Hong Kong Disney opens 'It's a Small World'

[crazy4wdw]

Hong Kong Disney opens 'It's a Small World'

In bid to boost visitor numbers, theme park launches classic attraction

updated 4:00 p.m. ET, Mon., April. 28, 2008

HONG KONG - Hong Kong Disneyland has opened the classic boat ride "It's a Small World" in a bid to boost sluggish attendance at the theme park.

The new attraction launched Monday amid lower-than-expected visitor numbers two years after the theme park opened in September 2005.

The ride, which first appeared at the 1964 World Fair in New York, will feature 38 Disney characters and 241 moving and talking figures of children dressed in different national costumes. They sing a theme song in four new languages — Cantonese, Putonghua, Korean and Tagalog.

Management has been under pressure to improve turnover at the $3.5 billion park, which is majority owned by the Hong Kong government. Local legislators have criticized the park's performance, with one suggesting that Hong Kong pull out of the joint venture with The Walt Disney Co.

The theme park was supposed to be a triumphant showcase of the Disney brand on the doorstep of mainland China. In its first year it attracted 5.2 million visitors — 400,000 fewer than projected — and attendance slumped to about 4 million in the second year.

It faces increased competition from Ocean Park, a local marine-based adventure park. There have also been reports of a possible Disney theme park development in Shanghai.

 

[Rence]

Some great pictures at the official Hong Kong Disneyland Site

http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/html/iasw/en_US/index.html

Be sure to clilck on "Dolls and Characters" and then "See Disney Characters"

This version of Its a Small World has incorporated the Disney characters into the ride - much like is currently proposed for the state-side versions. I know that a lot of folks are upset about this idea - but here you get to see photos of how it is done and decide for yourself if you like the idea or not.

Personally I think it was well done and works well with the attraction.

 

[*Robin*]

Thanks for that link, I love the character connection...they look like Mary Blair could have created them! I adore her work...

That said, I'm still a classic nut, I'm not sure if I would really like that done here. (I know, it really needs an overhaul)

 

[MrsJackSparrow]

I was so worried about the integrity of the ride and Mrs. Blair's work but this is such a near-seamless version! The character dolls were just beautiful and not overpowering in any way. Very, very well done!

 

[WDWFan4Life]

I think it's good that the characters are done in the Mary Blair style, but I feel that some of them were unnecessary to add, Stitch for example just looks really creepy to me. I also feel that it may work for Hong Kong Disneyland, since the company is trying to break in to that area and needs to allow them to make a connection. With that being said though, I feel we don't need that sort of connection here in the United States. Allow that version of IASW to be unique to Hong Kong and just give our version in Disneyland the much needed paint job and general maintenance that it needs, but leave the characters out.

 

[Rora]

Awesome! Thanks for the link!