Expansion hits another snag

[Giraffe Lounge]

AP News : LimaOhio.com (Jul 4, 10:22 AM EDT)

"Hong Kong lawmakers said Saturday they would be unwilling to approve a plan to expand the city's Disneyland unless the government and Walt Disney Co. tell them how the theme park has performed since it opened in 2005."

"Scrutinizing the deal Saturday, lawmakers said the Hong Kong executive has not disclosed the park's attendance figures or told them how well it has performed in the more than three years since it opened. They said they needed to see more details of the expansion before they could vote Friday to approve or reject the plan.

"We have to decide whether to approve the commitment of this large sum as equity for the expansion of the park, but we have been given very little information. This is really depressing," said pro-government lawmaker Starry Lee."

Yikes.

[DisneyPro]

Oh Boy :/

[The Disneylander]

Where's Batman when you need him?

[Noski]

I knew it.

But really, what business does a government have putting taxpayers' money into a theme park anyway?

[vfire]

Originally Posted by Noski

I knew it.

But really, what business does a government have putting taxpayers' money into a theme park anyway?

I don't know, there's a lot worse things they could spend the money on...

[TimmyTimmyTimmy]

Great work! I hope they stall it and that Disney and HKgovt change their minds about building a Toy Story Land.

[hkdlfan]

are they going to negotiate over this for another 2 years?

[tasman]

WDC should never again build a park where they are entangled with a govt in this manner. Though the arrangement in Shanghai must be similar...so never say never I guess.

IMO they should just consider closing down the park before they invest more in it. If there is so much trouble in a medium sized expansion to this little park how are they ever going to expand the resort...including the second gate and other facilities? Is it worth the constant struggle?

[josh_kslow]

Originally posted by Giraffe Lounge
"Hong Kong lawmakers said Saturday they would be unwilling to approve a plan to expand the city's Disneyland unless the government and Walt Disney Co. tell them how the theme park has performed since it opened in 2005."

"Scrutinizing the deal Saturday, lawmakers said the Hong Kong executive has not disclosed the park's attendance figures or told them how well it has performed in the more than three years since it opened. They said they needed to see more details of the expansion before they could vote Friday to approve or reject the plan.

"We have to decide whether to approve the commitment of this large sum as equity for the expansion of the park, but we have been given very little information. This is really depressing," said pro-government lawmaker Starry Lee."

Now I'm really depressing over this issue.

Fed up with HKDL.

[mclubber]

Looks like Legco is delaying expansion. If disney wants to speed up expansion just give them the figures. If you don't have them just make'em up

[ImagineerWaryur]

Originally Posted by TimmyTimmyTimmy

Great work! I hope they stall it and that Disney and HKgovt change their minds about building a Toy Story Land.

Be careful what you wish for Timmy, they may come up with something worse, not better. Then you'll be dreaming fondly of that Carny land.


ImagineerWarrior

[flynnibus]

Originally Posted by tasman

WDC should never again build a park where they are entangled with a govt in this manner. Though the arrangement in Shanghai must be similar...so never say never I guess.

Well that's the problem when you try to tap into a market that is not a free, open economy like the US. You don't get the type of freedom of movement you need without making deals with the devil.

Originally Posted by tasman

IMO they should just consider closing down the park before they invest more in it. If there is so much trouble in a medium sized expansion to this little park how are they ever going to expand the resort...including the second gate and other facilities? Is it worth the constant struggle?

Part of the problem with being Disney is.. you can't ever sell your park! It's not like a Six Flags or something where they would sell the real estate, send the rides off somewhere else, sell the rides, etc. Disney can't just sell the park lock stock and barrel - they'd have to either

- sell the park off to a licensee under strict control (like the OLC deal)
- dismantle, repurpose what you can somewhere else, and sell off the land

The later would be so ridiculously expensive.. it's a tough pill to swallow. When companies can use losses to offset taxes on other profits.. that's also more reason to let it bleed vs cutting it off. Very painful decisions..

But I agree... this AND shanghi really make me go 'huh'? The Disney product needs to be manipulated so much to penetrate these more developing, less-Western markets. Is it in their core competence to do so? I don't think so - so I wish they'd stop looking here for growth.

[Hathaway Browne]

Originally Posted by ImagineerWaryur

Be careful what you wish for Timmy, they may come up with something worse, not better. Then you'll be dreaming fondly of that Carny land.


ImagineerWarrior

Well said. While Playland may seem a touch on the tacky side I'll take it over an empty expansion pad thats returning to nature any day.

[Tyler1994]

Its nothing The Oriental Land Company can't handle.

[Baloo]

I can't believe some people would be happy that the deal would stall. Anymore roblems with this expansin will affect the whole Disney company and future additions to all resorts. Just because one land is not up to peoples liking does not mean the whole expansion should suffer.

It will be interesting to see if this does stall and go nowhere what peoples attitudes will be once Shanghai opens and Hong kong does not see any growth.

all people need to do is see that the company reported that the high Paris attendance and growth was offset by the continued growth of the Hong Kong park. Anymore time wasted arguing whether the park should get expanded will only cause further problems company wide. The resorts to see the most affect will be Paris and Walt Disney World since Anaheim at the moment has its set budget for the next five years.