughout the park and across the resort is a major focus, as we implement physical distancing guidelines based on guidance from health authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and appropriate government agencies. This will likely include implementation of guest capacity measures to comply with state and federal guidelines. We’re also exploring ways to use technology to aid us in these efforts, like with our Play Disney Parks App and through virtual queues at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
  • Cleanliness and sanitization: We’re planning increased cleaning and disinfection, determining where that should take place (for example, in high-traffic areas), and the cleaning products and processes we’ll use.  
  • Screening and prevention support: We’ll follow guidance from the government and the medical community regarding enhanced screening procedures and prevention measures, including those related to personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face coverings. Some measures, like adding hand sanitizers and hand washing stations across our resorts, have already been implemented.
  • Cast training: We’re further emphasizing our strong culture of health and safety amongst our cast members, and will continue to provide new training and reinforcement as we get closer to reopening.

These are just a few examples of the many areas we are developing plans for, so please keep an eye on our online channels, where we’ll provide more details as we confirm and begin to implement our plans. Given the constantly changing global health environment, these practices may evolve as we consider the latest guidance, but we will share more information with you as we look towards reopening.

In the meantime, our focus remains on the health and safety of the entire Disney community – including the wellbeing of the Cast Members who are caring for and securing our parks and resorts during the closure. We have already implemented a number of enhanced health and safety measures, such as increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfection in work areas, adjusting practices to promote physical distancing, and providing Cast with access to necessary PPE, including face coverings. We continue to learn from these experiences and will carry these lessons into reopening and beyond.

Finally, I want to recognize the medical professionals working to bring care and comfort in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. We will continue to do what we can to help support the medical community and our local communities during this time.

We’re looking forward to welcoming all of you back to our Disney parks, resorts and stores. Until we are together once again, we wish you and your families health, hope, and happiness.

Thank you,

signature of Dr. Pamela Hymel

Disney Parks to Celebrate Mickey’s Birthday

The big cheese is at it again! Mickey Mouse is headed out on another intrepid adventure to celebrate his birthday on November 18 with some of his biggest fans, and you can join in on the #HappyBirthdayMickey fun at all of our Disney Parks around the world. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store.

Walt Disney World

The big day is November 18, and Walt Disney World Resort will celebrate with special “Happy Birthday, Mickey!” buttons, merchandise and Sorcerer Mickey Cake. To commemorate the occasion, guests can sing and dance along with special “Happy Birthday, Mickey!” buttons, merchandise and Sorcerer Mickey Cake. To commemorate the occasion, guests can sing and dance along with “Happy Birthday” during Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It!, Cosmic Dance Party in Tomorrowland and performances by the Dapper Dans. Plus, birthday photo props will be available at all four theme parks, and everyone who collects their photos at the parks will receive a folder with a commemorative sticker.

Disneyland

Disneyland Resort will host a celebration cavalcade for Mickey Mouse, featuring some of his special friends and the Disneyland Band, starting at “it’s a small world” and pausing for a special moment at Sleeping Beauty Castle before continuing down Main Street, U.S.A., to Town Square. There will be plenty of chances to sing “Happy Birthday” along the way, and of course, “Happy Birthday, Mickey!” buttons will be distributed to park guests.

Disneyland Paris

Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland Paris is also where the party’s at! Be prepared to celebrate Mickey’s birthday just before “Disney Magic on Parade,” as well as during the Lucky Nugget Saloon show at Disneyland park and in “Mickey and the Magician” at Walt Disney Studios park. And what’s a birthday without cake? Guests can find plenty to snack on at locations around the resort.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Guests at Hong Kong Disneyland can pick up a special Mickey Birthday pin and a special edition Times Guide in honor of everyone’s favorite mouse.

Shanghai Disney Resort/Tokyo Disney Resort

At Shanghai Disney Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort, guests will have the chance to sing “Happy Birthday” and join in unique photo opportunities.

Social Media

Leading up to the big day, Mickey Mouse will take off to exciting destinations such as Japan, Chile, Canada, China, England and the United States, sharing magical moments on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Facebook and Instagram pages. He will then bring a few more surprises when he visits the Good Morning America studios in New York City on November 15. Be sure to share your favorite moments using the hashtag #HappyBirthdayMickey and join us in celebrating the one and only Mickey Mouse!

