SHANGHAI - Builders will soon start constructing the infrastructure of the much-anticipated Shanghai Disney Resort, after preparations on the ground formation work were completed, attendees of a ceremony held at the site on Thursday were told.

Bill Ernest, president and managing director of Disney Parks and Resort Asia, praised the ground work by the project's Chinese partner -- Shanghai Shendi Group -- and the support from the Shanghai municipal government, at the build site hand-over event.

"We are incredibly excited to begin building the resort and to develop a world-class family vacation destination in Shanghai," he said.

Ernest promised construction of hotels will start later this year, with developers studying Chinese culture in order to add local elements to Disney's latest attraction.

"We are talking a lot about 'authentic Disney, unique Chinese.' We are really working hard to incorporate it in the overall design story," he said.

The Disney chief disclosed that Shanghai Disneyland is likely to celebrate local events like Mid-Autumn Festival. Visitors will also see food, snacks and souvenirs with local elements in the park.

Intended to open at the end of 2015, the resort will initially be comprised of Shanghai Disneyland, a Magic-Kingdom-style park as well as two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue, recreational facilities, a lake and parking and transportation hubs.

Covering an area of 1.16 square km, the theme park inside the 3.9-sq-km Shanghai Disney Resort will be the world's sixth Disney amusement park and the first on the Chinese mainland. It will also be the third of its kind in Asia, after the company's theme parks in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

During preparation work over the past year, the Shendi Group adopted cutting-edge vacuum preloading technology to level and consolidate the ground formation to prevent it from subsiding in the coastal site.

Howard Brown, senior vice president overseeing development of the Shanghai Disney Resort, said the soil formation project is the largest ever undertaken anywhere.

Builders are now working on road network construction, as well as the site's central lake and perimeter canal.

The ground-breaking of the Shanghai Disney Resort project started on April 8 last year. Robert Iger, president and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has promised the park's signature castle will be the biggest and tallest of all those in the world's Disney theme parks.

The resort is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Co and Shanghai Shendi Group, with Shendi holding 57 percent of the shares and Disney the remaining 43 percent.