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Hong Kong Disneyland: General Discussion
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Sam
TS Member
Disney & More have a short but sweet article about the exciting future for HKDL.
In summary:
Future sounds bright for what opened as a bit of a disappointment!
In summary:
- "High-end" third hotel starting construction imminently
- Plans for a fourth and fifth hotel, as well as a Downtown Disney are in the works
- New night parade for 2014, new day parade for 2015 (10th anniversary)
- New attraction "which will amaze little kids" for 2015
- Marvel themed E-Ticket ride for 2016 or 2017
- 2018 to 2022 plans now under development
Future sounds bright for what opened as a bit of a disappointment!
Sam
TS Member
Whoah!
The only thing I'm surprised about is how similar this looks to Transformers at Universal.
Screamscape's thoughts on this mega-project below...
Disney Parks Blog said:Marvel’s Iron Man Coming to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2016
As I’ve often said, one of the greatest things about Disney is the treasure trove of characters and rich stories we have to draw upon for the immersive experiences we provide our guests around the world. With Marvel joining the Disney family in 2009, our character and story base grew even further, and the anticipation for how Marvel comes to life in our parks and resorts continues to energize our guests and cast.
That’s why it was so exciting earlier today at Hong Kong Disneyland to announce that the very first Disney attraction based on a Marvel character experience will debut in Hong Kong Disneyland. And I’m excited to be able to share some of the initial details with you today about this Iron Man Experience.
Audiences around the world have been captivated by the amazing inventions and innovations of Tony Stark and we’re basing this experience within a piece of the Stark Expo. Located in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, the Expo will allow guests to see firsthand the progression of Tony’s Iron Man suits and many other Stark innovations.
Upon entering the ride vehicle our guests will be able to take flight with Iron Man on an epic adventure that not surprisingly pits Iron Man, and our guests, against the forces of evil. This adventure will take place in the streets and skies of Hong Kong, which will make an even more unique and special experience for our Hong Kong Disneyland guests. In addition, guests will be able to meet and take photos with Iron Man.
It’s obviously no secret that Marvel’s Iron Man movies are immensely popular, and we expect this experience will emulate the success of our most recent expansion – Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point – all of which have been huge hits with our guests.
We are extremely confident in and committed to the continued growth and success of Hong Kong Disneyland. I’m excited to see Iron Man become a part of that success when we welcome guests to the attraction in late 2016.
The only thing I'm surprised about is how similar this looks to Transformers at Universal.
Screamscape's thoughts on this mega-project below...
Screamscape said:
Sazzle
TS Administrator
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Hmm I was excited when I read the official announcement, but I'm a lot less hyped now I've read its a Star Tours type affair! I thought we might be looking at a Spiderman style ride system, but clearly this is going to be less impressive !
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Sam
TS Member
Screamscape brings us this in-depth photo report of the Mystic Manor queueline and pre-show areas, if anyone is interested.
Sam
TS Member
Double post, but worth it.
Great news from Disney & More for the fledgling little Magic-Kingdom-that-could. <3
What was once the joke of the chain keeps going from strength to strength. <3
Great news from Disney & More for the fledgling little Magic-Kingdom-that-could. <3
Disney & More said:Hong Kong Disneyland To Build Third and "Biggest" Hotel by 2017, 2013 Second Most Profitable Year Since HKDL Opening !
Great news to start the week as Hong Kong Disneyland announced today its second most profitable year and that the park will build its third and "biggest" hotel, to open in 2017! The new hotel positioned as "luxury hotel" will be themed around "exotic locations from around the world". It will occupy 6.4 hectares, and will offer 750 rooms with a total of 56000 square meters of floor area plus outdoor exotic adventure area to explore the theme.
It will cost HK$4.26 billion ($550 million) and you have above and below the renderings for this proposed third hotel which looks to me a bit like a mix between Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney's Hawaii Aulani hotel. The "exotic locations from around the world" theme is also exciting - hey, may be we'll have a kind of "Adventurer's Club" hotel!