Disney’s Iger Says Shanghai Resort Close to Breaking Even

Walt Disney Co.’s ambitious $5.5 billion Shanghai theme park is close to breaking even after its first full year of operations — a mark none of its resorts have been able to hit in the last 30 years, said Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger.

“That’s an extraordinary achievement. I’m not sure we’ve ever done that,” said Iger in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Tom Mackenzie on Friday as the Shanghai Disney Resort celebrated its first anniversary. “After the first year, I’m pleased to say that prospects are really strong for continued success and continued growth.”

The park logged more than 11 million visitors earlier this week, Iger said. The Shanghai development, Disney’s first in mainland China and its largest foreign investment, throws the Burbank, California-based giant into the race to dominate the country’s $204 billion media and entertainment industry.

In China, there’s potential for Disney to build a second park in the long run, Iger said, adding it would focus on the Shanghai resort first. A Toy Story themed land opening is planned for next year.

“Before we really look to the horizon geographically, we will focus on expanding this park,” Iger said. “Might we build in another city over time? Yes. There’s a great likelihood that we will. But it’s way too early.”

Disney’s shares rose 0.3 percent to $106.34 as of 9:30 in New York trading.

Half the resort’s visitors are from Shanghai and adjacent areas, with the remainder coming from other Chinese cities, Iger said. Park attendance is higher than expected, with “extremely high” occupancy rates at its hotel. The food and beverage business, as well as merchandising, has faced some challenges, he said.

The resort’s attendance for the 12 months after its opening puts it in the top seven of theme parks worldwide, ahead of Disney’s Hong Kong and Paris parks but behind its most popular parks in Florida, California and Japan.

From Bloomberg

Shanghai Disneyland Welcomes 10 Million Guests in Its First Eleven Months

As part of its celebration of China’s National Tourism Day, Shanghai Disney Resort has announced that Shanghai Disneyland recently welcomed its 10 millionth guest – and in just 11 months! That makes Shanghai Disneyland the most popular theme park opening ever in China.

“We’re thrilled to see millions of people from across China embrace Shanghai Disney Resort,” said Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Their reaction has been everything we’d hoped for and, thanks to their enthusiasm, this incredible resort is exceeding our expectations across the board. It’s a fantastic success that gives us even more reason to be excited about the future of Disney in China.”

It’s hard to believe Shanghai Disney Resort is already about to celebrate its first anniversary, but today the resort also announced plans for a special month-long celebration leading up to an unforgettable magical moment at Enchanted Storybook Castle on June 16.

 

Shanghai Disney Sees Nearly 6 Million Guests in 7 Months

Shanghai Disneyland received close to 6 million visitors in the first seven months of it opening in mid-June, Fan Xiping, chairman of Shanghai Shendi Group, Disney’s Chinese partner, said Monday.

Fan, who is also a member of the standing committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said 5.6 million people had visited Shanghai Disneyland by Dec. 31, 2016.

Eighty percent of the visitors said they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their visits, according to a third party survey.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and Toy Story Hotel reported up to 90 percent occupancy. The first-ever Mandarin production of “The Lion King” was staged over 220 times, making it the most-run Broadway musical in the Chinese mainland.

“Both sides from China and the US are satisfied with the park’s performance,” Fan said. “We’ll work together to improve our operational and service standards, to deliver exceptional service to visitors from all over the world.”

Previously, Walt Disney, in its 2016 fiscal year report, said that Shanghai Disneyland received 4 million visitors in its first four months of operation.

Shanghai Disneyland Breaks Ground on Toy Story Land

Just four months after its launch, Shanghai Disneyland has already broken ground on an expansion. Construction of Toy Story Land, the park’s seventh themed area, is now underway, the Walt Disney Co. said in a statement Thursday.

Based on the hit Pixar franchise featuring the characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear, the new attraction is expected to open in 2018. Neither Disney nor its Chinese partner, the Shanghai Shendi Group, which holds majority control, shared how much would be invested in the expansion.

