Unlocking a decade of vibrancy at Shanghai Disney Resort

Added: 2026-04-30

[00:00:05]Come on.

[00:00:23]>> Hello everyone. Greetings from Shanghai.

[00:00:25]I'm Jing with Siha News Agency. I'm here at Shanghai Disney Resort immersed in the festive vibe of its times anniversary celebrations. As you can see, the park is bustling with visitors who are thrilled to enjoy their time here. Today, I will speak with Murray King, vice president of public affairs and communications of Shanghai Disney Resort. Hi, America. Can can you take a brief introduction of yourself and say hi to our audience? Hi.

[00:00:55]>> Hi, Gingi. Hi, everybody. Uh, my name is Murray King. I'm vice president of public affairs and communications here at Shanghai Disney Resort. Um, I've been in China now 28 years, working for Disney for the last 15 plus years. Great to see everybody and look forward to showing you a little bit of the magic at Shanghai Disney Resort.

[00:01:12]>> Wow. Okay. We know that Shanghai Disney has prepared a lot of uh new sufferings for the uh 10th anniversary celebrations. uh can you take a brief introduction and uh we you can walk through and you can uh introduce uh uh creative uh concepts behind them.

[00:01:32]>> Sure.

[00:01:33]>> Okay, let's go.

[00:01:33]>> So uh let's walk and talk. So first of all, Shanghai Disney Resort is celebrating our 10th anniversary and it's a year-long celebration and our tagline, our slogan if you like is with you it's magic plus. In Chinese it's and the idea is with you. you is everybody. It's all of our guests. It's our fans. It's the community. It's our cast members. Uh it's everyone that's helped make our 10-year journey so successful here in Shanghai.

[00:02:06]>> Uh what the main uh activities has it uh added in this in this celebrations?

[00:02:13]Well, at first it starts with you can see the overlay the decoration that for guests will see from the moment they step foot on Shang on Shanga Disney Resort property is this beautiful decorative overlay of 10th anniversary decorations which makes people feel that celebrity mood but then there's also we have theme song our 10th anniversary theme song we have an enhanced parade we have a new castle show we have a new uh enhanced nighttime spectacular show with a special fireworks tag at the end. So, there's lots happening here. And then, of course, we have lots of merchandise.

[00:02:48]We have special 10th anniversary food and beverage offerings. Uh, and we have a surprise squad of cast members who come around and help share the joy of our 10th anniversary with guests on a surprise basis.

[00:03:02]>> Can you give us some more details?

[00:03:04]>> Yeah. Well, >> which part is the the you you most like?

[00:03:08]I just like the atmosphere and you can see from the gate here as we enter how it just feels like it's a party. It's a celebration. It's a year-long celebration. For me, the part I like the most is our 10th anniversary song sung by Leo Yuning and Sunuchi. Um famous um pop stars here in China and in the region. Uh and I just I just like the festive mood. And there's a little dance that goes with it. I can't dance. I won't show you, but you can see our cast members dancing.

[00:03:35]>> Yes. Oh, we saw that there's uh a dance maybe.

[00:03:40]>> Yes.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah. Mickey and Minnie and our wonderful floral here. And again, this is all themed around our 10th anniversary. So, first welcome.

[00:03:47]>> I see the garden is very uh very special. Maybe you can introduce some uh celestments.

[00:03:53]>> Well, you see, you got Mickey and Minnie dressed in their 10th anniversary costumes. You have a special window in the middle where you can see Mickey and Minnie. And in the distance you can see our castle.

[00:04:06]>> And then we have a lot of beautiful spring flowers. And we have our Duffy and Friends characters portrayed in a lovely spring attire fitting with the April May uh theming for a spring time.

[00:04:18]>> Yeah.

[00:04:19]>> Beautiful.

[00:04:19]>> So beautiful.

[00:04:21]>> And these new experiences have greatly lifted visitors enthusiasm and uh uh conception. What new trends do you see in China's tourism market? Well, I see the, you know, year after year, I think Chinese guests are continually looking for new experiences to make them happy, more role-playing, more cosplay. You'll see many of our guests today, whether they're Chinese or foreign, wearing our 10th anniversary attire, but also dressing like their favorite characters.

[00:04:52]More ear hats, more merchandise, more plush, uh more enthusiasm for different franchises. More broadly, I think in the last few years there's been more of a trend to experiential travel. Whether it be going to explore the natural wonders of China or coming to a theme park to get outdoors to experience a place where they can get away from the digital world and see the real world, offline experience with guests from across the country and around the world. And really, and you look now at Shanghai Disney Resort, there are guests literally from all over the world coming here and enjoying >> the best of Shanghai and the best of Shanghai Disney Resort. That's a huge trend actually.

[00:05:36]>> Oh, maybe uh do you think the international visitors why why do they love Shanghai and why do they love Shanghai Disney Resort? Maybe >> I think both have an incredible brand presence globally. Disney. I think everyone globally has had some connection to Disney, whether it's a movie, uh, an animated film, uh, a Disney plush, um, a story book that their parents read to them when they were young. Uh, so everyone around the world has connected with Disney somehow, and this is the newest Disney resort globally. It's new. It's got a lot of unique attractions that are only here in Shanghai. And then Shanghai as a city has a global brand presence that is very unique. It's a cosmopolitan city. It is China's international face on the world and for many Chinese it's a window on the world when they come here. So it is very special. So we together Shanghai and Disney are a wonderful powerful um connection.

[00:06:38]Maybe we can see what kind of aspects that uh have the special of Shanghai and the China in in this Shanghai Disney resort.

