Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
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The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (Traditional Chinese: 香港迪士尼樂園度假區) was built by the Government of Hong Kong and The Walt Disney Company and officially opened on September 12, 2005. It consists of the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park, two hotels (Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel), and retail, dining and entertainment facilities stretching over 1.3 km² (310 acres) on Lantau Island. It is located on reclaimed land beside Penny's Bay, at the northeastern tip of Lantau Island (approximately two kilometres from Discovery Bay), in Hong Kong.
Currently, the resort is overseen by executive vice president Bill Ernest.
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[edit] Construction
A joint-venture company, Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP), was created in 1999 with Disney investing US$316 million for a 43 % equity stake in the project and the Hong Kong government owning the remaining 57 % of the US$1.8 billion project. The Hong Kong government expects it to provide 18,400 jobs on opening and up to 35,800 jobs over the following 20 years. The total economic benefits amount to an estimated HK$ 148 billion (US$19 billion), or about 6 % of gross domestic product (GDP) over 40 years of operation.
The construction of the theme park itself started in January 2003, and it opened on 12 September 2005. An artificial lake of some 12 hectares was also created to serve the resort's water irrigation needs
In an effort to avoid cultural friction similar to what happened when Disneyland Resort Paris opened in France, Disney has taken efforts to make this new park reflect the local culture. The New York Times reported that feng shui consultants have helped with the layout of the park and the grounds. Incense was burned when the construction of each building was completed, and one of the main ballrooms is 888 square meters large, as eight is an auspicious number in Chinese culture, signifying fortune. The hotels will skip the number four when numbering of their floors because four is considered bad luck. Hong Kong Disneyland employees speak English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and were trained at other Disney parks while their home park was being constructed.
The park is projected to attract five to six million visitors in its opening year, mostly locals, tourists from mainland China and nearby Asian countries. The World Tourism Organization predicts that the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will become one of the world's largest tourist destinations within the next fifteen years.
If the park's first working year is successful financially, and both the government of Hong Kong and Disney see benefits, the Phase Two of construction will commence. (There is room for a 40% expansion.) Disney forums across the world wide web have been busy with rumours and ideas for the second phase, mainly made up of installing classic Disney attractions that were not built in the first phase. At launch, Hong Kong Disneyland was the smallest of any Disney parks. The most likely result of Phase Two will be a fifth land, probably Frontierland, Mickey's Toontown or less likely an original and unique land not built before at a previous park.
The government of Hong Kong has made it clear to the public and Disney that there is land next to the resort for a second theme park and several more hotels, but without a much higher price than what Disney paid for the land they already own, the government is liable to sell the land to one of Disney's theme park industry rivals. Names rumoured to be looking at the land feature NBC Universal, Six Flags and Anheuser Busch. Many view this move as a way of getting more money out of Disney, as the government does not actually want another company to build a separate theme park in the area.
[edit] Theme park
Currently, the resort only consists of one Disney theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland.
Besides, the second phase of reclamation works in Penny's Bay is now in progress and it is expected to be finished by 2008.
According to the agreement of Walt Disney Company and the Government of Hong Kong, the land is reserved for the future development of the resort. However, there is currently no plans for Hong Kong Disneyland to open a second park in the resort.
[edit] Hotels
There are two hotels in the Resort, the five-star Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the four-star Disney's Hollywood Hotel, located on the seashore of the reclaimed land with about 1,000 rooms in total.
[edit] Transport
[edit] MTR Disneyland Resort Line
The Resort has the key advantage of being linked to Hong Kong's public transit system. It is accessible via train from Hong Kong International Airport and the mainland.
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Shark fin soup controversy
Disney originally planned to serve shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, at wedding banquets [1]. Animal rights groups protested in June 2005, citing the declining shark population in global waters and the cruel methods sometimes used of cutting the fin and discarding the live sharks back into the water.
At first, Disney removed shark fin soup from its menu but said it would still offer the soup if their clients insisted on having it served at their wedding. They said they would distribute leaflets about shark conservation to discourage the choice. [2].
