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[tubbsy]

heading there in 5 weeks so that will be 4 more bodies for the parade route !!

Will you show us photos? Hopefully showing a few more people!

[Kristof]

Problems for HKDL continue.  

Hong Kong Disneyland is unlikely to receive more money from the local government to fund new attractions because of disappointing attendance at the theme park since it opened two years ago, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the park, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government, said it is still discussing financing options with the government.

Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper reported Wednesday the local government, instead of providing fresh cash, is inclined to give the park more land, or sell down its stake in Hong Kong Disneyland for cash to reinvest in the park. All land in Hong Kong is technically owned by the government and leased to commercial developers on long-term contracts.

The government believes the Hong Kong public will not support fresh spending on the park because of its unsatisfactory results, the paper said.

Hong Kong's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau had no immediate comment on the report.

Hong Kong Disneyland spokeswoman Glendy Chu said Disney and the government are "engaged in discussions regarding financing options aimed at advancing the long-term financial and development of Hong Kong Disneyland."

She declined further comment.

Hong Kong Disneyland has been under scrutiny because it is a major government investment. The Hong Kong government owns a 57 percent stake in the park, shouldering most of the US$3.5 billion (euro2.5 billion) construction cost.

The park drew 5.2 million guests in its first year - 400,000 short of its target of 5.6 million. Park officials have been secretive about second-year numbers, but local media reports estimated up to 4.8 million visited the park its second year.

Disney's earnings results showed Hong Kong Disneyland's operating income dropped in both the first and second quarters this year, curtailing overall growth for its park and resorts division.

http://www.mickeynews.com/News/DisplayP ... _1047Stall

[RnRCj]

Oh dear, that's not good :? Why would the attendance be so low for a Disney park? :shock: Obviously there aren't many Disney fans in Hong Kong :lol:

[Owain]

Seems like this park was never a good idea !

[The Butlin Boy]

Hopefully this will help:

Disney to forgo royalties on failing Hong Kong park

Nov 9, 2007, 11:14 GMT

Hong Kong - The Walt Disney company is to forgo royalties from it underperforming Hong Kong theme park as part of a plan to help the park boost attendance figures, a Hong Kong news report said Friday.

The company also said it has come to an agreement with its creditors to remove debt conditions on its 293 million US dollar loan for one year to allow it to make further investments in the park.

Hong Kong radio station RTHK said Friday the agreement, which will remove targets set by the lenders, were announced by Walt Disney's chief financial officer Tom Staggs in Los Angeles.

Earlier this week the Hong Kong government, which owns 57 per cent of the park, also said it was considering injecting more funds to help the struggling park.

The theme park has been battling against falling attendances since it opened in September 2005. It attracted only 5.2 million visitors in its first year, around 400,000 below its target.

In its second year, it fared no better with media reports speculating attendances of 33 per cent below its total visitor capacity.

The Hong Kong government has come under pressure from lawmakers who say it has invested too much in the commercial project.

Visitors claim it is too small and lacks sufficient attractions to occupy visitors for a whole day.

Public feeling is that the Ocean Park theme facility on Hong Kong Island - which houses Hong Kong's new pandas - offers better value. In May, Ocean Park set a new attendance record of 4.5 million people two months before the end of its fiscal year.

Source: M&C

[WaltDisneyFanBoy]

Well I'm going to take a wild guess at how its worked, hkdl became the new thing, popular, suddenly every local person found out it was so small and so byebye trade.  No new attractions for a year is not a clever idea for a park this size.  This is how many people watch the parade at town square the other week apparently :lol: .

Photo: TDLFAN

The park seems to be starting to think about seasonal ideas, it worked for dlrp, but then again dlrp does have a load more attractions.  HKDL even had a gayday last month.  Then with the pirate season this month, they seem to have gone straight into the idea.

That's so sad, i don't like this picture

[WaltDisneyFanBoy]

To bad for them. Glad that DLRP is getting better and better

[dannyaikawa]

In fact, the photo taken at the end of the parade route. 99.9% people will not watch the parade here, as they need to wait 20 minutes for the float.

Just watch these two video, see the fact of HKDL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mji1DnjH ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DihB07pb ... re=related

HKDL needs improvement, but it is not bad!

[Patrick]

In fact, the photo taken at the end of the parade route. 99.9% people will not watch the parade here, as they need to wait 20 minutes for the float.

Just watch these two video, see the fact of HKDL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mji1DnjH ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DihB07pb ... re=related

HKDL needs improvement, but it is not bad!

Maybe it is just my imagination, but people still wait a very very long time on town square in every other magic kingdom :wink: .  Also Halloween is rather different, of course people are going to watch the parade and visit more, since it is an event, not just an ordinary day :? .

