Wanda Group vows to Push Disney out of China

Weeks stand between the general public and the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland, there seemed to be no opposition or competition for Disney.

Or so we thought.

Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin, has vowed to outperform Shanghai Disney with more local theme parks that offer lower ticket prices and innovative rides and characters. The Chinese conglomerate specializes in hotels, malls and department stores.

The Wanda Group, which acquired United States-based AMC Theaters in 2012, has promised to build 15 to 20 other smaller theme parks across the country over the next several years. In January, Wanda reached a $3.5-billion deal to acquire Burbank-based Legendary Entertainment, one of the film production companies behind "The Dark Knight," "Jurassic World" and "Godzilla" movies.

In regards to their plan to outperform Disney, Jianlin stated:
"The pace of opening is faster and every park of ours has its own business model, with constant innovation and combining indoor and outdoor parks," the Chinese billionaire said during an hour-long appearance Sunday night on state-run China Central Television. "So, I think that Disney's prospects in China, at least its financial status, don't look good to me."

Wang also predicted that Disney's outdoor theme park will struggle to attract visitors during the rainy summer season and the cold winters. Wanda's parks feature large expanses of indoor entertainment. Shanghai Disneyland also includes several indoor rides and attractions.

And Disney, Wang suggested, has relied too heavily on aging intellectual properties and characters — although he apparently didn't mention Disney's acquisition of the "Star Wars" and Marvel Comics franchises, which are being incorporated into attractions.

"Another thing," he said, "the frenzy of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the era of blindly following them has passed." 

Disney reps said that these comments weren't worthy of a response.