Despite the revelation that recent news about a Disney theme park in Malaysia didn’t include anything formal from The Walt Disney Company, plans for such a park are still on the books.
Last week, the New Straits Times and other media outlets reported that Disney was constructing a new theme park in Melaka, Malaysia, bringing the number of Asian Disney theme parks to four. The new theme park was reported to be the largest Disney park in Asia once built. But less than 24 hours after the news went live, the online post at the New Straits Times was taken down, and the story was said to be fake news.
A day later, the government of Melaka issued an apology for the misunderstanding, while simultaneously accepting no fault for the misunderstanding.
A local government official, Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis, said that no formal paperwork had been signed by both parties and that construction of a Disney theme park had only ever been in the planning stages. There was, however, a formal MoU signed by Metrolink Sdn Bhd and Menara Taming Sari Berhad, and it was for the Maglev Transportation System, which will reportedly connect tourist spots across the state.
“But Metrolink has stated its future plans, as I spoke about earlier, of having a Disney City in Jasin,” Khamis said. “So it is a plan. We did not say anything about having an agreement or MoU with Disneyland in place. I can plan to build Burj Khalifa in Melaka tomorrow, but it does not mean that its owners and management will agree to such an idea.”