Shanghai Disneyland: Could it be true?

If you were President Obama, what's the best possible news you could hear from Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit in November? That the Chinese military will agree to keep their agreement to work more closely with the US military? That recent threats to potentially raise tariffs on US automakers were just a big joke? Or were you thinking something perhaps...a bit more...magical?

Because it would be pretty magical if the reports of Shanghai's Disneyland being given the go-ahead by Beijing were true. In theory, all that needs to happen would be a deal signed by Disney and the Shanghai government, which supposedly exists already, though we have our doubts. If it does go through, Reuters has some interesting analysis on the potential effects of such a deal, though we think they may have been watching too many Disney movies:

Analysts said a Disney agreement could be a feel-good bilateral story, highlighting U.S. cultural influence and an investment that does not entail U.S. job losses in the manufacturing sector.

China would get a boost to its leisure sector and to domestic demand as it tries to trim its dependence on exports, which left it vulnerable during the financial crisis, wrote Gong Weisong, an editor at the state-run Shanghai Securities News.

The park, as we all know, has been delayed for years due to scandals, poor earnings at the Hong Kong Disneyland, and general malaise in the decision-making process. But that hasn't stopped the excitement: The park, which will cost around $3.6 billion, has already sent stocks of companies hoping to get in on the action skyward

We like to think about the project like it's a feel-good Disney movie: we've just been stuck in the bad parts. You know, like the part where Bambi's mother gets killed, or Simba gets exiled from his kingdom. Now, we can only wait for, uh, Prince Obama to lift the spell off the... construction site enchanted by the woes of evicted Chinese peasants...so that Disneyland can finally return to its Middle Kingdom, and rule happily ever after. The End.

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