A little girl poses for a photo at Shanghai Disneyland on Friday. [Photo/VCG]

The company has leveraged the park to create synergies and inspire other business developments in China.

For instance, it used the Shanghai resort to pump up the opening of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, on the premise that China is "an extremely vital market for the future of our studios and movie business".

"We believe that a successful theme park in China would increase people's awareness of, and appreciation for, the Disney brand and the stories behind it," Iger said.