The Shanghai Disney Resort is an upcoming theme park resort built by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The resort is scheduled to open in December 2015. Phase 1 of the resort's development will feature a Magic Kingdom style park, Shanghai Disneyland Park, an entertainment district, 2 themed hotels, recreational facilities, a lake and associated parking and transportation hubs. Additional phases will see the development of 2 additional theme parks at the resort. The site will cover 963 acres in Pudong, Shanghai, or approximately 3 times the size of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, at a cost of 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) for the new theme park and an additional 4.5 billion yuan (US$0.7 billion) to build other aspects of the resort. 43% of the resort will be owned by The Walt Disney Company and the remaining 57% will be owned by the Shanghai Shendi Group. Project Application Report for the resort was approved by the Chinese government on November 4, 2009.

The construction has already begun, and construction on a major road has begun in order to transport materials for the rest of the park. Major construction work is planned to start as early as May 2011, targeting a 2016 opening. The resort is planned to cover an area of 4 km².(988 acres) It is expected to cost 25 billion RMB ($3.66 billion USD). The project will be financed by several large Chinese state-owned enterprises in Shanghai forming a joint venture with the Walt Disney Company. The Oriental Land Company has not confirmed any connection to this venture with Disney on the Shanghai Disneyland project. "The first-phase of the project will be to the South of Huanglou Area, an area in Chuansha Town, the southeast suburbs of Shanghai's Pudong area; the second phase will extend further southwest," an urban developer from Shanghai stated.

Shanghai is the largest city by population of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the largest city proper by population in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities of the PRC, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010. It is a global city, with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport. It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.

Located in the Yangtze River Delta in eastern China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the middle portion of the Chinese coast. The municipality borders Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces to the west, and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea.

Once a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to European recognition of its favorable port location and economic potential. The city was one of several opened to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the first opium war and the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking which allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became the undisputed financial hub of the Asia Pacific in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, the city's international influence declined. In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city.