ABC TV is showing Disneyland Hong Kong today on the news, right now.

[Bete]

There may be more to see today on ABC, but they are highlighting the new park already on the news.

The park cost was $3.5 billion. Expected attendance is 5.6 billion per year. The number four is not used for the resorts; because, four sounds like "death" in Chinese; so, no fourth floor. The number eight is considered to be lucky; so, the Grand Ballroom was sized with the eight number in mind. CMs speak English, Mandarian and Cantonese. I'm not sure if each CM has skills of all three languages.

Their version of a hamburger is a pork burger with water chestnuts. Roast duck is a popular food item despite Donald Duck being one of Disney's characters. For character greetings, the park is set-up with Photo pavillons. These are very crowded. The Chinese guests are taking pictures of everything including lamp posts. The stuffed toys are a little different. Mickey Mouse has no mouth. Winnie the Pooh is even more rounded than the Amercian version. Marketing tests were done with the toys and this sold better. China banded Disney characters for a long time; so, the Chinese children are just starting to learn about Disney. The art of positioning which is part of the Chinese culture was considered with the building of the park. I don't know the technical term for this art. Also, there's a big rock in the back courtyard of the Disney resort which is part of this art.

One thing I noticed which could trinkle down to us here is that weekend park tickets cost more than weekday tickets. The weekend cost is $45 American and the weekday ticket I believe is about $8 cheaper.

If anyone else can add more info, please share.

 

[eeyore0062]

 

[Stitch1962]

I hope their opening day goes well! I am worried with the lack of attractions but high capacity, that the people will encounter huge lines, that may well turn them off. I certainly hope it will be a better business venture than EuroDisney was from the beginning. From what I was reading in the papers, the economists are very worried, since the Chinese have extremely little expendible income and like to hold on to what they have. The prices for Disneyland Hong Kong are rather high, in comparison to what the Chinese are used to paying for entertainment. My guess is that Disney will look hard at this before delving into hard and fast plans for a park in Shang-hai.

I wish them luck, but I think that they are going to have a hard upward climb to success!