Hong Kong Disneyland

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Hong Kong Disneyland
200px
Disney in star.jpg
Location Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, China
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Theme Magic Kingdom
Owner The Walt Disney Company
Government of Hong Kong
Operated by Hong Kong International Theme Parks
Opened 12 September 2005; 18 years ago (2005-09-12)
Website Hong Kong Disneyland Homepage
Hong Kong Disneyland
Front Entrance of Disneyland.JPG
Front Entrance of Disneyland
Traditional Chinese 香港迪士尼樂園
Simplified Chinese 香港迪士尼乐园

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Front view of Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland (Chinese: 香港迪士尼樂園) is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is the first theme park located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks. It is, together with Ocean Park Hong Kong, one of the two large theme parks in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland opened to visitors on Monday, 12 September 2005 at 13:00 HKT. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. For instance, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy wouldn't flow into the South China Sea.[1]

The park consists of seven themed areas: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land. The theme park's cast members speak Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Guide maps are printed in traditional and simplified Chinese as well as English, Japanese, Thai, Malay and Indonesian.

The park has a daily capacity of 34,000 visitors[2] — the fewest of all Disneyland parks. The park attracted 5.2 million visitors in its first year, below its target of 5.6 million. Visitor numbers fell 20% in the second year to 4 million,[3] inciting criticisms from local legislators.[4] However, the park attendance slightly increased by 8% in the third year, attracting a total of 4.5 million visitors in 2007. In 2009, the park attendance again increased by 2% to 4.8 million visitors. The attendance continued to surge and received 5.23 million guests in the 2009/2010 fiscal year. Since the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, the theme park has hosted over 25 million guests.[5] According to AECOM and TEA, Hong Kong Disneyland is the 13th most visited theme park in the world in 2013, with 7.4 million visitors.[6] The park also turned a net profit of HK$109 million (US$13.97 million) for the year ended 29 September 2012, the first annual profit.[7]

Hong Kong Disneyland currently occupies 49.9 hectares (123 acres)[8] and hosts 7.92 million to 8.92 million visitors annually. The park capacity will increase to handle up to 10 million visitors annually over a 15-year expansion period.[9]

History

Penny's Bay was filled in to provide land for the construction of Hong Kong Disneyland. The bay was previously undeveloped except for the Cheoy Lee Shipyard, which opened in the 1960s.[10]

Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa was instrumental in introducing the Disneyland project to Hong Kong. When the SARS epidemic devastated the city's economy in 2003, it was hoped that the new Disneyland would help boost confidence in Hong Kong's tourism industry.[11]

Hong Kong Disneyland had one of the shortest construction periods of any Disneyland-style theme park. On 12 January 2003, more than 400 guests celebrated the groundbreaking of Hong Kong Disneyland after the finishing of land reclamation in Penny's Bay. The audience included Tung Chee Hwa; Michael D. Eisner, former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company; Robert A. Iger, president of The Walt Disney Company; and Jay Rasulo, former president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.[12] On 23 September 2004, a special "castle topping ceremony" was held in the park to commemorate the placing of the tallest turret on Sleeping Beauty Castle. Hong Kong Disneyland was officially grand opening to the public at 13:00 HKT on Monday, 12 September 2005 by then Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner, President Bob Iger. Beijing declared its significant support by sending Zeng Qinghong, then Vice President of China.[11] In order to help Hong Kong Disneyland grow, Beijing also deliberately slowed down the development of Shanghai Disney Resort, which was first planned for the early 2000s.[11]

Timeline

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Pre 2000–2009
  • 1998
    • August – The Walt Disney Company and the government of Hong Kong announce their intention to construct a themed entertainment park in Hong Kong, the second in Asia
  • 1999
    • February – Penny's Bay, Lantau Island is announced as the future site of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
    • 10 December – Disney and the Hong Kong Government sign an agreement for building the second Disney Resort in Asia
  • 2003
    • January – Construction on Hong Kong Disneyland Resort begins
  • 2004
    • 22 November – Disney announces that the opening day of the park has been re-scheduled from 2006 to 12 September 2005
  • 2005
  • 2006
    • June – HKDL announces to release Summer Passes to boost its first year attendance
    • 13 July – Autopia, Stitch Encounter and UFO Zone opens in HKDL as first part of its expansion
    • August – Exclusive treats are provided for Summer Pass holders so as to further boost the park's attendance
    • 4 September – More than 60,000 Summer Passes have been sold since 1 July. However, Hong Kong Disneyland has missed its target of 5.6 million in the first year of operation, with only about 5 million guests entered the park since the opening
    • 28 September – HKDL launches its annual pass
    • 30 September – Disney's Halloween celebration held for the first time through 31 October 2006
    • 14 December – HKDL announced three new attractions to be added to the park in 2007–2008
  • 2007
    • 26 June – HKDL revealed its attracttions for the park's 2007 summer – "Mickey's Summer Blast" and announcement of Mickey's Water Works Parade and Animation Academy's opening date- 14 July 2007
    • 19 December – HKDL revealed 4 new attractions and entertainment venues to open in 2008 with "it's a small world": Muppet Mobile Lab, High School Musical Celebration, Turtle Talk with Crush and the Art of Animation
  • 2008
  • 2009
    • 10 July – The Legislative Council of Hong Kong approved the three land expansion of HKDL
    • 13 December – Groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the three land expansion