The hotel will be built on the land available between Hong Hong Disneyland Hotel and Hong Kong Disneyland Hollywood Hotel and will be the largest at HKDL Resort with 750 rooms and three restaurants as well as what looks like a great outdoor beach / pool area. You'll ask note on the map below that the hotel will be in fact located outside the park but just behind Mystic Manor, or in front of depending if you look from the hotel or from Mystic Manor. The hotel theming around "exotic locations from around the world" couldn't fit better being built so close from Adventureland and Mystic Manor.
You'll note on the map below that, once this third hotel will be built, they'll still have room available for a fourth hotel between this new hotel and the current HKDL Hotel you can see on the artwork below.
If HKDL plans to open its third and largest hotel by early 2017 it's to accommodate an influx of visitors from countries - including China and South Korea - amid intensifying competition from Ocean Park. HKDL has had to contend with government-owned Ocean Park, which drew 7.7 Million visitors in the fiscal year ended June. Ocean Park plans to add a lot of new attractions by 2017 as well as a 495-room hotel. Also, Kim Min-ho, CEO of Hong Kong Disneyland said that he expects Lantau Island hotels to have a strong demand with the opening in 2016 of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge.
Hong Kong Disneyland posted also a profit of HK$242 million, its second annual gain, in the 12 months ended September, more than double the HK$109 million a year ago. Visitors from China to Hong Kong Disneyland, part-owned by the city’s government, jumped 15 percent last year, while those from South Korea surged 27 percent, Hong Kong Disneyland Managing Director Andrew Kam told reporters today. “The hotel expansion will support increasing demand from the booming tourism industry in the region,” Kam said.
Hong Kong Disneyland’s sales rose 15 percent to HK$4.9 billion for the fiscal year, according to the statement. Visitors from China to the former British colony jumped 16.7 percent to 40.8 million last year and accounted for 75 percent of total visitor arrivals, according to the Hong Kong tourism Board.
As for future development for the park the picture above shows where are the lands available for future attractions. The light blue space with black stars on the center right is where Iron Man Experience will be built. And, talking about Iron Man Experience, to open in 2016, i have new details about the ride for you so don't miss too my Iron Man Experience update posted this afternoon HERE.
One more thing: the orange land on the center left available for future expansion, near Grizzly Gulch, is where HKDL Imagineers originally envisioned to build the Pirates of Caribbean land before it was cancelled, as you can see on the picture below.
What was once the joke of the chain keeps going from strength to strength. <3
Rob
TS Team
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Bump!
In true Dinsey fashion the Iron Man Experience has been delayed and will now officially open on January 11th 2017. Soft openings are possible this year though.
In more surprising news, there are reports that Disney are considering the demolition of HKDL's castle and replacing it with something more spectacular. I suspect that are a little jealous of what Shanghai have been given. No idea how likely this is but it would be quite something. I wouldn't mind if they did, I like the idea of Disneyland's castle being unique to Disneyland.
In true Dinsey fashion the Iron Man Experience has been delayed and will now officially open on January 11th 2017. Soft openings are possible this year though.
In more surprising news, there are reports that Disney are considering the demolition of HKDL's castle and replacing it with something more spectacular. I suspect that are a little jealous of what Shanghai have been given. No idea how likely this is but it would be quite something. I wouldn't mind if they did, I like the idea of Disneyland's castle being unique to Disneyland.
CGM
TS Member
Bump!
In more surprising news, there are reports that Disney are considering the demolition of HKDL's castle and replacing it with something more spectacular. I suspect that are a little jealous of what Shanghai have been given. No idea how likely this is but it would be quite something. I wouldn't mind if they did, I like the idea of Disneyland's castle being unique to Disneyland.
I would definitely support this. The current castle at HKDL gets completely lost against the mountain backdrop. This also has the effect of providing a visual reference to compare it to which totally unravels the perspective tricks. In person, it looks like a Wendy house. The 'Disney' moment when you get to the top of Main Street expecting the vista of the castle is so anti-climactic. I was there with a non-enthusiast friend and we both had the same reaction: "Oh...where is it?"
The original Disneyland can get away with having a tiny castle, it was the first. For a park built in 2005, it comes across as a bit cheap, particularly when all the other castle parks that aren't Disneyland have castles approaching 200ft in height.
