Disney Gets Nod for Shanghai Theme Park

It's been in the works for more than a decade, but The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) finally got the approval it needed from China's government to build a theme park in Shanghai.

Disney's fourth park outside the United States will be the first on mainland China, giving the company a new avenue to market its popular properties in the restriction-laden Red Dragon. The park, to be located in the Pudong district between Shanghai's main international airport and its downtown area, will target China's growing middle class.

"Shanghai Disney would be a huge boom," Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group told Bloomberg News. "You have 80 million people within 3 hours' driving distance."