It’s a small world after all.

Finally, after a 20-year negotiation, Walt Disney Company and the Chinese government in Beijing agreed to build a Disney theme park in Shanghai, which will be a cultural and financial milestone for both parties.

The park itself, not including potential hotels and resorts, is estimated to cost $3.5 billion, which is the largest ever foreign investment in China. The area will have a mix of shopping areas, hotels, and a theme park much like the Magic Kingdom, and will take up 1,000 acres of Shanghai’s Pudong District.

It will be larger than Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and similar to those in Paris and Tokyo. If all goes according to plan it will open in five years.

Disney hopes is to drive China’s 1.3 billion people toward Disney products, although China has a very stringent policy on foreign television. Currently, it won’t budge on allowing Disney programs on television, and according to the New York Times, approximately 20 non-Chinese films are show in Chinese theaters annually, and most of them are edited.

So if you’ve done Orlando and seen Anaheim, put your family on a flight to Shanghai when the park opens and enjoy a cultural family experience.


© Cheapflights Ltd Andrea Mooney

About the author

Pleasance CoddingtonPleasance is a British travel writer and online content specialist in travel. She has written for numerous publications and sites including Wired, Lucky, Rough Guides and Yahoo! Travel. After working for six years on content and social media at VisitBritain, she is now the Global Content and Social Media Manager for Cheapflights.

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