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[Kristof]

Attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland is running below government forecasts two months after the park opened, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.
Disneyland officials have refused to say how many people have visited the park. This has angered lawmakers, who say the public has the right to know since the government owns 57 percent of the attraction.

The Post reported that it sent four reporters to Disneyland on Nov. 13 and 16 to count visitors with handheld tally counters. The reporters counted 12,972 visitors passing through the turnstiles on Nov. 13 and 11,399 on Nov. 16, the paper said.

The government has said it expected 5.6 million visitors - an average of 15,342 per day - to the park in its first year of operation, the paper said.

The MTR Corp., which operates a special subway line to the park, said it usually carries 10,000 riders a day on weekdays and 20,000 on Sundays, the paper said. However, some of the riders only visit the promenade outside Disneyland and don't go into the park, the paper said.

A Disney spokeswoman said the newspaper's count was flawed but declined to give the company's own figures, the report said. A Tourism Commission spokeswoman said the Hong Kong government, which is the majority owner of the park, won't disclose attendance figures for commercial reasons, the paper said.

The government paid US$2.4 billion for the park's construction, while Walt Disney Co. paid over US$314 million, according to official figures.

http://www.mickeynews.com/News/DisplayP ... E_11215Low

[Patrick]

Well yes they deserved it, shows people in China can't afford it, simply it is too much for the normal Chinese family to visit for a holiday.  Plus it being the smallest magic kingdom of them all does not make international tourists as interested to visit, when you compare TDL is just an hour or 2 flight away.  Really I still find it a mistake HKDL and always see it as the resort that should never have been built, after all it is not starbucks :wink: , not everyone needs a Disney park on their doorstep.

[Kristof]

Or not...

Attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland is strong, a park executive said Tuesday, amid questions about its popularity more than two months after it opened.
"The attendance has been very strong, so we're very happy," Roy Tan Hardy, vice present of marketing and sales at Hong Kong Disneyland, said on the sidelines of an event unveiling the park's Christmas attractions.

But he maintained Disneyland's presistent silence on attendance figures.

Tan Hardy predicted the Christmas season would bring plenty of visitors.

"Disney obviously is going to be a popular draw because this is the first time we're celebrating Christmas at Hong Kong Disneyland," he said.

Tan Hardy's comments came after local newspapers reported disappointing attendance at the park, which opened Sept. 12. The South China Morning Post reported Monday that its reporters counted several thousand fewer park guests than the projected first-year daily average of 15,342 on two days in November.

Disneyland has challenged the Post's numbers.

The theme park has also stoked suspicion by discounting tickets and refusing to disclose visitor figures.

Critics say the park should release figures because it's majority-owned by the Hong Kong government. The government paid US$2.4 billion (euro2.05 billion) for the park's construction, while Disney paid over US$314 million (euro268 million), according to official figures.

Among Hong Kong Disneyland's Christmas attractions are an 18-meter (60-foot) Christmas tree in a setting of holiday music and flurries of fake snow, a Goofy costumed like Santa Claus and Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in green and red.


From http://www.mickeynews.com

[Patrick]

Lier, Lier, there is no way that is so true as they put it, a park ONLY discounts tickets when numbers are low, I mean look in the UK, Alton Towers basically flog their tickets away every year to gain attendances, HKDL is not so popular and anyone with half a brain can see that.  I for one do not believe this since if it was so popular where exactly are the figures of how many guests have walked into the micro adventure of a park .  A Disney christmas is wonderful, but really is it going to make much of a difference unless they do discount the entrance tickets, really this shows Disney are as usual trying to hide the truth from the public.

[Anthony]

They could just be waiting until their annual report (or whatever they'll have over there) to announce visitor numbers, but it does all sound quite suspicious.

Then again, maybe it's just the media enjoying the chance to exaggerate any hint of failure from Disney again?  :roll: