Crowds confronting
Gao went to the park on May 13, the second weekend of the trial period and found the crowds somewhat confronting. "There were people everywhere, especially around the parade. And I had to spend an average one hour waiting for each attraction," she complained. "I think it will be terribly crowded after the grand opening. Though I plan to visit again with friends, I will wait until next year at least."
At a press conference on May 19, Murray King, the vice president of public affairs for the Shanghai Disney Resort, outlined Disney's crowd management procedures. "The Shanghai Disney park is designed to have the capacity for all guests to have a truly wonderful experience. And we do that by limiting the number of guests that can come to the park on each day, so they can enjoy certain numbers of attractions."
He advised visitors to book tickets online and plan their trips as early as possible.
On the first day of the trial period the park welcomes a special group of visitors - interns who had been working there for the past few months. Cherry Zhang and Zhang Wen, students from the Shanghai International Studies University, had provided translations for the Disney Resort. Cherry Zhang worked as a French interpreter for nine months and Zhang Wen was an English interpreter for four months.
"Interpreters had to follow the engineers everywhere. So I had to climb up and down with a safety helmet almost every working day, and I saw what the park was like when there was scaffolding everywhere."
Zhang said she was honored to have been invited to visit the park and felt a sense of achievement. "All our hard work paid off. I feel very proud to have played a role!"
Zhang Wen said the project managers for each attraction had been in the park on the trial day, monitoring the performances and asking visitors for feedback. "I caught sight of the project manager for my work zone the moment I entered the park. He told me how excited he was seeing so many guests smiling happily after experiencing his attraction."
Very touching
"In the Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure attraction, the visitors all applauded the project manager and engineers. It was very touching, and reminded me of my working days here again." Zhang Wen told the Global Times.
For Zhang Wen, the most valuable part of the park was the creativity. "Each designer is a great story teller. High-tech can be imitated, but their creativity is unique."
One of the most-heard criticisms of the Disney Resort is that it is "expensive." A common complaint is that the park is only for wealthy Chinese and that it will be unaffordable for ordinary people.
Trial visitor Chen didn't buy any food inside the park but spent 100 yuan ($15) on a Minnie Mouse headdress. "You are allowed to bring some food in, as long as it's packaged," Chen said. "I didn't spend any other money except for the headdress. It is a bit expensive, but I enjoyed myself so much I didn't care about the cost."
Gao said the items on sale inside the park were no more expensive than items at Disney-themed stores outside and the average food prices were about the same as the cost of food downtown.
"Visitors from other cities may think that the food prices are ridiculously high, but since I have lived in Shanghai for two years and know that things at amusement parks are usually expensive, I found the 70-yuan cost for a Disney children's set meal for example, was understandable. They are large meals and you could fill up with just one of the set meals," Gao said.
She didn't eat lunch at the park because she was not interested in the Western style foods like hamburgers and pizzas. "It's not because of the price, but because I don't think these foods are tasty."
A Mickey Mouse cake
She did buy some cakes when she left the park, "A brightly colored Mickey Mouse cake cost me 25 yuan. It's not expensive at all. The cakes you buy in Shanghai are more expensive."
Disney spokesman Murray King told the May 19 press conference that Disney provided different options for guests from different parts of China according to their affordability - from "bringing their own commercially packaged food to enjoying free drinking water from the water fountains, to enjoying a range of different food experiences from fast food to fine dining with table service.
"And that also extends to our hotel rates which include family prices and luxury prices," King said. "Actually our regular season ticket prices (370 yuan) are the lowest of all Disney Magic Kingdom parks around the world, and the pricing also allows us to cater to Chinese middle class consumers."
