The construction of Shanghai Disneyland would be concluded this year, though the theme park’s inauguration and opening would be postponed until the first half of 2016.
According to Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong, the construction of the city's newest tourist attraction, which began in April 2011, would basically be done before this year ends but explained that its scheduled opening is still being discussed.
Yang also explained that the management of Disney as well as its partner, the Shanghai Shendi Group, is still going through several logistics plans to determine the best way to manage a large number of tourists which are expected to flood the $5.5-billion theme park upon its opening.
This, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, was to avoid a similar incident in the wake of the Shanghai New Year's Eve stampede, which killed over two dozens of people and injured many more.
Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Co. has confirmed that the scheduled opening has been pushed back again in what has been considered as the latest setback in the project.
According to Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, the highly anticipated opening of Shanghai Disneyland would be by the first half of 2016, though he did not specify a date and just said that matters about the project would be discussed to investors by Tuesday.
Iger, who plans to retire by June 2018, considers this project as his key legacy before he leaves office.
Before this recent update, the Disney executive had already announced back in April 2014 that the theme park in Shanghai would be opened this year.
However, the WSJ believes that Disney would be aiming to inaugurate the park during spring rather than winter in order "to maximize its impact," especially since it is usually in perfect timing with the Chinese New Year in February.