Shanghai Disney Resort Second Park Plans Reportedly Shelved

Significant layoffs hit Walt Disney Imagineering this week, impacting around 200 people. While WDI is just the latest in a series of Disney divisions hit with layoffs, these cuts hit hard with many fans because of Imagineering's role in building and expanding Disney Parks. A loss of Cast Members in Imagineering means the parks will be impacted, and a new report claims one park, or at least one planned park, may be the hardest hit.

What's Happening:

• On Wednesday, it was reported that as many as 200 people, most within Walt Disney Imagineering, were being laid off.
• According to sources, the layoffs were due to shifting priorities within the division, with certain projects being deprioritized. However, it was unclear at the time which projects were impacted.
• Puck News is now reporting that the biggest impact is on a park that technically doesn't exist: a second gate for Shanghai Disney Resort.
• A second park in Shanghai had never been formally announced by Disney, but rumors that such a park has been in development have been persistent in recent years.
• Puck News claims that a "big chunk" of the eliminated jobs were part of the development of the park. It also claims the park itself has been "backburnered indefinitely."
• What's unclear from the report is why the park is no longer a priority. China has been, and almost certainly remains, a major market priority for Disney.
• A second gate would require significant buy-in in China. It's possible that negotiations between Disney and the Middle Kingdom were at some sort of impasse. It's been 15 years since ground was broken on the existing park, and certainly a lot has changed since then.
• Disney may have wanted something from China that the nation wasn't willing or able to provide. Alternatively, China may have needed Disney to do something that the company could not.
• Whatever the situation, if the reporting is accurate, it means a second Shanghai gate is no longer an active project. That could always change, but it would seem Disney isn't expecting that to happen anytime soon.

More Shanghai Disney Resort News:

• The newest hotel at the Shanghai Disney Resort is set to open in December.
• Testing on Shanghai's upcoming Spider-Man roller coaster is currently underway.
• Shanghai Disney Resort has big plans for Minnie and Mickey's upcoming birthday celebration.