Virtual Disney Closing its Doors

Deal marks one of China's biggest-ever foreign investments

(NEWSER) - Disney has moved a step closer to bringing the Magic Kingdom to Shanghai, which just closed the doors on a record-breaking world expo. The company and a firm backed by the city government have signed a $3.6 billion deal to build the theme park, a year to the day after the Chinese government green-lighted the project , AP reports. Residents have already been moved—some of them forcibly—from farmland where Disney plans to build the park, its fourth outside the US. More»

Theme park deal green-lighted after decades of talks

(NEWSER) - The Magic Kingdom is coming to the Middle Kingdom after nearly 20 years of negotiations, Disney announced yesterday. The massive Disneyland-style theme park to be built in Shanghai will dwarf the one in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, and will eventually rival the size of Florida's Disney World. Analysts believe the $3.5 billion park will be one of the biggest-ever foreign investments in China, the New York Times reports. More»

Women keep shirts on, editors lose theirs

(NEWSER) - A decline in breast-baring has triggered job cuts at Disneyland, reports the Orange County Register reports. Disney is axing photo editors tasked with screening out photos of people flashing cameras that snap automatically on Splash Mountain and three other rides. The photos are posted for sale at kiosks at ride exits. Flashing has become rare, but Disney warned that screeners will be back on the job if the problem comes up again. More»

Company announces layoffs, major restructuring of park operations

(NEWSER) - Tomorrowland holds unemployment for an undisclosed number of Disney employees, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The company is restructuring its theme park division—which employs 80,000 people—and plans to cut jobs by consolidating its East and West Coast operations. Analysts believe Disney can make substantial savings this way but warn that turning around the firm's falling profits will be harder if it cuts too many creative jobs. More»

(NEWSER) - The recently renovated “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland has some new inhabitants, OC Weekly reports—Disney characters. The ride, which debuted in 1964 to showcase tolerance, now features animatronic versions of popular movie figures alongside children of the world, the AP adds. “What message are they actually saying about the world?” one purist asked. “That you can go anywhere and there will be a Disney theme park?” More»