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[Captain Pan]

3 new lands would be great, but adding a 2nd park would be even better.

No, they need to improve and enlarge the first park, and increase their attendance levels before they even begin to think about a second park

As Butlin Boy says, why commit cash to a new gate if the first one doesn't get the foot traffic?
Without the foot traffic in gate one, gate two has little chance of survival, and as a result could encounter the downfall of closing the entire resort.

Look at DLRP, many still hold concerns over the foot traffic of the Studios, and with rumours of a third gate, WDI gave the Studios much needed attractions and ideas, which I'm led to believe have increased the foot traffic in the park, and now as a result of these attractions and ideas are turning the Studios into an All Day Park, not a five minute here and there like it previously was.

[Owain]

I agree, especially for HKDL. They cant even get enough people into there main Disneypark so they should definatly sort out/improve this before they even start PLANNING another park at there resort.

And dont forget 2nd parks arnt always a good idea, think back to WDS before all the recent improvements and DCA now. There having to spend even more money on them to improve them.

But im not saying 2nd parks never make it because look at WDS now ! And epcot and Tokyo Disney Sea !  

[Anthony]

Today's rumour is a new attraction mixing Grizzly River Run with Expedition Everest and Big Thunder Mountain...

...the good news is that the time has come for Hong Kong Disneyland to have its own Frontierland with an opening expected in 2010-2011 for the 5th anniversary celebration of HKDL. The two other lands that Mr Kam talked about should open if everything goes fine two years later, in 2013.

It won't be as big as the one we have in Paris or even in Anaheim, but it will be a nice little Frontierland and will also be build in the land available on the other side of the HKDL railroad track . Of course, if you say "land" it means "attraction" inside it, and when you think about Frontierland, which attraction is the most "attached" to it? Big Thunder Mountain? Right, except that there won't be any Big Thunder Mountain at HKDL. Instead, HKDL guests will discover a brand new attraction - one of those "exclusive attractions" that Bill Ernest was talking about - called: "Grizzly Mine Show". Yes, a new Mine Train coaster is coming to a Disney theme park.

And how will be this Grizzly Mine Show, you ask? Well, no rendering available yet, but from what i've been told, think about a rock mountain who should look like the Grizzly mountain at DCA - without the sculpted Grizzly head, and for the ride track itself, think about Expedition Everest. It will be more or less a mix of both, although less high than Expedition Everest, but may be as fast as EE can be with tunnels, exterior lift and great scenery, all of this in a "north woods" vegetation theme. In the front of the Grizzly Mine Show mountain, you'll find some typical wooden Frontierland buildings like those you have around an old mine.

And when you'll know that part of the WDI team of imagineers who built Grizzly River Run at DCA were asked to work on this new Grizzly Mine Show mountain, you'll understand why the two mountains may have "something in common" when this future HKDL attraction will open.

Source

It's not a bad rumour apart from that name. What do you think?

[Willow]

I'm not a fan of Grizzly Peak at California Adventure buts its a more unique idea than a bog-standard Big Thunder Mountain. I'd prefer a new mountain though and like you said Anthony the name is a bit rubbish.

I saw an overhead image of Hong Kong Disney Resort the other day and the room for expansion they have is huge! Enough to almost double the Disneyland area and then room for a Disney Village, more Hotels and a huge 2nd park.

The resort is tiny at the moment but it looks like it has a bright future ahead of it, I just hope that Shanghai Disneyland doesn't scupper the plans.

[CentralPlazaPerson]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/ ... b-Cuts.php

JOB LOSS DUE TO EXPANSION!!

[Anthony]

This is awful news. I'm not sure of the latest attendance figures, but it's now beginning to look like Hong Kong is in a worse state than Paris ever was. At least because Euro Disney had huge backing from banks it could provide worthwhile expansions, because they wanted a return. I have zero financial knowledge, but why on earth did they ever think partnering with a government would be a good way to run a theme park?

Makes me even more glad to see Toy Story Playland begin.

[luke85]

I think its really sad, nothing seems to be going in HKDL's favour right now I really hope the resort manages to improve, it could be a really beautiful resort if money was spent in the right places. Stupid economic downturn...

This is awful news. I'm not sure of the latest attendance figures, but it's now beginning to look like Hong Kong is in a worse state than Paris ever was. At least because Euro Disney had huge backing from banks it could provide worthwhile expansions, because they wanted a return. I have zero financial knowledge, but why on earth did they ever think partnering with a government would be a good way to run a theme park?

