Magic Kingdom Enters Middle Kingdom
Mon Sep 12, 2005 at 9:36 am |
China News |
0 comments
From the CNN website...
HONG KONG, China -- Disneyland flung open its gates in Hong Kong on Monday in its first foray into the massive China market.
With traditional Chinese performances such as Chinese lion dances and singing children as a backdrop, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang and top Disney executives Michael Eisner and Robert Iger officiated at the park's opening on Monday.
As many as 16,000 people were set to flock to Penny Bay on Lantau Island, a half-hour train ride from this congested city's central business area.
Organizers say the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland is likely to be the biggest media event since the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997.
In a show of support for the special administrative territory perched on its southern coast, China's Vice President Zeng Qinghong will attend the opening at the 129-hectare (318-acre) park, flanked by Hong Kong's leader and Disney's top executives.
The opening comes six years after Hong Kong's government and the California-based Disney agreed to jointly develop the $3.5 billion project.
Hong Kong was in the doldrums at the time, and desperately wanted to add some glamour and diversity to its economy, known primarily as a banking, investment, shopping and shipping center.
The Hong Kong region in recent years also has battled setbacks from the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s and the deadly SARS epidemic of 2003.
For Disney, Hong Kong was a launch pad into the world's most populous nation and fastest-growing market, and a huge play on China's burgeoning middle class.
In a show of support for the beleaguered Hong Kong, China allowed its nationals to travel to the city of 6.8 million people in 2003.
Since then, floods of mainland Chinese have flocked to Hong Kong picking up brand-name goods, crowding to its jewelry stores and eating out at its myriad restaurants.
The world's best-known entertainment company is counting on these increasingly affluent mainland tourists in its third international venture, and it's second in Asia after Japan. Disney and Hong Kong officials estimate one-third of the visitors at Hong Kong Disneyland will be from mainland China, one-third from Hong Kong and the rest from Southeast Asia.
As many as 150 million people live within a 300-mile (482-kilometer) radius of Disneyland, and Disney is counting on this population to visit and stay at the park.
In a telephone survey of 1,500 mainland Chinese who lived in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, market research firm AC Neilsen said one-third would either consider going or would go to Disneyland.
Disney says it has learned from its park in France. It decided to start off small in Hong Kong, so that it could become profitable with 5.6 million visitors a year, and build the second phase later on.
The U.S.-based company also learned that it needed to fit into the local culture after it realized it made a major faux pas in Paris by not serving wine.
In Hong Kong, feng shui has played a large part in the park's design. It moved its main gate so it was facing the right direction, put a bend in its walkway so that "chi" or energy does not flow into the South China Sea and does not have the unlucky number four in its elevators. (Full story) A feature of the Hong Kong park are the Chinese garden pavilions, where trigger-happy picture snappers can pose with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. The 21 rides at the Hong Kong park are tame, after market research showed Asians weren't after the more scary versions.
In weeks of rehearsals leading up the grand opening, where as many as 100,000 people turned up, Disney discovered that Asians like to have long, expensive dinners and had to upscale on mobile food trolleys and seats.
The park -- which looks much like the first Disneyland in California, with a Sleeping Beauty Castle, Space Mountain thrill ride and a Cinderella Carousel -- has been beset by obstacles.
Earlier in the year, beetles began eating up the beds, while in August packs of wild dogs wondered in down the hill and invaded the park.
And the reviews have not all been rosy. Early visitors said the lines were too long and the size at 126 hectares (311 acres) was too small (Tokyo has 180 hectares, Paris 1,943 and Florida 11,300 hectares).
Disney also had to ditch shark fin's soup after local uproar over its use.
Still, the majority of people in Hong Kong support the park, according to local surveys and China's government is also very much behind the project.
Disney officials believe once the park is built out to 180 hectares, it will attract 10 million visitors annually.
Hong Kong leaders hope that the region will diversify into a family destination, China's state-run news agency said in September report.
