Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland

File:HongKongDisneylandLogo.jpg
Location	Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Operated by	Hongkong International Theme Parks
Theme	Magic Kingdom

The fountain featuring Mickey Mouse in the Park Promenade next to Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland (Chinese: 香港迪士尼樂園) is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks, an incorporated company jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and the Government of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Disneyland, the fifth and most recent Magic Kingdom style park in the world, is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. After years of negotiations and construction, the park finally opened to visitors on September 12, 2005, which is considered to be an auspicious date for the opening of a new business, according to a Chinese almanac. Disney paid close attention to Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when building Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. The resort was built with many interesting settings according to the rules of Feng Shui.

Officially, the park is able to handle a maximum of 34,000 visitors daily.

The park consists of four themed lands similar to those found in the other Disneyland parks around the world. They are Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland.

Although the park is the smallest Disneyland in the world, the park has announced the planned opening of two new attractions in the summer of 2007. In addition, the classic Disney attraction, "It's A Small World," will open in early 2008. The park will continue to expand by adding more new attractions in the future. Over a 15 year expansion period, the park will gradually be able to handle up to 10 million visitors annually. The resort currently has 310 acres (1.3 km²), with the actual park taking approximately 100 acres (0.4 km²). [1]

The theme park uses both English and Chinese (mainly in Traditional for text, both in Traditional and Simplified for Guide Maps, Cantonese and Mandarin in verbal) in its communication. The park also provides Guide Maps in Japanese.

Dedication

To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Many years ago, Walt Disney introduced the world to enchanted realms of fantasy and adventure, yesterday and tomorrow, in a magical place called Disneyland.

Today that spirit of imagination and discovery comes to life in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland is dedicated to the young and the young at heart - with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration, and an enduring symbol of the cooperation, friendship and understanding between the people of Hong Kong and the United States of America.

— Michael Eisner & Donald Tsang, September 12, 2005

Construction

An audience of more than 400 guests ushered the ground breaking of Hong Kong Disneyland on January 12, 2003. Also present were The Honourable Tung Chee Hwa, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China by then, Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and Robert A. Iger, President of The Walt Disney Company.

On September 23, 2004, a special castle "topping ceremony" was held in the park to commemorate the placing of the tallest turret of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Many important people were present, including Tung Chee Hwa, then chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Michael Eisner, then CEO of The Walt Disney Company; Bob Iger, president of Disney. Mickey Mouse and other costumed characters were present as well. Hong Kong Disneyland had the shortest construction period from the start to the opening day among all the Disneyland-style theme parks.

Future Construction

Land reserved for future expansion viewed from the Tarzan's Treehouse in Adventureland

Phase 1 Extension has started with three new attractions to Tomorrowland having opened in summer 2006. This is followed by the announcement for another three new attractions coming up in the year 2007/2008. This include Animation Academy, Mickey's Waterwork Parade - A water based summer parade and It's a Small World.

With the reclaimed land reserved for the Phase 2 Extension and the Disneyland park being blocked by Park Promenade (a pedestrian walkway which links the MTR Disneyland Resort Station, Disneyland park and Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel), it is expected that the resort's second Disney theme park will be built on that site.

Allegedly a Phase 3 Extension is being considered by the Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong government.

Themed Areas

The park currently features four themed lands similar to those at other Disneyland parks: Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The park is missing a classic land, Frontierland, but it may be built in the future.

In total, there are 26 rides and attractions in Hong Kong Disneyland, compared to 44 in Paris, 45 in Tokyo and Florida, and 65 in California.

Main Street, U.S.A.

Main Street, U.S.A. at Hong Kong Disneyland

Main article: Main Street, U.S.A.

• Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad
• Main Street vehicles
• The Disneyland Story: How Mickey Mouse Came to Hong Kong
• City Hall
• Animation Academy

Adventureland

Main article: Adventureland

• Jungle River Cruise
• Rafts and Tarzan's Treehouse
• Festival of the Lion King
• Liki Tikis

Fantasyland

Main article: Fantasyland

• Mickey's PhilharMagic
• Cinderella Carousel
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Fantasy Gardens
• Fantasyland Train Station
• Mad Hatter Tea Cups
• Sleeping Beauty Castle
• Sword in the Stone
• The Golden Mickeys
• Snow White Grotto
• It's a Small World (coming in 2008)

Tomorrowland

UFO Zone

Main article: Tomorrowland

• Space Mountain
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Orbitron
• Autopia
• Stitch Encounter
• UFO Zone

Entertainment and Celebrations

The park features a daytime parade "Disney on Parade" and "Disney in the Stars" fireworks show in the evening. Occasional celebrations, such as Disney's Halloween, A Magical Christmas and Disney's Chinese New Year, are held in the park to celebrate the festivals.

Entertainment

Fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle

Disney on Parade

Disney on Parade is a daily cavalcade of Disney characters and music in a magical procession starting in Fantasyland and proceeding down to Main Street, U.S.A. along the parade route.

Disney in the Stars

A magnificent, magical fireworks spectacular choreographed to classic Disney songs and music.

Disney's Rainy Day Express

A parade in rainy days as a replacement of Disney on Parade consist of a special design train with all characters which appear in the Disney on Parade dancing on board with some of them wearing bright coloured rain coats.

Seasonal Entertainment

Mickey's WaterWorks

A summer water-themed parade features 7 new floats and Disney characters. A host of themed floats are joined by 100 performers, including 30 characters, some whom have never appeared in the park before. Exclusively for this summer as part of Mickey's Summer Blast celebration. Mickey's WaterWorks made its debut on the 7 July 2007. According to the latest update of the daily park calender [2], the parade is being extended till the first week of September 2007. Rumour suggests the parade will return to the park in the coming summer 2008 after its closure when the summer season ends this year.

Glows in the Park Halloween Parade

The parade will feature seven brand-new floats and over 100 cast members including eight never-before-seen characters, which will be an exclusive entertainment in the park for the celebration of Halloween every evening. The parade is scheduled to make its debut in late-September as part of the celebration of Haunted Halloween.

Celebrations

A Magical Christmas

Info coming soon

Magical Chinese New Year / Disney's Chinese New Year

Info coming soon

Haunted Halloween

Haunted Halloween is the new name for the Halloween celebration in 2007 after holding its first Halloween celebration, Disney's Halloween, in 2006. From September 25 until the end of October (2007), over 10 mysterious attractions and entertainment offerings filled with ghostly encounters, will appear during the Haunted Halloween at Hong Kong Disneyland. The creepy surprises will begin on Main Street U.S.A. with the Main Street Haunted Hotel. Space Mountain will soon be possessed and be known as Space Mountain – Ghost Galaxy. The pumpkin king, Jack Skellington, will gather his friends from the dark side to showcase UV “transformational” antics right in front of guests in the all-new nightly Glow in the Park Halloween Parade. It will feature underground passageways under Main Street USA, and also a larger and revamped night parade.

Pirate Takeover

To celebrate the release of the new feature film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Adventureland has been renamed Pirateland. The newly decorated themed land features new edition of Jungle River Cruise (Jungle River Cruise, Pirate Takeover!), Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Boot Camp and other street entertainment. Originally, Pirate Takeover was set to be held from 4 May to 30 June 2007. However, the park has extended the celebration until August 2007 as part of Mickey's Summer Blast.

Mickey's Summer Blast

A summer party held from 14 July 2007 until 31 August 2007. The party features the extended Pirate Takeover and two brand new attractions, Mickey's WaterWorks and Animation Academy. Mickey's Waterworks is a new parade exclusively for Hong Kong Disneyland. Visitors watching the parade along the parade route will definitely get wet by the splashing water. Visitors can also enjoy a wide range of street entertainment and carnival games, including Stitch's Summer Blast Dance Party performs daily in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Future Attractions

On 14 December 2006, the Hongkong International Theme Parks announced three forthcoming attractions for 2007 and 2008, including Animation Academy and Mickey's WaterWorks.

it's a small world

This update of the classic Disneyland ride will be located in Fantasyland and boast 30 additional characters from Disney films; previously unseen Chinese, Middle Eastern, North American and Hong Kong's scenes and a new optical effect not seen in other versions of the ride.

