Expansion deal reached on Hong Kong Disneyland-report

[gurgi]

I wonder if this decision to build Shanghai was a smart one for the long term? Sure, Disney will make money on it, but at the cost of cannibalizing attendance from both Chinese parks. I mean, if those two cities are already competing with each other, I'm sure the two Disney parks will have to try to compete too. Maybe it will work out in the end with both resorts building great things to draw people in, but if the negotiations for further expansion go like they've been....we're in for a LONG wait!

[Baloo]

They are not very much concerned about competition with the Japanese parks since Disney still gets royalties for those parks. The tokyo parks are also doing extremely well with attendance.

The competition would most likely be with the Hong Kong park but i am sure they see that park and the Shanghai park the same way they see the Anaheim resort and the WDW resort.
The population around Shanghai and Hong Kong is much greater than the population around both Stateside resorts.

I think their biggest competition right now and in the near future with the Hong Kong Disneyland is the other local amusement parks which seems to be doing quite well

[Baloo]

here are some numbers on population

Shanghai Population Nears 19 Million
Shanghai Population Nears 19 Million

Hong Kong (03/09)
kong Kong population 7 million


China Population - The Population of China
With just over 1.3 billion people (1,330,044,605 as of mid-2008), China is the world's largest and most populous country.


USA Population - The Current Population of the USA
"The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people (303,500,000 in early 2008) so the United States has the world's third largest population (following China and India)."



California's Population Still Growing | NBC Los Angeles
"California's population has topped 38 million, according to a new report"



I think it is safe to say that 19 million is a decent population to support a Disney park in Shanghai add to that the amount of tourist that visit along with millions more from the rest of China.

[Dustysage]

Originally Posted by Baloo

here are some numbers on population

Shanghai Population Nears 19 Million
Shanghai Population Nears 19 Million

Hong Kong (03/09)
kong Kong population 7 million

China Population - The Population of China
With just over 1.3 billion people (1,330,044,605 as of mid-2008), China is the world's largest and most populous country.

USA Population - The Current Population of the USA
"The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people (303,500,000 in early 2008) so the United States has the world's third largest population (following China and India)."



California's Population Still Growing | NBC Los Angeles
"California's population has topped 38 million, according to a new report"

I think it is safe to say that 19 million is a decent population to support a Disney park in Shanghai add to that the amount of tourist that visit along with millions more from the rest of China.

And yet, the Hong Kong park is underperforming by a considerable margin. Having a better Disneyland in Shanghai is not going to help HKDL. That is why they need to do a really good job with expansion of that resort BEFORE Shanghai opens.

[TimmyTimmyTimmy]

Originally Posted by Dustysage

And yet, the Hong Kong park is underperforming by a considerable margin. Having a better Disneyland in Shanghai is not going to help HKDL. That is why they need to do a really good job with expansion of that resort BEFORE Shanghai opens.

If HKDL was bigger and had about 3-5 more rides that said: "people of Hong Kong and rest of China, ride me, I´m unique!" people would come in greater numbers and Disneyland would faster be established in China as a place to have fun in. Now it is just a fun park for the rich to have fun in a day.

Now get building HKDL!

[mclubber]

Originally Posted by Baloo

I think their biggest competition right now and in the near future with the Hong Kong Disneyland is the other local amusement parks which seems to be doing quite well

The other local amusement parks that is competing with HK Disney are: Ocean Park in HK. In Shenzhen you have Happy Valley (@ Window to the World MTR station which is the last station on the Shenzhen metro) and Honey Lake which is a smaller one also located near the honey lake mtr. But the biggest local competition amusement park in Panyi in suburban Guangzhou is Chimelong Amusement park (do a google search). That amusement park has hotels, animal park, water park and fast rollercoasters.

[TDLFAN]

I think the reasoning behind establishing a Disney park based on the population around it is flawed. Remember one of the reasons for DLP being built in Paris was the huge amount of people in Europe that had accessibility to France. Well.. that did not help DLP much for the first 15 years, did it? Then back in the day, both DL and WDW were built out on the woods and see what those parks have created around them since they opened...
I guess what I am trying to say is.. other factors should be concidered besides population (and I am sure they do) like weather, culture, economy, and most certainly... how nice do Disney want the park to be right out of the box.

[Asa]

Population figures is not the key to opening Disney Parks. South America also has lots of people living there.

It is the Economy, ... !

[malice]

Via Reuters:

The expansion, which will cost about HK$3.6 billion, will include 30 new attractions and three new theme areas, and will see the total area of Hong Kong Disneyland increase by 23 percent over five years.

That is a huge amount of new attractions. Hopefully half will not be of the "Liki Tiki" variety. It all sounds very exciting but there's still no concept art!

[Baloo]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

I think the reasoning behind establishing a Disney park based on the population around it is flawed. Remember one of the reasons for DLP being built in Paris was the huge amount of people in Europe that had accessibility to France. Well.. that did not help DLP much for the first 15 years, did it? Then back in the day, both DL and WDW were built out on the woods and see what those parks have created around them since they opened...
I guess what I am trying to say is.. other factors should be concidered besides population (and I am sure they do) like weather, culture, economy, and most certainly... how nice do Disney want the park to be right out of the box.

true but i think the biggest problem that loomed over Euro Disney was a culture clash and extremely bad weather. Euro Disney park never had a problem with attendance. The problem it had was due to over building the resort. Too many hotels were built and the transporation by train allowed guests from many parts of the country to easily visit for a day without having to stay longer and book a hotel. The other big problem it had was culture clash, Disney was criticized heavily for not taking into consideration many of the French customs.

The park was gorgeous but lacked attraction when it opened which gave no incentive for guests to stay for more than one day.

Hong Kong seems to have the same problem. Its a nice start but lacks attractions. There really isn't any reason for anyone to stay in one of the hotels since you could easily do the park in half a day. There is also nothing else in the area to keep you entertained.

I believe that is the reason they really want to build a Downtown Disney as soon as possible.

[Baloo]

Originally Posted by Asa

Population figures is not the key to opening Disney Parks. South America also has lots of people living there.

It is the Economy, ... !

That i would agree with economy is always the first priority when building anything with that much of an investment but if the areas population will not support a resort no matter how well the economy is there is no reason to build one.


you would never see a park in South America for several reasons. South America, Central America and all of North America including everything from Mexico to Alaska are the key targets for the two resorts in the states.
South America is also very unstable economically

[Baloo]

Originally Posted by malice

Via Reuters:


That is a huge amount of new attractions. Hopefully half will not be of the "Liki Tiki" variety. It all sounds very exciting but there's still no concept art!

Don't forget Disney calls everything "ATTRACTIONS" even if it is an interactive fountain
so don't expect to see 30 full fledge attractions

[Asa]

三個主題園區，包括「野礦山谷」、「迷離莊園」、「反斗奇兵歷奇地帶」

The three new theme lands are: "Wild Mine Valley", "Mysterious Farm" and "Toy Story Adventure". Two are unique in the world and one is unique in Asia.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Baloo

Euro Disney park never had a problem with attendance. The problem it had was due to over building the resort. Too many hotels were built and the transporation by train allowed guests from many parts of the country to easily visit for a day without having to stay longer and book a hotel. The other big problem it had was culture clash, Disney was criticized heavily for not taking into consideration many of the French customs.

Well, I have known for a rather long time about EuroDisney's dilemmas in Europe, the overbuilding of hotels and such.. but attendance problems were quite evident from the beginning. The park never drew huge crowds after the first few weekends following the grand opening. I went there during the first few years, quite a few times.. and it was sad how most of the time the park was dead. Ghost town. There was hardly a queue to be done anywhere... this is why many of the park's restaurants had to be closed for long periods of time, after it was apparent that... the crowds were not there. I have taken pictures of me in the afternoon on Main Street, with not more than a handful of other guests around me.. The situation was dire to say the least and I had the chance to see it first hand during my many trips there. I will say that shortly after the 10th year, things started to pick and now, with the very successful 15th anniversary campaign so it seems that DLP is finally poised for the well deserved success it should have had from day 1.
I see the same trend at HKDL and it bothers me too. But I am hoping soon enough the chinese will embrace it..

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Too many new parks and not enough focus on the ones that have already been established. If I were Disney, I'd make sure my current parks were cleaned up and stable first before considering to build yet another theme park.

They're setting themselves up for a dangerous situation. If this expansion is done right, it can save the situation - but if it's done half-heartedly and cheaply, it's going to be a real mess and a big financial burden.