Business is booming at Shanghai Disneyland with the landmark attraction welcoming nearly 8 million visitors since it opened its doors last summer.

The park, which opened on 17 June last year, enjoyed a strong start to life as a visitor attraction, with Disney reporting 95 per cent occupancy rates and visitors staying two hours longer on average than expected.

These results have continued, translating into the strong figures presented by chair and CEO Bob Iger at Disney’s recent shareholder meeting in Denver, Colorado.

“Almost 8 million people have already visited Shanghai Disneyland,” said Iger. “They’re telling their friends and families all about it and their rave reviews are driving excitement for that park across all of China. We’re absolutely thrilled with the response and we expect more than 10 million people to visit this park by its first anniversary.”

The success of Shanghai Disneyland has prompted Disney to add further investment into the park, with the operator breaking ground on Toy Story Land in November.

“Bringing Shanghai Disneyland from dream to reality was a 17-year journey and it’s been a thrill to see the park come alive with people of all ages, many of them experiencing a Disney theme park for the first time in their lives,” added Iger. “There’s this wonderful sense of joy and excitement when the park is full. We’re incredibly proud of the fact that only Disney could create such an extraordinary experience for the people of China.”

Disneyland Shanghai represents Disney’s first venture into mainland China, which Chinese president Xi Jinping has heralded as a sign of China’s “commitment to cross-cultural cooperation and our innovation mentality in the new era.”

The US$5.5bn (€4.9bn, £4.2bn) theme park and resort – the largest foreign investment ever made by Disney – features its biggest castle, two hotels and six themed lands: Adventure Isle, Gardens of Imagination, Mickey Avenue, Tomorrowland, Treasure Cove and Fantasyland.