More Theme Parks

The Dalian Wanda group has signed a co-development deal to build the $9.4 billion park, which will have a sports theme, according to Variety, and feature a 10,000-seat ice hockey stadium that can be converted for basketball. It will also include a mall, an outdoor theme park, a hotel zone, a performance stage and a “bar street.” Construction begins next year and scheduled completion is in 2020. Wanda said it expects more than 20 million visitors a year to the park and the creation of 20,000 jobs.

This is the 13th park planned by the property development giant, which has expanded into entertainment and leisure and whose chairman, Wang Jianlin, derided Shanghai’s Walt Disney Resort earlier this year as overpriced. He predicted his “wolf pack” of theme parks would eventually overshadow the American interloper, though he may have been speaking too soon since one of his parks, in Wuhan, has since closed temporarily after opening less than two years ago.