[Christian3004]

Hi,
I was in HKDL end of October 2007 and must say that the overall guest attendance was pretty low. I was there on a business trip and asked my Chinese colleagues what might be the reason for the problems. It's quite clear: You can already get a copy of Disneyland and parts of it in a lot of Chinese amusement parcs as they generally don't care about any of Disney's rights!!! Same problems for Disney as for other western companies. My colleague told me that he saw a report about the Chinese amusement parcs on TV (they have more than 2000!!!!!!! parcs) and has seen in one parc a copy of Mickey Mouse directly next to Hello Kitty. Quite strange and if this is the reason, I see no chance for Disney to overcome the problem.

Personally, I feel that the park is pretty small and has a lack of attractions. It took my roughly six hours to see nearly everything (not all shows, but all attractions!!!).

Good luck HKDL,
Christian

[Haz]

Hi,
I was in HKDL end of October 2007 and must say that the overall guest attendance was pretty low. I was there on a business trip and asked my Chinese colleagues what might be the reason for the problems. It's quite clear: You can already get a copy of Disneyland and parts of it in a lot of Chinese amusement parcs as they generally don't care about any of Disney's rights!!! Same problems for Disney as for other western companies. My colleague told me that he saw a report about the Chinese amusement parcs on TV (they have more than 2000!!!!!!! parcs) and has seen in one parc a copy of Mickey Mouse directly next to Hello Kitty. Quite strange and if this is the reason, I see no chance for Disney to overcome the problem.

Personally, I feel that the park is pretty small and has a lack of attractions. It took my roughly six hours to see nearly everything (not all shows, but all attractions!!!).

Good luck HKDL,
Christian

 Thanks for the report,at last someone who has actually been there to report what is going on.

[Kristof]

Hi,
I was in HKDL end of October 2007 and must say that the overall guest attendance was pretty low. I was there on a business trip and asked my Chinese colleagues what might be the reason for the problems. It's quite clear: You can already get a copy of Disneyland and parts of it in a lot of Chinese amusement parcs as they generally don't care about any of Disney's rights!!! Same problems for Disney as for other western companies. My colleague told me that he saw a report about the Chinese amusement parcs on TV (they have more than 2000!!!!!!! parcs) and has seen in one parc a copy of Mickey Mouse directly next to Hello Kitty. Quite strange and if this is the reason, I see no chance for Disney to overcome the problem.

Personally, I feel that the park is pretty small and has a lack of attractions. It took my roughly six hours to see nearly everything (not all shows, but all attractions!!!).

Good luck HKDL,
Christian

Disney could have easily overcome that fake competition by going "grande".  The original project called for a massive resort (DLRP sized) with a Frontierland and a Toon Town on opening day.  Attractions would have included Dinoland USA (in Adventureland), Tough to be a Bug, Haunted Mansion, a River Raft ride, Raging Spirits, Peter Pan's Flight and more!!   These were all announced in '99 in a press release, but someone chopped up those plans...

[Haz]

Now that is what you call a Disney Park, excellent link, and they say lighting does not strike twice, at least our problem has been/is being solved. I think this will become a long story and reading reports i can see a unhappy ending like never seen in disney history.

[Kristof]

The soap opera continues:

Hong Kong senior government official on Wednesday publicly criticized the territory's 2-year-old Disney theme park, saying its performance was 'not satisfactory.'

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma told legislators the government wanted to see urgent improvements at the 3.5-billion-US-dollar park, which was largely funded by public money.

Hong Kong Disneyland fell 500,000 visitors short of its first-year visitor target of 5.7 million and is believed to have had only around 4 million visitors in its second year, which ended September.

'The first two years of Hong Kong Disneyland's operations were not satisfactory, and the park is still trying to adapt to the local operational environment,' Ma said.

'The government will continue to urge the park management to formulate cost-effective business strategies to improve the park's operational efficiency and work more closely with the local travel trade with a view to realizing the true economic potential of the Disney park,' he said.

Ma's remarks are the most critical so far of senior officials in Hong Kong who have up to now been largely defensive of the theme park's management and operations.

Disneyland has refused to release attendance figures for the 120-hectare park, citing commercial secrecy, but has admitted to falling short of financing targets.

The Hong Kong park, the first Disney theme park in China, has been criticized for being too expensive and for being short on attractions compared to sister parks in Paris, Tokyo and the United States.

Source: http://www.mickeynews.com

[WaltDisneyFanBoy]

It's gonna take alot of work to fix the problems. Offtoppic, I love that halloween parade