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2010–Present
  • 2010
    • 12 September – HKDL celebrates its 5th year milestone
  • 2011
    • 21 January – HKDL hosts the year-long 5th anniversary programme "Celebration in the Air"
    • 18 November – Toy Story Land opens
  • 2012
  • 2013

Park layout

Aerial view of the park in 2011. The three new lands are under construction.
The Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad.

The park is divided into "lands" (themed areas) and well-concealed backstage areas. On entering a land, a guest is completely immersed in a themed environment and is unable to see or hear any other realm. The idea behind this was to develop theatrical "stages" with seamless passages from one land to the next. The public areas occupy approximately 27.4 hectares (68 acres). When the park initially opened, it consisted of only four classic themed areas:

On 30 June 2009, Donald Tsang, the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong, announced that the expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland had been approved by the Executive Council. The park received three new themed lands — Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point and Toy Story Land — all located outside the Disneyland Railroad track, south of the current area.

Throughout the park are 'Hidden Mickeys', or representations of Mickey Mouse heads inserted subtly into the design of attractions and environmental decor.

An elevated berm supports the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge[13] Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad (built by Severn Lamb) that circumnavigates the park.

Lands of Hong Kong Disneyland

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Main article: Hong Kong Disneyland attraction and entertainment history

The park currently has seven themed areas hosting various rides, shops, restaurants, and live entertainment.

Main Street, U.S.A.

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

Inspired by the Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland, the buildings of this Main Street are almost identical to those in Anaheim. Like other Disney theme parks, Hong Kong Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. serves as the entrance of the park. Plans originally featured a restaurant under the Railroad station, but were scrapped due to budget reasons. The decor is small-town America from the years 1890–1910.

Though being very similar to Anaheim's main street, the theme is heavily influenced by European immigrants. Plaza Inn — which has the identical exterior design as the one in Disneyland — mimics a classical Chinese eatery that was created by a wealthy American couple who were infatuated with Chinese culture. Another restaurant, the Market House Bakery is reminiscent of a bakery founded by a Viennese pastry chef who brought the world's most famous desserts from the Austrian imperial court.

Unlike Main Streets from other parks, Main Street at Hong Kong Disneyland is built mainly of wood instead of stone. There are no horse-drawn streetcars, though tracks for the streetcars can be seen from the concept arts.

Adventureland

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Main article: Adventureland

Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland is the biggest among all Disney parks. It features a large island area home to Tarzan's Treehouse, which is circled by the Jungle Cruise (Jungle River Cruise) — much like the Rivers of America in most Frontierland theme areas. The Adventureland is also home to the "Festival of the Lion King" show.

Fantasyland

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Main article: Fantasyland

Fantasyland features Sleeping Beauty Castle, as well as the Fantasy Gardens where costumed Disney characters can be met.

Tomorrowland

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Main article: Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland features an emphasis on metallic trim, dominated by blue and purple hues. Since the opening of the park, unique attractions have been added into the Hong Kong's Tomorrowland, such as a new Autopia and Stitch Encounter.

Toy Story Land

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Main article: Toy Story Land

Opened 18 November 2011, Toy Story Land is the first new themed land since the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. It is located to the west side of the park, behind Fantasyland. Toy Story Land is themed using bamboo to act as giant blades of grass surrounding the area. The themed land makes use of characters from the Toy Story movies, such as an enlarged Woody, Rex, an oversized paper plane, and Luxo Jr.

Toy Story Land has been marketed by the park as "Asia exclusive", since its only counterpart, Toy Story Playland, is located at Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallée, France.

Grizzly Gulch

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Main article: Grizzly Gulch

Opened on 14 July 2012, this land is the Hong Kong equivalent of Frontierland and Critter Country. The themed land reminisces an abandoned mining town called "Grizzly Gulch", set amidst mountains and woods. The centrepiece structure is Big Grizzly Mountain, inspired by Grizzly Peak in Disney California Adventure Park. The town was set to be founded 8 August 1888 — the luckiest day of the luckiest month of the luckiest year — by prospectors looking to discover gold.

