Is Mickey Mouse Outsourcing? Disney in China

Anyone going to Disney? Many in China will be doing just that in the near future!

One would think that in these poor economic times, companies would be scaling back in order to save. But Disney Company has another plan. In order to become more profitable, they are making plans to build a new Disney in Shanghai, China.

Currently, Florida’s Disney World attracts about 45 million Mickey loving visitors a year. It is the hope of Disney Company that a park in Shanghai will actually bring in 50% of its total annual profits. The Disney-based theme park would be co-owned by both Disney and a group of Chinese companies.

The China-based Disney theme park would be comparable in size to the parks in Paris and Tokyo. But plans are to gradually increase the size to be equal or greater to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Some critics are worried that Disney Shanghai will take away from the current traffic visiting the Hong Kong park. But officials note that Hong Kong is currently unable to accommodate its current crowds. A new theme park in China is not expected to take away from the Florida Disney crowds either.

China’s Disney theme park will include hotels, shopping areas and of course the infamous Magic Kingdom style theme park.

This is a partnership that has been negotiated for more than twenty years. As a matter of fact, the history between China and Disney goes back as far as the 1930’s, when Disney premiered their first movie screening. Let the China Disney Magic begin!