Criticisms

Overcrowding problems

Just before the grand opening, the park was also criticised for overestimating the daily capacity limit of 30,000 visitors. The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on 4 September 2005, when 29,000 locals visited the park. The reported queue time for fast food outlets exceeded 45 minutes and over 2 hours for rides. Before the park opened, some within the Disney Company were concerned that the park would not offer enough because of the small number attractions.

Although the community, and the park's biggest shareholder, the Hong Kong Government, put pressure on the park to lower the limit, the park insisted on keeping the limit and only agreed to relieve the capacity problem by extending opening time by one hour or introducing more discounts during weekdays. However, the park said local visitors tend to stay in the park for about nine hours per visit, implying the mentioned practices would do little to solve the problem.

During Chinese New Year 2006, many visitors arrived at the park in the morning bearing valid tickets, but were refused entry, because the park was already at capacity. Disgruntled visitors attempted to force their way into the park or gain access by climbing over the barrier gates. Disneyland management were forced to revise their ticketing policy, designating future periods close to Chinese public holidays as 'special days' during which admission would only be by a date-specific ticket.

Food Safety panel

Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene department who were asked by Disney staff to take off their badges and caps in order to enter the park to investigate a food-poisoning case in the park's restaurants, left the park visitors feeling very uneasy. The chairman of Legco's Food Safety panel, Fred Li, described the incident as shocking, and called on the director of the department to take follow-up action against Disney. Hong Kong Disneyland says what happened was inappropriate and has apologized for the incident. Secretary for Justice said that the government did not have enough evidence to make a prosecution, thus dropping the case.

Staff behaviour

Some celebrities who participated in the Hong Kong Disneyland promotional videos, including Kelly Chen and Daniel Wu, complained that the park employees had been rude.

Guests' behaviour

On the opening day of Hong Kong Disneyland, the park estimated that of the 16,000 guests that entered the gates, one third were from mainland China. The Apple Daily and Ming Pao showed pictures of visitors smoking in non-smoking restaurants; and a woman helping a young child loosen his trousers to urinate beside a flower bed.

Hong Kong Disneyland spokesman declined to say whether the reports would tarnish the park's image but reiterated that all guests were required to wear shoes within the park, and that public urination in the park is illegal.

Public relations

Disney initially refused to release the statement after media reports surfaced saying the park's attendance numbers might be lower than expected. Disney finally relented, and declared on November 24, 2005, that Disney had officially welcomed over 1 million guests during its first two months of operation.

In response to negative publicity locally from the above, and to boost visitor numbers, Hong Kong Disneyland offered $50 discounts for admission to the park to holders of Hong Kong I.D. cards in the period before Christmas in 2005. In the period from March to June 2006, the park offered holders of Hong Kong I.D. cards the opportunity to buy a two-day admission for the price of a single day.

In attempting to defer to local cultural demand, the park originally planned to offer shark's fin soup on its wedding banquet menus. However, environmental and animal rights groups threatened an international boycott and the Company announced that it would break from wedding tradition and not serve the controversial dish despite its popularity in Chinese banquets.

External links

Official Websites

• Hong Kong Disneyland (Official Website) (Chinese & English)
• Google Maps (Satellite Image) (Latitude: 22.313 Longitude: 114.041)

Fan Websites

• Hong Kong Disneyland Pictures and Tips (English)
• HKDL Source - The Premier Hong Kong Disneyland Fansite (English)
• Hong Kong Disney Talk (English)
• Dreamagic World - Fans site of HKDL providing the most updated news (Japanese)
• Hong Kong Disneyland Secrets (English)

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