Wanda Group to build theme park on Gold Coast?

[westical]

http://www.domain.com.au/news/new-city-proposed-between-gold-coast-and-brisbane-20160901-gr6hrv/

[rappa]

Another day, another stupid suggesting that this area could support a Disney park. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

it'll be all the wow factor on the proposals, before being scaled back after sale approval due to cutbacks, and end up being a giant North Lakes style precinct where one can't even get a fire truck down the streets.

[WalleyWorld]

http://www.weddedwonderland.com/historic-deal-has-just-been-made-for-a-disneyland-themed-park-in-this-aussie-city/

[Brad2912]

Great scoop by 'WeddedWonderland'...

i have always loved when the text in an article completely contradicts the headline..

[Santa07]

very reliable source 10/10

[downunder]

Since when did wishful thinking become actual news?

[Brad2912]

China’s richest man Wang Jianlin talks up Gold Coast and meets with Mayor

Kathleen Skene, Gold Coast Bulletin

an hour ago

PLANS by China’s richest man to build a multi billion-dollar Gold Coast theme park have advanced, with the Wanda Group talking up the city at a major investment forum.

Wang Jianlin, 61, worth an estimated $39 billion, gave a glowing endorsement of the Coast, citing it as his only example of a city which had prospered from tourism outside of China.

“Its value was discovered more than 50 years ago, and investment began,” he told the forum in Xiamen this month.

“A city gradually took shape and a booming new city emerged purely as a result of investment in tourism ... it is ranked among the ‘top 10 tourism destinations in the world’ for almost a decade, and has prospered a state.”

Chairman of China's Wanda Group Wang Jianlin.

Mayor Tom Tate, with wife Ruth, met with the billionaire this week for the third time but would not comment on specific projects discussed, saying it was “commercial in confidence for now”.

“My role is to ensure he knows our city is open-for-business so this group chooses to invest in the Gold Coast, before considering anywhere else in Australia,” he said.

“Mr Wang Jianlin is incredibly impressed about our hospitality and open-for-business approach.

“He loves the Gold Coast and I am confident our partnership with this company will be for the long-term.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate meeting with China's richest man Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group

The mayor is in China with his deputy Donna Gates and a host of business people, including high-end commercial property agent Roland Evans, who is negotiating the possible billion-dollar sale of a 6000ha property at Norwell where a masterplanned city and theme parks have been mooted.

Mr Wang, whose Wanda Group is a partner of the billion-dollar Jewel project at Broadbeach, met with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last October to discuss plans for a major development on the Coast.

Palaszczuk meeting with Wang Jianlin, Wanda Group Chairman, in Beijing

Wanda Group general manager Xie Hong said at the time “it is Wanda’s intention to set a theme park up on the Gold Coast”.

“This major project is still under negotiation with the State Government,” he said.

A spokesman for Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the government was looking forward to working with Wanda towards new investments for the state.

Wanda is the world’s largest owners of cinemas, sporting organisations, hotels, shopping centres and residential properties — but it has heavily invested in building theme parks in China in the past 12 months — including one in the country’s east worth $9.5 billion.

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/chinas-richest-man-wang-jianlin-talks-up-gold-coast-and-meets-with-mayor/news-story/c5c8126b4281bc5d3d57290a8ddfa2bb

[New display name]

One minute it's Coomera, one minute its Norwell.  One day this could go ahead but until they have land nothing is really going on besides some people talking over drinks.  I say it has a better chance going ahead than Wonderland 2.0. ever would.  Wonderland 2.0 has no money or land. 

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

I briefly saw a post about it on TPSN's page saying it wasn't happening there wasn't room near Norwell, looks like the post got removed as I can't find it on his page

Edited September 23, 2016 by Theme Park Ninja

[New display name]

@Theme Park Ninja Are you ok?  Reading his shit is worse than sticking needles in your eyes.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

Oh I'm fine, Ninjas can deal with any shit  

Edited September 23, 2016 by Theme Park Ninja

[New display name]

2 minutes ago, Theme Park Ninja said:

Oh I'm fine, I just wore my ninja mask to see less of the post

If you happen to have flashbacks or frequent wet dreams you will be happy to know Theme Parks a Go-Go now offers one-on-one counselling.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

I will remember that, thanks for the reminder 

[Brad2912]

41 minutes ago, Theme Park Ninja said:

I briefly saw a post about it on TPSN's page saying it wasn't happening there wasn't room near Norwell, looks like the post got removed as I can't find it on his page

Haha.. That post on TPSN was stupid. It is still there, land is not the issue at all

[Life]

Coomera could never support a park the size they were proposing, it was always going to be north of Pimpama. I do believe this will go ahead this particular developer has a long history of following his intentions through... Timeline though, who knows... Could be 5 years, 10, even 20...

[iwerks]

8 hours ago, YLFATEEKS said:

Wonderland 2.0 has no money or land. 

Source?

[Brad2912]

4 minutes ago, iwerks said:

Source?

Well there clearly is no land, they have admitted as much themselves. 

There were also rumbling a few months ago, albeit unconfirmed, that some of their major backers had cooled significantly on the project 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

22 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Well there clearly is no land, they have admitted as much themselves. 

There were also rumbling a few months ago, albeit unconfirmed, that some of their major backers had cooled significantly on the project 

Rumblings are inaccurate, but end result is same.

[Brad2912]

Seems Wanda is (largely) getting out of the theme park business...

Wanda strikes $9.3bn deal to sell theme parks, hotels

10 July, 2017 | By Tom Grater

Chinese giant in apparent step-back from leisure and tourism drive.

 

Chinese media and property goliath Dalian Wanda Group has struck a $9.3bn deal to sell a portion of its leisure and tourism projects to real-estate developer Sunac China.

The deal includes three Chinese theme parks owned by Wanda, which were intended to compete with Disney’s similar ventures in China (including Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in summer 2016 and has since welcomed more than 10 million guests).

Last year, Wanda owner Wang Jianlin claimed that his “wolf pack” of theme parks would better Disney’s efforts.

In total, Wanda is selling 91% of 13 tourism projects to Sunac, which will take over the project’s loans and financing, while Wanda will continue to design, build and manage the resorts under its own brand name.

According to Reuters, the sale is the second-biggest real estate deal ever in China, and will help Wanda’s efforts to reduce its debt. The deal is thought to be a part of the company’s attempts to get its property wing listed on the stock exchange in mainland China, following its decision to delist from Hong Kong in 2016.

Wanda’s first theme park venture opened in May 2016, with a focus on promoting Chinese culture rather than imports.

“This craze for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is over, the period when we would blindly follow where Disney led has been gone for years,” Wang Jianlin commented at the time.

The deal with Sunac represents a significant pull back for Wanda, which had claimed it would open up to 15 theme parks in China by 2020.

The agreement is expected to be finalised later this month.

CHANGE IN FOCUS

According to analysts at Bloomberg, the deal could see Wanda re-up its focus on its entertainment empire, which has seen the company complete big deals for US theatre chain AMC (which also owns Odeon Cinemas) and The Dark Knight producer Legendary Entertainment.

The agreement with Sunac will also include “comprehensive strategic cooperation in extensive areas including movie [sic],” according to a statement on Wanda’s website.

However, the company’s foreign exploits have not all run smoothly, with a proposed $1bn acquisition of Golden Globes show producer Dick Clark Productions hitting the rocks in March this year, reportedly due to Chinese regulatory restrictions as well as second thoughts over the hefty price tag.