Earlier today, The South China Morning Post reported that Shanghai Disneyland was generating attendance of 20,000 which was about half of what Walt Street analysts had expected. They cited high prices and growing competition from the Dalian Wanda Group which opened the second of 15 planned multi-billion dollar parks.
It should be noted that these parks generated headlines when unauthorized Disney characters appeared in their version of Downtown Disney.
Responding to this report, Disney gave further information to Bloomberg. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek told the publication that , “Our financial results during the first 100+ days of operation have exceeded our expectations, and guest feedback has been extremely strong, establishing a solid foundation upon which to grow.”
Recently, Disney CEO Bob Iger also commented that the park reached one million guests faster than any other Disney theme park. He also mention that guests are staying longer than expected which implies that they are having a good time during their visit.
The park has begun an expansion project that was approved before the park opened. The theme of the expansion has not yet been revealed.