Disney guests get a preview of Shanghai park ahead of June opening

Walt Disney employees and partners will get a sneak peek of the $5.5 billion Shanghai Disneyland from this weekend, as the world's largest entertainment company gets set for the official opening of its first theme park in mainland China.

The company will start six weeks of trial operations for the Shanghai Disney Resort from May 7, Disney said in an e-mail statement Friday. Invited participants, limited to the resort's employees, partners and stakeholders, will be able to try out some attractions, entertainment and dining on selected dates, it said. Such trials are a key pre-opening step for all Walt Disney Parks and Resorts destinations and major attractions around the world, Disney said. The Chinese resort officially opens June 16.
 
Disney is planning a three-day event to mark the opening of its newest park next month, which will include a red carpet premiere of its Lion King Broadway show, the first time the production will be performed in Mandarin. The company has been on a recruiting drive to staff up the park, which Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said last year would employ about 10,000 workers.

The highly anticipated Chinese park, Disney's sixth worldwide, comes as the company shocked investors on April 4 when it announced Iger's top lieutenant Thomas Staggs was departing the company in September, leaving the CEO without an obvious successor.