Recently, Shanghai Disneyland's eighth theme park and the world's first "Zootopia" theme park were awarded the "Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement - Theme Park Land" by the Global Theme Entertainment Association (TEA) for 2025.
The Global Theme Entertainment Association is a global non-profit association that brings together the world's top creators, developers, designers, and producers, and is considered the most authoritative organization in the global theme entertainment industry. The Thea Awards for Outstanding Achievement, presented annually by the Global Theme Entertainment Association, are often referred to as the "Oscars" of the global theme entertainment industry.
This year, along with Shanghai Disneyland's "Zootopia", Tokyo Disneyland's "Neverland" also won this honor. This is the first time that Walt Disney Imagineering, responsible for designing and building Disney theme parks, has won two awards in the same category at the same awards ceremony, indicating that the Disney creative team dedicated to creating immersive experiences has received high recognition from the industry.
Bruce Vaughn, President and Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, said, "Imagineers around the world constantly break boundaries in immersive storytelling and create unique experiences and unforgettable character interactive moments in ways that only Disney can do. I am immensely proud of the Imagineers and cast who have been recognized today for their outstanding contributions to our work and the entire theme entertainment industry
The "Zootopia" theme park of Shanghai Disneyland is inspired by the popular animated film "Zootopia" by Walt Disney Animation Studios, allowing visitors to fully immerse themselves in this colorful and vibrant metropolis of mammals, experiencing firsthand that "every animal has infinite possibilities".
The "Zootopia" themed park opened on December 20, 2023, and has won high praise and popularity among tourists for its immersive experience, rich details, and humorous storytelling. According to the latest data provided by Disney, nearly 97% of the surveyed tourists were already aware of the "Zootopia" theme park before visiting Shanghai Disney Resort. About one-third of them said that it was the new park that attracted them to visit the resort.
This month, the "Crazy Animal City: Heat Tracking" amusement project in the park also won the 2024 China Theme Park Excellence Project Award from the China Theme Park Research Institute, in recognition of its outstanding role in promoting China's theme park amusement projects, representing the new trend of innovative development and the huge potential of the market.
This project combines high-level technological innovation with Disney's iconic storytelling through advanced mechanical animation puppet technology and the first use of trackless ride hailing systems in mainland China. It allows tourists who have become the "new police officers" of Zootopia Police Department to ride on all terrain police cars with Judy and Nick, and participate in the crazy chase to hunt down bad sheep and rescue the big star Shaqiyang.