We set our study within the context of a theme park
within a mega-event, namely the World Exposition Park
during Shanghai World Exposition 2010. Our choice was
motivated by a threefold argument. First, theme parks
created a 'fantasy world' that aimed to bring their visitors
an escapist and elevated experience in relation to their
daily-lives [28]. Therefore, customer experiences have
always been essential to theme parks. Not surprisingly,
theme parks play an important role in tourism
worldwide. In 2010, despite the wide-spread economic
crisis, attendance at theme parks has still generally
increased - especially in Asia - by 7.3%, with China
showing the strongest growth [29]. Second, the Chinese
tourism market is by far the most interesting worldwide
and relatively little is known about the perceptions and
expectations of Chinese tourists [30-33]. Thirdly, the 2010
World Exposition was the largest event in history in