Disney Expected To Announce New Theme Park

Hollywood & EntertainmentDisney Expected To Announce New Theme ParkByCaroline Reid, Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Caroline Reid covers the entertainment industryFollow AuthorJun 14, 2026, 08:00am EDTShanghai Disneyland Resort may be announcing a second theme park as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations.MSMDisney is tipped to imminently announce that it is developing a new theme park as part of a $60 billion investment in its Experiences division which generates the majority of its operating income. It is widely expected that the park will be built in Shanghai alongside its existing fairytale-themed outpost there and the announcement could come as early as next week. Tomorrow the resort will begin two days of celebrations to mark its tenth anniversary with Disney's chief executive Josh D'Amaro flying in for the festivities. The invitation received by this author doesn't refer to an announcement and simply invites media to "join us to celebrate ten years of making magic together." However, there will be plenty of opportunity for an announcement to be made. The festivities will begin tomorrow afternoon with a media session which will showcase highlights from the past decade at the resort and provide the updates about the latest developments, according to the organizers. The media event will be followed by a red-carpet celebration with the highlight taking place in the evening in front of the park's soaring Enchanted Storybook Castle. It will be the backdrop for live performances by Disney characters and an anniversary fireworks celebration. The party will continue on Tuesday morning with a special birthday moment for park guests in front of the castle which is the tallest in any Disney park and the only one to contain a boat ride. That's far from the only difference with its counterparts around the world. Disney's former chief executive Bob Iger famously described the park as "authentically Disney, distinctly Chinese." It is no exaggeration. Instead of creating a carbon-copy of Disney's American theme parks, its designers, who are known as Imagineers due to their imaginative use of engineering, tailored the Shanghai site to the local market. Everything was customized, from the park's layout and attraction lineup right down to its wide range of Chinese food. Shanghai Disneyland has some distinct differences to its American counterparts, including a bigger castle set in a garden. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)VCG via Getty ImagesUnlike all of Disney's other so-called castle parks, Shanghai has no turn-of-the-century themed Main Street running from the entrance to its centerpiece castle. In place of this slice of Americana is the cartoony Mickey Avenue which is themed to classic capers featuring Disney's mascot. Likewise, there is no steam train or Haunted Mansion as you usually find in Disney's castle parks. The railroad got cut to maximize walking spaces while the Haunted Mansion was removed out of respect for Chinese cultural sensitivities regarding death and spirits. The clearest nod to the local audience is right in the middle of the park which is usually paved. Instead, Shanghai Disney is home to the grassy Garden of the Twelve Friends with 12 massive mosaic murals of classic Disney characters in the form of Chinese Zodiac animals. It took more than the wave of a magic wand to pull it off according to Jim Shull, a former Imagineer who worked on Shanghai Disney. Shull is one of the most skilled artists to have ever worked at Imagineering and went on to found the Disney Journey YouTube channel. He says that China's state-owned Shanghai Shendi Group, which is a 57% shareholder in the resort, "set up meetings and focus groups and opportunities to tour" the city so that the Imagineers could find out about local culture. He adds that “at the same time, you try to live there, if you can, and kind of soak up the environment to understand what the locals value. It's not just researching, it's taking the research, analysing and understanding it, talking to locals, engaging with locals and understanding what their values are and what is important.” Shanghai Disneyland produced an elaborate invitation for its grand opening event.MSMNo expense was spared and the resort cost an estimated $6 billion to build. Disney didn’t even cut corners on the invitation to the opening event which this author received in 2016. Presented in a large royal blue box, the invitation followed the format of a Russian nesting doll as it contained layers which, in turn, held more layers. Each one had concept art in it for the lands in the park and the images looked so impressive that Imagineering recently posted it on Instagram in advance of the anniversary. The blockbuster spending paid off as Shanghai Disney welcomed its 100 millionth guest in November last year and it isn't stopping there. According to the latest data from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), in 2024 the par

Disney Expected To Announce New Theme Park

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