Mystic Point

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Main article: Mystic Point

Opened on 17 May 2013, Mystic Point is a new themed land in Hong Kong Disneyland. It is also the final area opened in Hong Kong Disneyland's current expansion. It is set in 1909 at an adventurer's outpost established in 1896 in a dense, uncharted rain forest surrounded by mysterious forces and supernatural events. The site features Mystic Manor, home of Lord Henry Mystic, a world traveler and adventurer and his mischievous monkey, Albert.

Entertainment and celebrations

The park features a daytime parade "Flights of Fantasy", as well as a nighttime firework show "Disney in the Stars", and the nighttime parade "Paint the Night". Seasonal entertainment, such as "Disney's Haunted Halloween", "A Sparkling Christmas", and "Disney's Chinese New Year", are held in the park to celebrate major holidays.

Entertainment

Flights of Fantasy Parade

The parade premiered on 18 January 2011 as part of "Celebration in the Air", celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Hong Kong Disneyland. The parade replaced Disney on Parade, which had been running since the park's opening. Steve Davison, producer of World of Color in Disney California Adventure Park, said that he was working on a parade for the 5th anniversary celebration.

Disney in the Stars

Fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle

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Main article: Disney in the Stars

Disney in the Stars is a nightly fireworks show based on Fantasy in the Sky at other Disney parks. Fireworks and pyrotechnics are coordinated to orchestrated classic Disney musics such as "A Whole New World". The show premiered on 12 September 2005 at the park's inaugural ceremony. On 12 September 2015, in honour to celebrate 10th anniversary, the park has launched an enhanced Disney in the Stars Fireworks as they add a street-to-sky projection to the castle during the show. The enhanced version of Disney in the Stars officially launched on 16 November 2015 with the opening of the 10th anniversary "Happily Ever After" Celebration.

Disney Paint the Night

Disney Paint the Night parade debuted in September 2014. It is a successor of the Main Street Electrical Parade and the first fully-LED parade Disney has ever created. It features seven original floats containing over 740,000 individual lights. According to David Lightbody, Director of Entertainment and Costuming of the resort, the creative team spent over 2 years and developed over 1,000 scenic and lighting designs to ensure the parade.

Park celebrations

The "Thank you for visiting" sign

Hong Kong Disneyland has organised entertainment and a number of shows as part of the festive celebrations to attract more visitors, especially young adults.

One of the events is the world's exclusive Disney's Haunted Halloween, which is the only Magic Kingdom-themed park in the world to celebrate the Halloween season with frightening walk-through attractions. Even though the attractions are full of living haunts and spectres that appear around corners, Disney tradition is preserved and gory scenes are excluded.

The Grand Opening Celebration Album

Hong Kong Disneyland: The Grand Opening Celebration Album was the soundtrack for the grand opening ceremony of Hong Kong Disneyland at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Much of the album are Cantonese or Mandarin cover of theme songs of animated Disney films. The package contains a DVD featuring music videos. The album does not contain any music used in the park.

Track listing

  1. Jacky Cheung – "Let the Wonder Soar" (讓奇妙飛翔) (Cantonese)
  2. Twins – "it's a small world"
  3. Eason Chan – "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin)
  4. Karen Mok – "When You Wish upon a Star" (from Pinocchio)
  5. Twins – "Mickey Mouse Theme"
  6. Jolin Tsai – "Under the Sea" (from The Little Mermaid)
  7. Kelly Chen & Kellyjackie – "On a Date With Him to Disneyland" (他約我去迪士尼)
  8. Nicholas Tse – "Bare Necessities" (from The Jungle Book)
  9. CoCo Lee – "Colors of the Wind" (from Pocahontas)
  10. Joey Yung – "Undying True Love" (from Beauty and the Beast)
  11. Kelly Chen – "Reflection" (from Mulan)
  12. Harlem Yu – "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (from The Lion King)
  13. Jacky Cheung – "Let the Wonder Soar" (讓奇妙飛翔) (Mandarin)

DVD

  1. "Let the Wonder Soar" (讓奇妙飛翔) music video – Jacky Cheung
  2. "On a Date With Him to Disneyland" (他約我去迪士尼) music video – Kelly Chen & Kellyjackie
  3. Cars trailer
  4. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe trailer
  5. Chicken Little trailer
  6. Sky High trailer

Public transport

Mass Transit Railway (MTR)

The Disneyland Resort Line uses modified Metro Cammell M-Trains on the 3.5 kilometre route. The trains have been converted to run fully automatic, thus not requiring drivers. The route is as follows:

Sunny Bay <> Disneyland Resort

Transfer is available to the Tung Chung line at Sunny Bay, allowing one to connect to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon or Tung Chung.

