Add one more nation to the list of countries bidding to add a Disney Themepark to its economy. Malaysia, a federation of nation states with some troubled history, says it is holding talks with the Disney Company for a 2,000 acre parcel of land in the Nusajaya township. So now the list for another Disney Resort includes India, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia (some would say add Australia to that mix). And don’t forget Shanghai, which supposedly has reached agreement for a non-Magic Kingdom style Disney Park.
Disney is in a strong position in the negotiations and should be able to get a really good deal from which ever government they decide to go with first. Yay Disney, I guess.
I’ve seen articles alleging that Disney is also being courted in South America and, as posted here, the Middle East (http://thedisneyblog.typepad.com/tdb/2006/03/middle_east_mic.html).
Personally I would rather see time and energy spent in the existing parks, e.g. theming and wages.
Hopefully Iger was taking notes when Eisner was spreading the magic too thin.
They already have parks in Tokyo and Hong Kong. You’d think that would be enough. Why would East Asia need yet another park? I agree with Whit; concentrate on the current parks now.
Also, Malaysia has a conservative Muslim culture. I’d seriously worry about culture clash arising from a theme park project. Disney runs the risk of offending Malaysians.
Conservative Muslim country? If you don’t know about Malaysia, then shut up.
And care to explain my country’s troubled history? Malaysia is the most stabil country in SEA and probably the most developed after S’pore. Malaysia a multicultural society-Malay(the Muslim majority),Chinese,Indians and other indigenous people.
One reason to build the Disneyland is to steal the tourists who would be sojourning S’pore’s casinos in 2009. So the location is very lucrative in attracting alot od tourists.
Another reason are the incentives by the government-tax breaks and cheap land(2000ha..probably almost for free) and the township will be among the most modern in Malaysia, surrounded by jungles and parks. With 2000ha, Disnay could expand the park, unlike the small Disneyland in HK which is just 30ha!!!
BTW, the township has already allocated the 2000ha of land for a theme park since 2001,so it is inevitable that a theme park will be in Nusajaya. If Disneyland dun want it, someone will.
If anyone knows about Malaysia, it is a muticultural country with majority Muslim malay, Chinese, Indian and others. Even Singaporean loves to go Malaysia for food, shopping, holiday. That’s also one of the reasons Singapore gov’t doesn’t want to build the bridge and which makes me very incovenient travelling from Singapore to Malaysia.
I urge Whit to visit Malaysia and see the difference. Bringing Disney to Malayisa will bring benefits to both Singapore and Malaysia where it can attraact trourists from Thailand, India, Indonesia, Brunei, Philipines and others. With Airasia flying cheaply to these countries and bridge across singapore, disney is a easy access place. No wonder Singapore gov’t reject Airasia flying directly to/from KL. But this again a political between govts. With plenty of land available in johor, disney can develop and expand later whereas HK Disneyland has limited land size 30h.
However, one draw back is, can Malaysia able to provide the infastructure that disney wants such as customer service, road, electrical, water, internet???. Most Malaysia big project starts with a big bang and later “don’t care’ attitude.
I like to see malaysia to bring in Disney. Defintely a a thumb up.
The true spirit of Mr.Walt Disney himself seems to have been lost on the author of this blog. After all, he said it best at the opening of the Disneyland park (July 17th, 1955) when he said :
“To all who come to this happy place…Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to ALL THE WORLD”.
Clearly indicating that he is proud of America’s achievements but nowhere does he indicate that his personal philosophies leave any room for bigotry or selfishishness in keeping Disney for America only.
Comments are closed.