Go-Ahead for … Disneyland Shanghai

After long lasting negotiations, Disney was recently given green light for the construction of Disneyland Shanghai. With the blessing of authorities, Americans and Chinese will just continue to bargain for finances before the realization of the amusement park can be started. 57 per cent of the 2.5 billion euro project will go, according to the media, to the Chinese public ownership – the rest of the shares go to Disney. Currently there are still different declarations concerning the size of the planned park. Instead of the initially planned 400 hectares of land, the National Development and Reform Commission just approved an area of 116 hectares for the project. With a size of 116 hectares, Disneyland Shanghai would even be a little bit smaller than Disneyland Hong Kong with 126 hectares. The opening of the park is scheduled for 2014. It will be built in the style of Magic Kingdom but should at the same time authentically reflect the atmosphere and mentality of the region around Shanghai as the richest one in China. 80 million people are living within a three-hour drive. (eap)