Bus

Long Win Bus operates 3 routes to Disneyland. As well, the R8 Disneyland Shuttle is jointly operated by Long Win Bus and Citybus. These are the bus routes to Disneyland:

R8 Disneyland <>Lantau Link Toll plaza (Circular) Lantau Link Toll plaza can be accessed by riding any of the routes beginning by A e.g. A11 or E e.g. E32. It is the always first stop after crossing the Tsing Ma Bridge.

The following two routes operate on mornings and after the fireworks display.

R33 Tuen Mun Railway Station <> Disneyland

R42 Tai Wai Railway Station <> Disneyland

Future construction

Former empty land reserved for future expansion viewed from the Tarzan's Treehouse in Adventureland. It is now where Grizzly Gulch is located.

In January 2012, Hong Kong Disneyland has been in the progress of negotiating with the Government of Hong Kong to invest its HK$5 billion profit for new attractions. Further details of the expansion would be announced within a 12-month period from January 2012. A shopping complex and new hotels would be taken into consideration for the new expansion plan.

In Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang's 2013–14 budget speech, he announced that a new night time parade: "Disney Paint The Night Parade", as well as a themed area featuring characters from the Marvel Universe, will be built in Hong Kong Disneyland.[14][15] On 8 October 2013 Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Thomas O. Staggs confirmed the development of the Iron Man Experience.[16]

On 17 February 2014, Hong Kong Disneyland announced its 2012–13 financial results as well as a plan for the third hotel at the resort. The third hotel will be the largest hotel at the resort, it will feature 750 rooms with an adventure and exotic theme and will cost HK$4.26 billion to build. It is scheduled to open in 2017.[17]

Hong Kong Disneyland was also built with the space for a second park directly across from the entrance to the current park. Disney has not yet announced that the second park is in development. Land is also available for additional hotels other than the two current and one being built, but the common thought is that the second park will be built before a fourth hotel.

Criticisms

Overcrowding problems

Just before the grand opening, the park was criticised for underestimating the daily capacity.[18] The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on 4 September 2005, when 30,000 locals visited the park. The event turned out to be a disaster, as there were too many guests. Wait times at fast food outlets were at least 45 minutes, and wait times at rides went up to 2 hours.

Although the park's shareholders and the Hong Kong Government set pressure upon the park to lower the capacity, the park insisted on keeping the limit, only agreeing to relieve the capacity problem by extending the opening time by one hour and introducing more discounts during weekdays. However, the park stated that local visitors tend to stay in the park for more than nine hours per visit, implying that the mentioned practices would do little to solve the problem.[citation needed]

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 full capacity. Some disgruntled visitors, mainly tourists, attempted to force their way into the park and climbing over the barrier gates.[19] Disneyland management was forced to revise their ticketing policy and designated future periods close to Chinese public holidays as 'special days' during which admission would only be allowed through a date-specific ticket. Ticket prices during the week were changed to reflect cheaper prices. Meanwhile, weekend prices were raised. The prices were changed in an attempt to crowd-control so the crowds would be more even throughout the week and therefore the lines would not be as bad on weekends.[20]

Public relations

Disney initially refused to release the attendance figures after media reports surfaced saying the park's attendance numbers might be lower than expected. Disney finally declared[21] on 24 November 2005, that Disney had over 1 million guests during its first two months of operation.

In response to negative publicity locally and to boost visitor numbers, Hong Kong Disneyland offered $50 discounts for admission tickets to holders of Hong Kong I.D. cards in the period before 2005 Christmas. Also, from March to June 2006, the park offered Hong Kong I.D. card holders the opportunity to purchase a two-day admission ticket for the price of a single day ticket.[22]

Park ambassador

High glory ambassador

Attendance

Worldwide rank Year Number of visitors Net change  % Change
16 2006 5,200,000
18 2008 4,500,000 [23] −700,000 −13.5
17 2009 4,600,000 [24] +100,000 +2.2
16 2010 5,200,000 [25] +600,000 +13
15 2011 5,900,000[25] +700,000 +13.5
14 2012 6,700,000 [6] +800,000 +13.6
14 2013 7,400,000 [6] +700,000 +10.4
15 2014 7,600,000[26] +200,000 +2.7

See also

References

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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Severn Lamb – A history to be proud of...
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ [1][dead link]
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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