Will “Dreams Come True” with Disneyland coming into the Philippines?

by Michelle Cheng, Year 12

Rumors are going around that Disney has invested $350M to build Disneyland in the Philippines. In 2012, a letter was written to the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on wanting to expand Philippine’s amusement park franchise. Is it finally time for a confirmation of Disneyland Philippines?

A possible location for Disneyland in the Philippines would be Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna or Pampanga; as Vice President for global public policy, Jim Flippatos, said, “I think Metro Manila is already extremely crowded. We need at least 125 acres of land to house the Disneyland Philippines.” Several reports are coming in saying that Disneyland may rise in Pampanga soon.

However, this investment plan was decided two years ago, so why haven’t we heard of any construction taking place?? Executive Mark Paulson said, “Once we finalize the deal with the landowners, we will start the construction as soon as possible. Our target is to open by summer of 2018.” Moreover, he stated that Disneyland could provide at least twelve thousand local jobs. 

President Aquino recently visited California and had a meeting with the top executives of Walt Disney International to talk about the possible investments and opportunities for Disney to come to the Philippines. He stated that, upon the interest of the company, the Chairman of Walt Disney plans to visit the Philippines this year. He also shared that they have the desire to help strengthen our creative industry. Nevertheless, there are no concrete details about the confirmation or approval of Disneyland in the Philippines, leaving many Filipinos wishing upon a star for this dream to come true.

While there is no final plan for Disneyland Philippines yet, we all can wish for it to be the best it can possibly be while it is still in its early stages.

In my opinion, these 10 rides need to be in Disneyland Philippines:

1. Space Mountain
   
2. Splash Mountain
   
3. Indiana Jones
   
4. “It’s a Small World”
   
5. Peter Pan’s Flight
   
6. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
   
7. Haunted Mansion
   
8. Star Tours
   
9. Alice in Wonderland
   
10. Matterhorn Bobsled

5 most important things for a truly magical experience:

1. (Nostalgic!) Disney entrance music
   
2. Original Disney-inspired food and snacks! (Bring in the Mickey-eared pancakes and ice cream please!)
   
3. Disney princes and princesses (Hmm… can Filipinos pull this off?)
   
4. Parades and fireworks (The only valid excuse for more pollution in the Philippines)
5. A giant, sparkly, enchanting Disney castle! (this is what makes Disneyland, Disneyland!)

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