However, after constant and continuous pressure from environmental groups and schoolchildren [3], shareholders concerned about the company's image, Disney announced on 24 June 2005 that shark fin soup will not be served at all, because, according to their press release, "After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmental sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove shark's fin soup from our wedding banquet menu." [4]
[edit] Other controversies
- There have been widespread concerns in the media and by local watchdog groups of the inherent endangerment to children at the park. These concerns include the excessive violations of smoking by visitors in the designated non-smoking areas of the park. It has been reported that Disney employees have been very lax in enforcing any type of non-smoking policies out of fear of offending their customers. There have also been many reports of unsafe sanitation at the park, including some visitors [citation needed] urinating in the flowerbeds and near the food facilities. Local newspapers ran photo essays for days after the park opening showing this controversial behavior. Complaints have been made by visitors that despite witnessing such infractions, Disney employees did nothing to enforce any type of civic responsibility.[citation needed]
- The Walt Disney Company gets 43% of share of the joint venture by investing HK$2.3b, while the Hong Kong Government gets only 57% while investing HK$23b.[citation needed]
- Cast members are paid relatively low wages.[citation needed]
- Fish around Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation which damaged the economy.[citation needed]
- Ancient commercial vessels and bones on the sea floor are now buried under landfill.[citation needed]
- The park has refused to use the same, more ecologically sound launching technology for fireworks which was developed and is used at the original Disneyland in the United States. This is of concern to the neighbouring residential area of Discovery Bay.[citation needed]
- When health officers came to inspect the facility after several reports of food poisoning, they were asked to remove their caps and badges. Although two of the officers did so, the department has taken offence.[5]
- The official size of the entire development as released by the government was 1.26 km².[citation needed] Furthermore, the size of the first phase was reported to be only 700,000 m². However the area of just the Disneyland theme park portion, is estimated to be between 152,100 and 187,200 m². If it accommodates a maximum capacity of 30 000 visitors, the area per visitor would be 2.5 m² . The commercial area is divided into:
- Theme Park: 325,700 m²
- Hotels: 165,300 m²
- Parking and Transit Hub: 171,900 m²
- Inspiration Lake 300,000 m²
[edit] Trivia
- The plans for the park, when released in early 2001, made it clear that Hong Kong Disneyland would be based on the original 1954 plans for Disneyland in California - including just four lands (Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland). Public outcry both from Disney fans and the Chinese caused the addition of Frontierland to the plans which would come later on, possibly as a second phase expansion.
- This is the second project of The Walt Disney Company's extension into Asia after the Tokyo Disney Resort having opened more than 20 years ago. Animation studios have been set up in India, Disney has been extensively advertising and publicising the traditional characters on billboards and Asian-only Disney cartoon shows, and plans are being drawn up for new resorts in Asia, probably in Shanghai and Singapore. Scouts are also reportedly surveying Australia for a new resort.
[edit] Timeline
- August 1998 - The Walt Disney Company and the government of Hong Kong announce their intention to construct a themed entertainment resort in Hong Kong, the second in Asia
- February 1999 - Penny's Bay, Lantau Island is announced as the future site of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
- December 10, 1999 - Disney and the Hong Kong Government sign an agreement for building the second Disney Resort in Asia
- November 22, 2004 - Disney announces that the opening day of the resort has been re-scheduled from 2006 to September 12, 2005
- September 12, 2005 - Hong Kong Disneyland opens to the public at 13:00 local time
- June, 2006 - Hong Kong Disneyland announces to release Summer Passes to boost its first year attendance
- July 13, 2006 - Autopia, Stitch Encounter and UFO Zone opens in Hong Kong Disneyland as first part of its extension
- August, 2006 - Exclusive treats are provided for Summer Pass holders so as to further boost the park's attendance
- September 4, 2006 - More than 60000 Summer Passes have been sold since July 1. Besides, 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
- September 12, 2006 - Hong Kong Disneyland celebrates its 1st Anniversary
- September 30, 2006 - Disney's Halloween celebration will be held for the very first time until October 31, 2006
[edit] Location Location Location
- 22°18'45.96"N and 114° 2'32.83"E
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official sites
- Hong Kong Disneyland official site
- Arrangements of the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland and Penny's Bay
- Board