Makes me even more glad to see Toy Story Playland begin.

and Anthony I totally agree, I also have zero financial knowledge, but I think to part-own a park with Hong Kong's government was a huge error on Disney's part.

[davewasbaloo]

Well hind site is a wonderful thing. Partnering with the government seemed to make sense at the time becasue of all the civic infrastructire requirements HKDL required. Just like the deal with the French government is partially what swung it for EDL to be built near Paris instead of the UK or Spain.

But Disney did not do their homework thoroughly enough, or indeed their risk management matrix was off.

[lil-shawn]

hey ya guy´s,
i was reading somewhere that the TWDC will spend $1.1bln into an
expansion to HKDL. i´m so sorry but i can´t find this article again,
i can´t remember where i was reading it. but at this time i was thinking
why DCA and HKDL gets $1.1bln and DLP not, cause our studios need this
money too...

but it hink it would be the best to spend all this money to HKDL cause this park
really need some new rides.

[dagobert]

Why doesn't TWDC spend some money on DLRP too? Sure HKDL really needs the expansion, but DLRP could use some money, too.

[CentralPlazaPerson]

exactly

[Willow]

Hong Kong needs more money than Paris at the moment.
The park is too small, its needs a lot of expansion.

[Anthony]

Something finally happening.

Breaking, from Reuters, also reported by the Wall Street Journal:

   

HONG KONG, June 25 (Reuters) – Hong Kong has reached a deal with the Walt Disney Co (DIS) to expand the local Disney theme park, seen as necessary to bolster the park's long-term prospects against a Shanghai rival, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

    The agreement is expected to be announced by June 30, with details of the deal to be laid out to local legislators in a special meeting, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported.

    A spokeswoman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, which oversees the Disneyland project, confirmed to Reuters that a special meeting had been called, but disclosed no specifics.

    The report said the deal was expected to be worth HK$7 billion ($903.3 million) of which HK$4 billion would be used for expansion.

    The size of Hong Kong Disneyland, the smallest of Disney's magic kingdoms, is expected to almost double, with construction to begin within a year, pending approval from the city's legislative council in July, the newspaper reported.

    Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang travelled to Los Angeles in May, where he met senior Disney executives. The trip is seen to have paved the way for the breakthrough after Disney earlier said it would stall any expansion amid the credit crunch.

    There was no immediate response from Tsang's office.

    When contacted by Reuters, a Disney official in the United States said discussions are ongoing, without giving any specifics.

    The Walt Disney Co (DIS) earlier indicated it would likely invest more capital in Hong Kong Disneyland and allow the Hong Kong government to convert its loans to equity to maintain its majority share of the theme park, a source involved in their talks told Reuters earlier.

    The Hong Kong government, which owns 57 percent of the underperforming resort, desperately needs the expansion to boost flagging attendance, with a much larger rival Disneyland expected to be built in Shanghai in 2014 that could draw much visitor traffic from the burgeoning mainland China market.

    "At this stage, we have to support the expansion otherwise it will be very difficult to compete with Shanghai in five to six years time," said legislator Fred Li of the Democratic Party, who said his party backed the expansion as long as Disney boosted its financial transparency in future on attendance figures.

    (Additional reporting by Gina Keating in Los Angeles) (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Chris Lewis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Well, that's exciting. Now I want details! What expansions are we really getting? That rumored north woods version of Frontierland? The voodoo-themed Haunted Mansion? The flume-ride Pirates of the Caribbean? Hopefully we'll find out on the 30th.

It'll also be interesting to see what the HK$3 billion that isn't going towards expansion will be used for.

I just can't believe that the deal is finally done. Remember that this back and forth has been going on for years now, and just a few short months ago Disney fired the Imagineers working on the project because the Hong Kong government had stalled the project once too many.

And let's not overlook one intriguing aspect of the article – it seems that the idea of an impending Shanghai Disneyland has become common and accepted knowledge. 2014? Would it be too much to ask that they finish the existing parks first?

From Progress City USA blog.

[The Butlin Boy]

Not long to wait now... :mrgreen:

[dagobert]

On Micechat Forum member keithlee83 has posted some concept art about the expansion.

http://micechat.com/forums/hong-kong-di ... t-art.html

Note the Toy Story Playland concept art.

The concept art can also be found here: http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/