Disney has said that it will focus on Hong Kong for the next decade, with the second phase of the park under discussion.
With traditional Chinese performances such as Chinese lion dances and singing children as a backdrop, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang and top Disney executives Michael Eisner and Robert Iger officiated at the park's opening on Monday.
As many as 16,000 people were set to flock to Penny Bay on Lantau Island, a half-hour train ride from this congested city's central business area.
Organizers say the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland is likely to be the biggest media event since the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997.
In a show of support for the special administrative territory perched on its southern coast, China's Vice President Zeng Qinghong will attend the opening at the 129-hectare (318-acre) park, flanked by Hong Kong's leader and Disney's top executives.
The opening comes six years after Hong Kong's government and the California-based Disney agreed to jointly develop the $3.5 billion project.
Hong Kong was in the doldrums at the time, and desperately wanted to add some glamour and diversity to its economy, known primarily as a banking, investment, shopping and shipping center.
The Hong Kong region in recent years also has battled setbacks from the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s and the deadly SARS epidemic of 2003.
For Disney, Hong Kong was a launch pad into the world's most populous nation and fastest-growing market, and a huge play on China's burgeoning middle class.
In a show of support for the beleaguered Hong Kong, China allowed its nationals to travel to the city of 6.8 million people in 2003.
Since then, floods of mainland Chinese have flocked to Hong Kong picking up brand-name goods, crowding to its jewelry stores and eating out at its myriad restaurants.
The world's best-known entertainment company is counting on these increasingly affluent mainland tourists in its third international venture, and it's second in Asia after Japan. Disney and Hong Kong officials estimate one-third of the visitors at Hong Kong Disneyland will be from mainland China, one-third from Hong Kong and the rest from Southeast Asia.
As many as 150 million people live within a 300-mile (482-kilometer) radius of Disneyland, and Disney is counting on this population to visit and stay at the park.
In a telephone survey of 1,500 mainland Chinese who lived in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, market research firm AC Neilsen said one-third would either consider going or would go to Disneyland.
Disney says it has learned from its park in France. It decided to start off small in Hong Kong, so that it could become profitable with 5.6 million visitors a year, and build the second phase later on.
The U.S.-based company also learned that it needed to fit into the local culture after it realized it made a major faux pas in Paris by not serving wine.
In Hong Kong, feng shui has played a large part in the park's design. It moved its main gate so it was facing the right direction, put a bend in its walkway so that "chi" or energy does not flow into the South China Sea and does not have the unlucky number four in its elevators. (Full story) A feature of the Hong Kong park are the Chinese garden pavilions, where trigger-happy picture snappers can pose with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. The 21 rides at the Hong Kong park are tame, after market research showed Asians weren't after the more scary versions.
In weeks of rehearsals leading up the grand opening, where as many as 100,000 people turned up, Disney discovered that Asians like to have long, expensive dinners and had to upscale on mobile food trolleys and seats.
The park -- which looks much like the first Disneyland in California, with a Sleeping Beauty Castle, Space Mountain thrill ride and a Cinderella Carousel -- has been beset by obstacles.
Earlier in the year, beetles began eating up the beds, while in August packs of wild dogs wondered in down the hill and invaded the park.
And the reviews have not all been rosy. Early visitors said the lines were too long and the size at 126 hectares (311 acres) was too small (Tokyo has 180 hectares, Paris 1,943 and Florida 11,300 hectares).
Disney also had to ditch shark fin's soup after local uproar over its use.
Still, the majority of people in Hong Kong support the park, according to local surveys and China's government is also very much behind the project.
Disney officials believe once the park is built out to 180 hectares, it will attract 10 million visitors annually.
Hong Kong leaders hope that the region will diversify into a family destination, China's state-run news agency said in September report.
Disney has said that it will focus on Hong Kong for the next decade, with the second phase of the park under discussion.
Close the curtain...