It sums up HKDL when it first opened really. Compared to Paris which was so beautiful, grand and meticulously designed, HKDL was incredibly risk-averse. Everything was a miniaturised, scaled back version of something at another Disney park. Luckily, they've turned this around by developing some unique, brilliantly executed new attractions. I hope they continue to grow and get themselves a castle more befitting of their setting and of a modern Disney park. They don't need anything on the scale of Shanghai (which is a bit of an ungainly lump), I'd like to see them do something unique, tailored to their park.
Rob
TS Team
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HKDL, Walt Disney Studios Park Paris and Disney's California Adventure were all parks built on the cheap. Disney took what we'd say today was the Merlin approach (although in a totally different context) and did as little as they could get away with in a Disney park. They cut corners and have since paid the price what with having to carry out major investment work to bring all 3 up to Disney standard (although it can be argued they still have quite a way to go with WDS).
CGM
TS Member
HKDL, Walt Disney Studios Park Paris and Disney's California Adventure were all parks built on the cheap. Disney took what we'd say today was the Merlin approach (although in a totally different context) and did as little as they could get away with in a Disney park. They cut corners and have since paid the price what with having to carry out major investment work to bring all 3 up to Disney standard (although it can be argued they still have quite a way to go with WDS).
I can sort of understand why they did this. I think the financial problems that Paris caused put the frighteners on them. Being a bit more conservative seemed a sensible thing to do at the time. However, Hong Kong was definitely a bit too unambitious in its original form. WDS Paris is just an embarrassment.
Rob
TS Team
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One of the main reasons for the approach was complacency. They thought that people would come to these parks just because it was Disney and didn't realise that the guests did have certain expectations that had to be met. It's easy to see why they did it though.
Rose Of Dawn
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I'd rather Hong Kong keep their castle. It's not the most impressive Disney castle, but I do feel it fits in well with the area, with the green hills behind it. They should spend that money on more rides, as that's what HKDL sorely needs to make it a true 'world class' park.
Rob
TS Team
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Big news coming out of Hong Kong - Disney have revealed a US$1.4 billion expansion plan to help the stuggling theme park, with new attractions opening almost each year from 2018 through 2023. The expansion will mainily utilise Frozen and Marvel IPs, however as rumoured the caslte and hub are will be totally re-developed.
2018
Here are come of the concept images released along with a plan showing the expansion areas:
It should be noted that this is all subject to the funding being approved by the Walt Disney Company board of directors (not likely to be a problem if they've announced it all) and Hong Kong Legislative Council (could be more of an obstacle). Disney are set to put up US$657 million with the Hong Kong putting up US$747 million.
Surely Paris is next up for one of these major expansion programmes?
2018
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters will be reimagined into Marvel attraction, Ant Man interactive dark ride
- Adventureland show place which "invites guests to “Moana’s Village Festival” through a series of daytime entertainment offerings anchored around a lively stage show in a new interactive entertainment environment."
- New caslte, hub and nighttime spectacular
- New Frozen themed land to replicate the Kingdom of Arendelle. Located behind the existing Fantasyland, it will include two new attractions (indoor sleigh ride and large dark ride)
- Brand new Marvel Super Heros dark ride, taking over space where Autopia is, possibly themed around The Avengers (2023)
Here are come of the concept images released along with a plan showing the expansion areas:
It should be noted that this is all subject to the funding being approved by the Walt Disney Company board of directors (not likely to be a problem if they've announced it all) and Hong Kong Legislative Council (could be more of an obstacle). Disney are set to put up US$657 million with the Hong Kong putting up US$747 million.
Surely Paris is next up for one of these major expansion programmes?
Rose Of Dawn
TS Member
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- Eejanaika (Fuji-Q Highland)
This is fantastic news. I love HKDL, and this is just what it needs to become truly world-class.
HKDL has gone from the forgotten Disney park to a real leader since Grizzly Mountain opened in 2012.
HKDL has gone from the forgotten Disney park to a real leader since Grizzly Mountain opened in 2012.
Jordan
TS Contributor
An update over on the Disney Parks Blog - the expansion plans that Rob posted above have been approved by the Hong Kong government.
Also - the new Explorers Lodge Hotel opened over the weekend. Here are some photos from the opening:
Also - the new Explorers Lodge Hotel opened over the weekend. Here are some photos from the opening: