Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
The
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort () 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.
|
Hong Kong Disneyland under construction (October 2004) |
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 Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. |
|
Disney's Hollywood Hotel. |
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.
Currently, the resort only consists of one Disney theme park,
Hong Kong Disneyland.
Besides, reclamation works for Phase 2 Extension is now in progress and it's expected to be finished by
2008. At that time, construction for another new Disney theme park will be started and the new park will open in
2010.
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.
MTR Disneyland Resort Line
Bus
Long Win Bus (including "Airbus" and KMB fleets)
Long Win Bus currently operates 2 external routes between the city and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
*
R33 -
Tuen Mun West Rail Station <> Disneyland
*
R42 -
Tai Wai KCR Station <> Disneyland
Please note that the above routes depart for Disneyland only with several departures each morning, and they depart Disneyland only after the firework display every evening. Outside the service period, passengers can take any North Lantau and Airports routes which via the Lantau Link Toll Plaza and interchange there for
R8 with a bus-bus interchange discount.
Cancelled Routes*
N31D -
Discovery Park,
Tsuen Wan <>
Airport via Disneyland
This route was cancelled due to low demand.
Citybus currently operates 3 external routes between the city and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
*
R11 -
North Point <> Disneyland
*
R21 -
Laguna Verde,
Hung Hom <> Disneyland
*
R22 -
Yau Tong <> Disneyland
Please note that the above routes depart for Disneyland only with several departures each morning, and they depart Disneyland only after the firework display every evening. Outside the service period, passengers can take any North Lantau and Airports routes which via the Lantau Link Toll Plaza and interchange there for
R8 with a bus-bus interchange discount.
Cancelled Routes*
N21D -
Star Ferry <>
Airport via Disneyland
This route was cancelled due to low demand.
Jointly-operated routes
These routes are jointly-operated by
Citybus and
Long Win Bus.
*
R8 - Disneyland > Lantau Link Toll Plaza Circular
*
R8A - Disneyland >
Inspiration Lake Circular
Route
R8A serves as a temporary route for the opening of
Inspiration Lake which is located also in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. This route was proposed to be cancelled within weeks after the grand opening, replaced by the bi-directional sectional fare of route
R8. However, until now the route is still not cancelled.
Special Routes*
R8S - Disneyland > Lantau Link Toll Plaza Circular - Night service
The route was operated for only once. On that day, there were special activities in Disneyland causing the park to close late.
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]
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 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.
*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.
*Cast members are paid relatively low wages.
*Fish around
Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation which damaged the economy.
*Ancient commercial vessels and bones on the sea floor are now buried under landfill.
*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.
*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, indicating that Disney is not above the law. [
5]
*The official size of the entire development as released by the government was 1.26 km². Furthermore the size of the first phase was reported to be only 700,000 m². However the area of the just the Disneyland theme park portion, is estimated to be between 152,100 and 187,200 m². Which 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
* 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 a second Chinese resort in the mainland, probably in
Shanghai. Scouts are also reportedly surveying
Australia for a new resort.
*
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*
November 22, 2004 -
Disney announce that the opening day of the resort has been re-scheduled from 2006 to September 12, 2005*
September 12, 2005 -
At 1:00pm local time, Hong Kong Disneyland opens to the public*
Hong Kong Disneyland*
Tourism in Hong Kong*
List of buildings and structures in Hong KongOfficial sites
* Hong Kong Disneyland official site
*Arrangements of the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland and Penny's Bay
*Board
;Fansites
* Disneyland Hong Kong information, facts and maps
* HKDL Source - The Premiere Hong Kong Disneyland Fansite
