Shanghai Disney Must Deliver Big Experience

Shaun Rein of the China Market Research Group submits:


Originally published in CNBC


"It's puny," a 32-year old mother from Beijing told me. One word to summarize her experience at Hong Kong Disneyland: underwhelming. She loves Disney (DIS) and has visited Disney World in Orlando three times and even skipped a day at the Louvre Museum to visit the Disneyland Park in Paris. Her experience in Hong Kong was not awful, but she sees no reason to visit again unless her son demands it. And he hasn’t. Disney's problems there are well known. Although park attendance rose 13 percent to 5.2 million visitors in 2010, it lost nearly $100 million on the year. Yet, despite its struggles in Hong Kong, Disney broke ground for a new Shanghai Disney Resort last Friday. Will it succeed? At first glance, the numbers are encouraging for the $3.7 billion investment, which is 43 percent owned by Disney and 57 percent owned by theComplete Story »