LOS ANGELES — The chairman of China’s biggest conglomerate recently predicted that a $5.5 billion Disney theme park opening in Shanghai next month would fail, citing a lack of innovation with intellectual properties and characters.
But when that same conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group Co., opened a rival theme park over the weekend, visitors were greeted by workers dressed as Disney characters, including Captain America, Snow White and Star Wars storm troopers.
“We vigorously protect our intellectual property and will take action to address infringement,” Disney told Bloomberg News.
Just last week Wang predicted that the 15 to 20 theme parks his company plans to build throughout China will outperform the Shanghai Disney Resort by offering lower prices and “constant innovation.”
Over the weekend, Wanda Group opened the first of those planned parks, the Wanda Cultural Tourism City in Nanchang, in southeastern Jiangxi.
The development features a theme park, a movie park, an aquarium, hotels and retail stores.
Asked about the Disney characters at the Wanda theme park, Wanda Group told Bloomberg News that the characters were “operated by individual stores within Wanda Mall. They do not represent Wanda.”
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