Walt Disney Corporation has been in business for a very long time. I don’t know if Dalian Wanda Group knows exactly what they are talking about when they forecast Disney’s failure in China. Although they may have a point that attendance may dwindle during the cold times, the warmer weather times will most definitely make up for it. Shanghai Disney will be successful for the main fact that it is a Disney theme park. Based on the success and fame of the brand alone, it will be successful. Other parks need to charge less to stay in competition with Disney, but they will never have the same history of brand awareness and marketing that Disney has had for generations.
As the article states, Disney has just acquired the Star Wars and Marcel Comics franchises. Disney continues to re-energize its brand based on the most recent trends for the generations. A main contributor to the success of Disney it its ability to attract various demographics of customers. The same characters remain to be of value for older generations to relate to, and new characters are continuously coming out for younger generations. Star Wars and the Marvel characters have been around for numerous generations as well, and this adds more value to the Disney theme parks and the brand overall.
Wanda’s Group parks sound intriguing and may be wonderful overall. Universal Studios and other theme parks are great as well. They are not Disney though. Many times vacationers wish to visit various theme parks on their vacations and holidays, but even when they visit various theme parks, they usually make time to visit a Disney resort as well. Disney has been famous for many years for many reasons. Disney has always been typically more expensive than other theme parks, but it is usually worth the high ticket prices to go anyway.
Some people hate going to a Disney resort for a variety of reasons. The lines may be too long. There may be too many crowds to work through. The food may be overpriced. The tickets may be far more expensive than other destinations. They still go to the Disney resorts though, even after they complain about it. The Disney name brings with it power and prestige. Regardless of whether the Wanda’s Group wishes to acknowledge it or not, Disney has a very good chance of succeeding in China. Both Disney and the Wanda Group will most likely be successful. China has a great population and the two companies will have plenty of customers to gain. The friendly competition between the two will be interesting to see play out. When the weather is nice, Disney will have a great deal of customers. When the weather is ugly, the customers may go to Wanda’s Group Parks.
As far as the Dalian Wanda Group being more innovative than Disney, the chances are very unlikely. Disney continues to innovate their rides, products, and attractions continuously. The people than began working for Disney at the start of the Mickey Mouse campaign are no longer with the company. Just as the Wanda Group have an innovative creative group working on their newest attractions, so does Disney. The additional press that the Wanda Group gained for Disney through this article just added to the amount of customers that will visit Disney just to see what all the hype is about. As stated in the article, Disney did not even see the comment worth responding to. Disney is not worried for a reason. Decades of success and branding will not fail because of higher ticket prices or a little cold weather. The Wanda Group is worth checking out too though.
- Martin, Hugo. “’Era of blindly following’ Mickey Mouse is over, says Chinese billionaire battling Disney”. 25 May 2016. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/
