Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is the first theme park located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks. It is, together with Ocean Park Hong Kong, one of the two large theme parks in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland opened to visitors on Monday, 12 September 2005 at 13:00 HKT. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. For instance, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy wouldn't flow into the South China Sea.
The park consists of seven themed areas: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land. The theme park's cast members speak Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Guide maps are printed in traditional and simplified Chinese as well as English, Japanese, Thai, Malay and Indonesian.
The park has a daily capacity of 34,000 visitors — the fewest of all Disneyland parks. The park attracted 5.2 million visitors in its first year, below its target of 5.6 million. Visitor numbers fell 20% in the second year to 4 million, inciting criticisms from local legislators. However, the park attendance slightly increased by 8% in the third year, attracting a total of 4.5 million visitors in 2007. In 2009, the park attendance again increased by 2% to 4.8 million visitors. The attendance continued to surge and received 5.23 million guests in the 2009/2010 fiscal year. Since the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, the theme park has hosted over 25 million guests. According to AECOM and TEA, Hong Kong Disneyland is the 13th most visited theme park in the world in 2013, with 7.4 million visitors. The park also turned a net profit of HK$109 million (US$13.97 million)for the year ended 29 September 2012, the first annual profit.
Hong Kong Disneyland currently occupies 49.9 hectares (123 acres) and hosts 7.92 million to 8.92 million visitors annually. The park capacity will increase to handle up to 10 million visitors annually over a 15-year expansion period.
Hong Kong Disneyland had one of the shortest construction periods of any Disneyland-style theme park. On 12 January 2003, more than 400 guests celebrated the groundbreaking of Hong Kong Disneyland after the finishing of land reclamation in Penny's Bay. The audience included Tung Chee Hwa, then chief executive of Hong Kong; Michael D. Eisner, former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company; Robert A. Iger, president of The Walt Disney Company; and Jay Rasulo, former president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. On 23 September 2004, a special "castle topping ceremony" was held in the park to commemorate the placing of the tallest turret on Sleeping Beauty Castle. Hong Kong Disneyland was opened to the public at 13:00 HKT on Monday, 12 September 2005 by then Chief Executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang, former Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner, Vice President of the People's Republic of China Zeng Qinghong and President of the Walt Disney Company Bob Iger.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Reviewed by Thearith02
on
9:18:00 AM
Rating: