A slimmed-down (at least as far as most people’s expectation are concerned) Shanghai Disneyland has been announced. The National Development and Reform Commission said the Shanghai project at Pudong New Area’s Chuansha town will initially be built on 116 hectares of land – 10 hectares smaller than Hong Kong Disneyland. This has not been met with instant approval by the Shanghai tourist authorities.There had been widespread concern over competition in August after a Walt Disney document showed Shanghai Disneyland would cost $3.6 billion.
An insider said it was Disneyland’s policy to expand parks gradually after their opening. He said, "It will not use all the 400 hectares in Chuansha town at once."
It would seem the plan is that the Shanghai park and the Hong Kong park will be expanded at the same rate. The insider said Hong Kong people should not worry about the size of the local park as the second expansion phase of the Hong Kong project will add another 128 hectares.
The Standard reported that Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents chairman Michael Wu Siu-ying said, "Hong Kong Disneyland will expand and have more facilities in the coming three years. It will have some advantages over Shanghai where the park will not open until 2014."