Light the beacons. After last year's postponement and months of delays, a new opening date has officially been set for Disneyland Shanghai.
Originally scheduled to open in late 2015, Disney confirmed in February last year that they were postponing the opening of the huge new development in Pudong, without committing to a new date. But yesterday the park's developers announced that Disneyland Shanghai will officially welcome guests from Thursday 16 June. Hoorah!
What can we expect from Disney's first park in mainland China? Well, being Shanghai it will feature a number of world firsts including a Toy Story hotel, a Pirates of the Caribbean land and the biggest 'Storybook Castle' on the planet. Exciting stuff. Here's that castle under construction from a few months ago:
The people behind the 'Magic Kingdom' have also stated that the new resort will be ‘authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese’, with one of the six themed lands focused on characters from the Chinese zodiac. Expect Chinese characters such as Mulan to feature heavily as well.
The park, which is three times the size of Hong Kong's paltry Disney offering, is located in the Chuansha area of Pudong and will be served by a dedicated station on metro Line 11, though not by Disney-fied metro trains, much to the annoyance of some netizens.
If the opening of the world's largest Disney store last year is anything to go by, you can expect June 16 to be a very busy day in that particular part of Pudong.