But Disney offered that the addition should be taken as a sign of the company’s confidence in the growing demand for themed entertainment in China.

Earlier this week, a new study projected that the Chinese theme-park industry was on track to surpass that of the U.S. in the next few years. By 2020, ticket sales at Chinese theme parks will surge to $12 billion from $4.6 billion last year, according to a joint report by market research firm Euromonitor International and World Travel Market.

Theme park revenue in the U.S., meanwhile, is expected to inch upwards to $9 billion in 2020 from $8 billion in 2015, the researchers said.

Shanghai Disney Resort Nears 1 Million Visitors

Disney chief executive Robert Iger said nearly a million people have visited the entertainment giant’s theme park opened less than a month ago in mainland China.

“It would be safe to assume almost a million people have experienced the park,” Iger said during an on-stage chat at a Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado.

Visitors to the park are staying longer than expected each day and showing fondness for Chinese barbecued pork with rice, cheeseburgers and turkey legs, according to Iger.

“We are introducing turkey legs to China,” Iger quipped. “Which I thought was a mistake, but we are selling 3,000 a day.”

Each turkey leg, sourced from Poland, costs more than $8 US.

Disney set the entrance fee at 499 yuan ($76) during peak periods and 370 yuan ($56) for other times, in a country where the average monthly disposable income is just $278.

Disney opened the massive Shanghai theme park to the public in mid-June, hoping to win over communist-ruled China’s growing middle class with the ultimate American cultural export.

The Shanghai resort is the US company’s sixth in the world and the first in mainland China — there is already one in Hong Kong.

Disney tailored park attractions for China and left out some American trademark features, such as Main Street USA.

“I very much wanted to avoid being called a cultural imperialist,” Iger said of work that went into tuning the Disney park for Shanghai.

Disney said its philosophy is to integrate local elements throughout, from the Chinse food on the menu to the attractions — even the Disney castle is topped with a traditional peony flower.

Iger referred to the Shanghai project as a lesson in patience and perseverance, saying nearly 18 years elapsed from when he first stepped on the site for a survey to the day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The park is the most technologically advanced ever constructed by Disney, Iger said.

Workers broke ground on the project in 2011 and the Shanghai Disney Resort now sprawls over 3.9 square kilometers (1.5 square miles) on the city’s outskirts, with a fairy-tale castle soaring over the horizon.

But the launch of the $5.5 billion resort, representing one of the biggest foreign investments ever in China, comes as growth in the world’s second largest economy slumps to its lowest level in a quarter century.

Still, Disney deemed the world’s most populous country too big to ignore.

There is competition for tourist cash as China builds more theme parks than any other country in the world.

Shanghai Disney Resort Celebrates Historic Grand Opening

Shanghai Disney Resort, the first Disney resort in Mainland China and the sixth worldwide, celebrated its historic Grand Opening today, culminating one of Disney’s most ambitious projects ever. Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, celebrated the opening of the one-of-a-kind vacation destination with thousands of distinguished guests, celebrities and Chinese officials.

SHANGHAI (June 16, 2016) – Thousands of invited guests celebrated the Grand Opening of Shanghai Disney Resort today with the help of a flood of Shanghai Disney cast members and Disney character friends. Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company joined Chinese CPC Politburo members Wang Yang, State Council Vice Premier, and Han Zheng, Party Secretary of Shanghai, to officially open the resort’s new theme park, Shanghai Disneyland, at the iconic Enchanted Storybook Castle. At the dedication ceremony, six performers wearing enormous, colorful flags represented the six lands of Shanghai Disneyland: Adventure Isle, Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Mickey Avenue, Tomorrowland and Treasure Cove. Shanghai Disney Resort is a world-class family entertainment destination, imagined and created especially for the people of China. The resort consists of Shanghai Disneyland, a theme park with magical experiences for guests of all ages; two richly themed hotels; Disneytown, an international shopping, dining and entertainment district; and Wishing Star Park, a recreational area with peaceful gardens and a glittering lake. Shanghai Disney 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). (Todd Anderson, photographer)

“The grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort is a celebration of creativity and collaboration, a triumph of imagination and innovation, and a testament to the strong partnership between Disney and China,” Iger said. “Together we have created an extraordinary destination, a magical place unique in all the world, where East meets West, the past meets the future, and anything is possible for those who believe. It is our sincere hope that this spectacular place will inspire wonder and create joy for the people of China for generations to come.”

