Disney Rumors Spur Money Grab In a Chinese City

This is why everyone involved is denying any kind of agreement or even negotiations in the rumor of a possible Disney theme park in Shanghai. Everyone wants to get a piece of the action, even those who have never heard of Disney.

Disney fever is sweeping Shanghai, and it has little to do with giddy anticipation of Mickey Mouse and company. It's about cash. Homeowners and businesses in the Shanghai village of Jinjia, where the rumors are focused, expect their properties will be bought up to make way for a Shanghai Disneyland. Residents expect that compensation will be proportional to the size of their houses, and even the number of trees on their property.

So, in a country with a well-known weakness for gambling, people are putting up new homes or adding extra rooms -- sometimes in defiance of local development laws -- for the shot at a payday.

So I guess that's one thing that Disney did right with Hong Kong Disneyland - building it on an island that was relatively uninhabited. :)

Still, what's happening in Shanghai isn't new. Walt certainly realized that this is what would happen when he was looking in Florida.

Zz.