The number of visitors far exceeded the expectations of the new Shanghai Disney Metro Station. Photo: 163.com
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1940327/magically-inflated-prices-kingdom-tourists-stung-cost China
Magically inflated-prices kingdom: tourists stung by cost of refreshments outside Shanghai Disneyland
The few shops already operating in the tourist district outside the theme park, which opens next month, were charging up to five times the normal price for drinks and snacks during the holiday weekend
Visitors to the tourist district outside Shanghai Disney land complained about stiff prices for refreshments during the Labour Day holiday. Photo: SCMP.
Tens of thousands of tourists who flocked to the soon-to-open Shanghai Disneyland on the Labour Day holiday found themselves paying five times the regular price for a can of soft drink outside the theme park.
The Shanghai Disney metro station was expecting a daily average of more than 12,000 tourists over the three-day holiday.
But on Saturday, the first day of the holiday, the station counted 40,000 passengers by 1pm, Shanghai-based news website Thepaper.cn reported.
While most shops were yet to open in the new tourist district outside the gates, barricades had been erected to manage the a heavy tourist flow.
But it is was the inflated prices of snacks and drinks that caused the most grumbles among the visitors.
“The same drinks sold in the shops in other places cost only to three to four yuan,” a tourist named Li complained. “The price here is unacceptable even when these stalls are the only ones open.”
Other tourists said that while it was normal to pay higher prices for refreshments in tourist districts, those outside the Disney park were excessive.
Many hoped the prices will recede as more shops open, but they will also have to brave an even bigger influx of tourists when the park officially opens next month.