Walt Disney Co. said that its visitors in the new Shanghai Park have "exceeded our expectations," dismissing recent reports that visitor numbers fall short of analysts' estimates.

"Our financial results during the first 100+ days of operation have exceeded our expectations, and guest feedback has been extremely strong, establishing a solid foundation upon which to grow," Bob Chapek, Disney's parks and resorts division chairman, told Bloomberg.

Like Us on Facebook

The South China Morning Post reported that Disneyland is welcoming about 20,000 visitors per day and generating around 7.3 million annually, which is half of what analysts have expected.

Disney is facing a heated competition with local player Dalian Wanda Group, which also aims to capture China's $610 billion tourism sector. It recently opened the second of its 15 planned multi-billion dollar parks last month.

Aside from that, visitors of Disney reportedly complained of the expensive ticket prices, long queues for some rides, and early closing of some attractions due to maintenance or overcrowding, the newspaper noted, to which Chapek responded: "The recent report speculating about our attendance is meritless."

Meanwhile, Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, reiterated its support for its Shanghai Park during an event in Boston College last Wednesday.    

"The park that we opened has been doing extremely well," Iger said. "Millions of people have already gone."

He also said that the Disney Shanghai Park received a "very high" guest satisfaction, adding that guests stayed two hours longer per visit than what Disney projected. In fact, Iger claimed that the $5.5 billion theme park had the biggest attendance in the first hundred days than most parks it has opened over the history, Fortune reported.

"It's a great moment for the company," Iger said. "It is already a decent business and it represents incredible potential for our company in the most populous country and its most populous city for many, many years to come."

TagsDisney, Disneyland, Disneyland Shanghai, Disneyland Shanghai review