Disney-themed Train in Shanghai (Photo : Shanghai Metro)
Rain failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of Chinese who showed up on Thursday for the formal opening of Shanghai Disneyland. However, despite the sold-out status of tickets and rides, not everyone is ecstatic over the opening of the happiest place on Earth.
Besides Shanghai residents who are turned off by the volume of crowd they would deal with on a regular basis since the resort expects at least 10 to 12 million visitors a year on its first year, netizens too were critical of the Disney-themed trains in Shanghai, reported What's on Weibo.
Simultaneous with the grand opening of the resort are the trains which started to run at 12 noon on Thursday, Shanghai Metro announced on Tuesday. Operating on Line 11 which runs between the Disney Station and Luoshan Road Station, all designs, images and various elements of the rail transport were officially authorized by Disney America.
Based on the photos released by Shanghai Metro, the characters painted on the coaches and interior are the most known ones such as Donald Duck, Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy.
However, many Weibo users were vocal about not liking the design which they compared to its counterpart in Hong Kong. One user found the design so cheap, another commented that the train’s
“special theme” appears to be “forced.” “This is nothing special. It’s just a regular train with Disney paper stuck to it,” wrote a user.
In contrast, Hong Kong’s Disneyland Resort Line features windows and straphangers shaped like Mickey Mouse, Disney-themed interior couch seating and bronze statues of Disney characters inside coaches.
The train and roads in Shanghai give more than 330 million people in China access to Shanghai Disneyland. Most of them are China’s upper middle class forecast to reach 100 million by 2020, twice the current 50 million, according to LA Times.