SHANGHAI (June 16, 2016) Magical moments came to life today during the Grand Opening of Shanghai Disneyland. Hundreds of cast members welcomed Opening Day guests to the new theme park. Shanghai Disney Resort, offers the best of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and was created especially for the people of China, with stories that inspire magical dreams, experiences that create emotional connections and places where friends and families can come together to create memories that last forever. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)

Honoring the Disney-Chinese partnership that created this resort, Iger and Chinese officials cut a red-and-gold ribbon to dedicate Shanghai Disneyland, the resort’s magnificent theme park. Joining Iger were Wang Yang, CPC Politburo Member and State Council Vice Premier, and Han Zheng, CPC Politburo Member and Party Secretary of Shanghai. Iger also shared a greeting similar to the one Walt Disney said on opening day for the original Disneyland, in 1955: “To all who come to this happy place, welcome.”

SHANGHAI (June 16, 2016) Magical moments came to life today during the Grand Opening of Shanghai Disneyland. Hundreds of cast members welcomed Opening Day guests to the new theme park. Shanghai Disney Resort, offers the best of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and was created especially for the people of China, with stories that inspire magical dreams, experiences that create emotional connections and places where friends and families can come together to create memories that last forever. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)

The Grand Opening ceremony marked the moment with music, pageantry and a stream of Disney characters, from Mickey Mouse and Snow White to Baymax and Jack Sparrow, in front of the iconic Enchanted Storybook Castle. A multi-generational choir performed a unique version of the Disney song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” arranged in a Chinese style to reflect the balance of Disney magic and China’s cultural spirit at Shanghai Disney Resort. The ceremony also featured six performers holding enormous, brightly colored fans to represent the six lands of Shanghai Disneyland.

Following the official dedications, tens of thousands of guests entered Shanghai Disneyland on its Grand Opening day to explore world-class attractions and live entertainment spectaculars­—many being offered for the first time in a Disney theme park. The three-day Grand Opening event also included two red-carpet occasions: Tuesday’s premiere of the first Mandarin production of THE LION KING, now showing at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre, and Wednesday’s gala concert with celebrity performers at Evergreen Playhouse in Shanghai Disneyland.

Guests Can Visit Disney California Adventure on June 16 and Celebrate the Opening of Shanghai Disney Resort

Next week brings the official opening of Shanghai Disney Resort in China, and you’re invited to help Disney celebrate this historic occasion at the Disneyland Resort!

On Thursday, June 16, join us in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and enjoy special entertainment and photo opportunities in honor of the opening of our newest world-class Disney destination. The festivities will feature colorful performances by local community groups, along with character appearances by Mulan and Mushu! Some favorite Asian-inspired food & beverage offerings, including pork bao, almond cookies and pot stickers, will also be available for purchase.

Shanghai Disneyland - Mushu

In addition, Disney will be giving away a button commemorating the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort to each guest entering the Disneyland Resort theme parks, while supplies last.

China Unveils Official Stamp to Celebrate Opening of Shanghai Disney Resort

The Grand Opening of Shanghai Disney Resort is just weeks away, and excitement is building throughout China. This week, China Stamp Group unveiled two official Shanghai Disney Resort stamps which they will issue on June 16 – the same day Shanghai Disney Resort welcomes the general public for the first time!

The Shanghai Disney Resort official stamp collection includes two stamps and one souvenir sheet, featuring classic characters and the iconic Enchanted Storybook Castle.

Shanghai - Mickey & Minnie Stamp

The “Mickey and Minnie” stamp shows Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse strolling in their official Shanghai Disney Resort attire. The “Enchanted Storybook Castle” stamp shows the grandeur of the world’s largest and most interactive Disney castle, with Tinker Bell soaring overhead and fireworks lighting the night sky above.

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