[00:06:46]>> Well, we've always followed this idea of what we call authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese. It was an idea that came from our then CEO Bob Iger to bring the best of Disney to Shanghai, but also to incorporate um and infuse different Chinese cultural elements. And it's in everything from the design of the park, the architectural design, the food and beverage, the merchandise, the type of franchises that we've chosen here, um the entertainment, the festivals that we um experience. All of it is a fusion of the best of Disney and the best of China.

[00:07:29]>> Which part do you like the most and which character uh do you like the most?

[00:07:35]Well, what I like the most is this is a place for our guests from China to enjoy traditional Chinese festivals, but done with a unique Disney twist.

[00:07:46]>> But also, I'm super excited to see more and more foreign guests coming here. And my while they may come for Disney, if they can experience Chinese uh New Year, Chunier, spring festival, or they can experience dragon boat festival or mid-autumn festival and learn a little bit more about Chinese culture, maybe be a stepping point to explore the rest of the city and the country. I think that's wonderful. I've spent a lot of my career here in China and I think China is a wonderful country and a wonderful culture. And so I'm super excited to introduce China's culture to people from all over the world.

[00:08:21]>> Oh, as a landmark signal foreign cultural tourism cooperation project, what key advantage of China's business environment has stood out to you and how do this strengths support your long-term growth and bolster your investment confidence in China? Well, first of all, I will say that we're very confident in Shanghai and China's future growth. And um an investment such as we've made in Shanghai is a it's a long-term investment. And we've been super super pleased with the support that we've received from the local district and municipal um and central government particularly around things like infrastructure support. You think about the transportation infrastructure that's needed to bring guests from across the city around the country and across the globe to Shanghai. It's highspeed rail, its subway, it's elevated roads, it's new airport infrastructure. Um, it's also in the policies like the new uh no visa policies for up to 60 countries.

[00:09:24]All of that is super supportive to facilitating the success of this resort.

[00:09:29]So, great policy, great infrastructure, um, and and at the end of the day, it's all about the guests and the public.

[00:09:37]We've had such a great welcome here.

[00:09:38]We've now celebrating, as I said, 10 years, >> and we couldn't be more humbled by the welcome we've received from the community, from the guests, from the marketplace, and I feel like we're just only getting started here in Shanghai.

[00:09:52]>> Yeah. uh as you say it's a new start in Shanghai and maybe uh we also have many uh new uh demanding and a new uh engaging in this uh robust growth and what's makes the Chinese market so appealing for Disney to keep expanding uh in investment here and what's the expanding plan? Maybe you can uh take a brief introduction. Well, there's a there's a huge consumer market in in China and um as that market grows, as the middle class grows, particularly with more urbanization, with more transportation connectivity, with more um discretionary spend on travel, leisure, and experiential type of experiences.

[00:10:43]We're the global leader in those kinds of experiences. and our stories which are the heart the DNA of what we create are all based on optimism and happiness.

[00:10:53]So I think it's a perfect match between Disney and the consumer market here. Um I also feel that we have such an opportunity to grow together with different Chinese generations and as you can see you can see the construction cranes over there >> that we are continuing to develop. In fact, as I speak, we have more development and expansion projects underway at Shanghai Disney Resort than we've ever had. We are currently doubling the number of hotels that we have here. We started with two themed hotels. We're now building two more themed hotels to accommodate the increased number of guests that we have and the forecasted continued growth. We have expanded the our theme park, Shanghai Disneyland, which is the core of Shanghai Disney Resort, twice already since our opening nine plus years ago.

[00:11:47]And we're in the process of building a third new themed land, which will make the total number of theme lands here nine. Um, and so all of that is an indication of our confidence. It's an indication of our need to keep up with consumer demand. We're also actually expanding our one of our most popular attractions, Soaring, increasing the capacity of that attraction by over 50%.

[00:12:11]All of that is geared towards keeping up with the demand from our Chinese consumers and our foreign guests now.

[00:12:17]>> And uh uh in the future, what kind of uh actions will Disney choice to do for uh uh the Chinese tourists and international tourists?

[00:12:32]uh tourism feeling.

[00:12:35]>> Okay. I think um I like to think that Shanghai Disney Resort is more than just a tourism destination and uh a business.

[00:12:44]Of course, it is a business. I think it's a showcase of the best standards in the tourism and cultural industries here in China and globally. Then you think about everything we do from how we operate in an environmentally friendly way to creating the physical infrastructure and services to make it a completely accessible experience for guests with disabilities. Um all of those are geared towards showcasing what you can do, what you can create in a in a in a modern tourism resort. Um it's also about courtesy, it's about service. It's about safety. All those those are things that the the tourist demands, our cast demands, and really it's a showcase for others in the industry to see and to study. And we're quite happy if they replicate our safety standards, our service standards. If other tourism sites are successful, it raises the bar for everybody. And at the end of the day, the guest wins.

[00:13:41]>> At the end of the day, >> hello everyone.

[00:13:44]>> Guests from across China and around the world all want to be entertained.

[00:13:48]hearts.

[00:13:49]>> They want happy stories. They want optimism.

[00:13:53]>> We create andor share stories that really bring people a sense of happiness. Some of those stories are Chinese stories like Huan.

[00:14:05]>> Some of those stories come from overseas. Some of them are fantastical stories that come from our creative imagination. But at the end of the day, it's creating a story which makes people happy and then sharing it in ways that reach out and connect with a consumer.

[00:14:21]That could be a movie, it could be through a book, it could be through a plush toy, it could be through a piece of attire that somebody wears that keeps them warm on a cold day like today. And it could be in a theme park experience when you step into a story, you step into a ride, you step into a restaurant, and you feel that you're part of the story. That's where IP is integrated into tourism experience and creates that golden emotion which is happiness.

[00:14:47]>> Uh I heard that the most frequent you used is happiness. I think it's the same emotion for the world that people demand to >> and they want to