O

ver the past three days, the public was astonished by the news reporting a Disneyland amusement park would be built in Boyolali regency, Central Java.

National news portals picked up the news from local news outlets, the information of which went viral among netizens. Many hoped the establishment of “the happiest place on Earth” would stop Indonesians from traveling overseas and instead visit Boyolali, which could boost the local economy.

The closest Disneyland theme parks are in Hong Kong and Tokyo. So, the thought of having the famous theme park at home sent everyone to the Moon.

Fajar Purnomo, 23, a private company worker in Jakarta and an avid traveler, said he was excited to hear about the new Disneyland.

“It would create job opportunities for local citizens and boost interest in the area,” he said.

However, Fajar’s dream might not come true.

The Walt Disney Company, the worldwide entertainment company that operates various businesses, denied on Monday that it planned to open a park in Indonesia.

Magdalena Rospita, a representative of Disney Southeast Asia, said the Walt Disney Company has no plans to build a theme park in Boyolali.

“Disney Southeast Asia has confirmed, ‘while Indonesia is a priority market for the Walt Disney Company in Southeast Asia, we have no plans to open a Disneyland in Indonesia at this time,’” Magdalena told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The news about the plan went viral following statements made by Boyolali Regent Seno Samodro that his region has been chosen as the location for the development of the first Disneyland theme park in Southeast Asia, with a total projected investment of Rp 6 trillion.

He claimed that his administration had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Dutch investor in March. He went on to say that the groundbreaking of the project would take place in September and the park would be finished in two years.

“A feasibility study has been conducted by Disney. The investment comes 20 percent from Universal Studios; there are also other national and local developers [involved],” he said.

Universal Studios, a movie studio, has also opened theme parks in several countries, such as Singapore. As United States-based theme parks, Disneyland and Universal Studios are thought to compete against each other in garnering park visitors.

Seno went on to say that there had been three locations opting to be the Disneyland location, namely Mojosongo district, Ampel district and Boyolali.

Seno said the investment was part of a foreign investment in Boyolali that had shown growing trends in the past two years. The regency recorded Rp 117 billion and Rp 300 billion in foreign investments in 2015 and 2016 respectively. While the regency booked Rp 1.09 trillion and Rp 693.63 billion in domestic investments in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

“We signed investment projects worth Rp 16 trillion last month, including the Disneyland project,” Seno said.

Boyolali Planning and Development Board (Bappeda) had prepared a team of consultants to include a revision of the regent’s spatial planning in order to make it an investor-friendly area.

The central government welcomed the plan, as Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the development of Disneyland would have a positive impact on the regional economy.

“If a Disneyland really is to be developed, then this is great news, and it will be a large investment,” he said, adding that there would be a multiplier effect from the development. (rdi)