Shanghai Disneyland

The Monkey Kingdom theme park, expected to open in 2014 outside Beijing, is based on an ancient folk tale as common to China's residents as Santa Claus is to Americans. Based on the 16th century " Journey to the West " folk tale, the project presented a daunting task for Thinkwell , the Burbank-based company charged with designing the theme park, said Chief Executive Joe Zenas. "There's nothing like it in Western literature," Zenas said. Photos : Concept art of China's Monkey Kingdom theme park Thinkwell creative director Dave Cobb immediately seized on the seemingly endless storytelling possibilities that could be told through the universal languages of spectacle, thrill and emotion.

Walt Disney Co. will hold a ground-breaking ceremony Friday in Shanghai for a long-awaited theme park and resort, sources close to the matter said. The event could mark the end of 16 years of speculation over when Disney would begin building its first theme park in mainland China. The $3.6-billion project was first discussed in 1995 and would be the company's fourth theme park and resort outside the United States. About 1,700 acres have been designated for the park in northeast Shanghai.

The princess predicament is a problem as old as Disneyland. Moms want a picture of their little girls with a Disney princess while Dads and their bored boys squirm at the very notion of waiting 45 minutes for a photo op. Disneyland seems to have found a happy medium with the new Fantasy Faire , ushering the ladies through a conga line of princess meet-and-greets while the guys pass the time with a slapstick comedy designed to entertain the...

Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it would submit plans to build its first theme park in mainland China, targeting one of the largest and most prosperous markets in Asia. The Burbank entertainment giant released a statement confirming its plans as news broke that the company was working with the Shanghai municipal government to build a $3.59-billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be Disney's fourth theme park outside the U.S., after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Radiator Springs Racers is the kind of ride nobody but Disney can do. The new $200 million attraction in the 12-acre Cars Land at Disney California Adventure brings to bear all the theme park giant's strengths and abilities: immersive storytelling, detailed thematic scenery, life-like animatronic characters and the illusion of speed and thrill. PHOTOS:   Buena Vista Street  |  Cars Land  |  Radiator Springs Racers  |  Mater's Junkyard Jamboree  |  Luigi's Flying Tires  |  Carsland origins The E-ticket ride is so amazing that Disney may need to come up with a new attraction designation: F-ticket.

THE OPINIONS on Judge William B. Chandler III's opinion are favorable. His decision in the Disney case, admired elsewhere on this page, is required reading -- and no skipping the boring parts, says the Financial Times: "Directors on both sides of the Atlantic should make it their duty to read all 174 pages."

China, finally, is ready to build a house for Mickey Mouse. Beijing has approved plans to build a Disney theme park in Shanghai, a major milestone in the more than decade-long effort by Walt Disney Co. to dramatically expand its reach into China. Disney and the Shanghai municipal government jointly submitted plans in January to build a $3.59-billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be the entertainment giant's fourth theme park outside the U.S., after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong -- and the first in mainland China, the fastest-growing mass market in the world.