Shanghai Disney Resort () is a themed resort in Pudong, Shanghai, China. The resort opened to the public on June 16, 2016. It is the first Disneyland in mainland China. It is also the sixth Disney resort worldwide, after Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
The resort features Shanghai Disneyland, an entertainment district, two themed hotels, recreational facilities, a lake and associated parking and transportation hubs. Additional phases will see the development of two additional theme parks at the resort. The site will cover in Pudong, or approximately three times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland, at a cost of () for the new theme park and an additional () to build other aspects of the resort, totaling (). The Walt Disney Company owns 43 percent of the resort; the majority 57 percent is held by Shanghai Shendi Group, a joint venture of three companies owned by the Shanghai government.
History
Location scouting in Pudong began in 1999 with Bob Iger. The park was first envisaged in the early 2000s, and negotiation for Shanghai Disney Resort began around 2001. However, in order to help Hong Kong Disneyland grow, the Chinese national government deliberately slowed the development of Shanghai Disney. The Hong Kong resort opened in 2005, two years after the SARS epidemic devastated Hong Kong's economy, and it was hoped that Hong Kong Disneyland would help the city's tourism industry recover.
On November 4, 2009, the Shanghai Municipal Government announced that the Shanghai Disney project had been approved by the national government, with an estimated total investment of . Land near the proposed production site dramatically increased in value after the announcement was made. In January 2011, a government official confirmed that Shanghai Disneyland would be 2–3 times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland and would eventually contain three theme parks.
On April 7, 2011, groundbreaking began at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort site. Major construction work started on April 8, 2011, targeting a 2016 spring opening. The resort was planned to cover an area of and was expected to cost (). The project was financed by several large Chinese state-owned enterprises in Shanghai, who formed a joint venture with the Walt Disney Company. "The first-phase of the project will be to the South of Huanglou Area, an area in Chuansha Town, the southeast suburbs of Shanghai's Pudong area; the second phase will extend further southwest," an urban developer from Shanghai stated. DeSimone Consulting Engineers were the structural engineers behind the construction work.
On February 27, 2014, PepsiCo announced a strategic partnership with the resort, making the Shanghai Resort the first Disney property in 25 years to sell Pepsi products and not Coca-Cola products.
On April 28, 2014, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced an extra investment to add additional rides and entertainment by opening day, bringing the total budget to . In February 2016, it was rumored that the resort was still behind schedule and was over budget, causing the United States-based resorts (Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort) to make budget cuts. That same month, Disney announced that Hong Kong Disneyland Resort reported its first loss in four years, losing , and falling 9.3% in annual attendance, to 6.8 million visitors. Analysts attributed this to fewer mainland Chinese tourists visit, hurt by a combination of China's slowdown, political unrest, and a weak yuan relative to the Hong Kong dollar, as well as the upcoming opening of the Shanghai Resort. In total, more than 100,000 workers constructed the first phase of the resort over 5 years. The facility incorporated 72,000 metric tons of structural steel and of utility piping. The final price tag was US$5.5 billion.
Operating
Shanghai Disney Resort officially opened at noon on June 16, 2016. It was reported that the "colorful opening ceremony" featured speeches, fireworks, and mostly orderly crowds in spite of the rain. One of the dignitaries, Vice Premier Wang Yang, joked that the wet weather foretold good luck for the resort because it represented a “rain of U.S. dollars and RMB”.
The park's first expansion, Toy Story Land, opened in second quarter 2018. On December 10, 2019, the resort began construction on its second expansion, Zootopia-themed land, next to Fantasyland.