Disneyland in Shanghai? Not until after 2010
Hong Kong Disneyland denied a report in Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po newspaper that said the company had plans to open a second Chinese Disneyland in Shanghai's Pudong district before 2010. "If we were to reach an arrangement for a second park in China, in all likelihood it would not open before 2010," Agence France-Presse quoted Irene Chan, vice president of public affairs at Hong Kong Disneyland, as saying. Hong Kong Disneyland, located on an island off of Hong Kong, opens September 12.
Wen Wei Po, citing unnamed sources, reported on Friday that at six square kilometers, the Pudong Disneyland would be nearly four times bigger than the Hong Kong park and that it would be completed by 2010. According to Reuters, the Beijing-backed newspaper said "Disney will provide technology and capital for a 51-percent stake in a joint venture with Shanghai's government-backed Lujiazui Group company, which will contribute land near the Pudong International Airport."
Disneyland-in-Shanghai rumors are nothing new. Here's a Sina story (in Chinese) that says Disneyland is headed to Pudong by 2010. When was this story written? In 2003.
UPDATE: Disney's CEO expands on company's China plans
Photo of Hong Kong Disneyland by AFP.
