Can anyone give me info about Hong Kong Disneyland?

Question

I'm going there in less than a week. Can anyone tell me what the best and worst parts (rides, shows, everything) of the park? Are the restaurants and stores expensive? If so, how expensive? Is it super crowded on saturdays? Any tidbits of information will be appreciated. I'm a teenager, btw. Thank you so much!!!

Answer 1

I was in HK Disney just a few weeks back. Going there on Saturday maybe a bit of a problem. The weekends are usually packed. The place is qite small and there are but a few rides. Nothing compared to the ones in Florida and California but if you plan your day, it can be entertaining.

The park opens at 10 a.m. If you are coming from the city, you will probabaly get there around lunch. I suggest you eat first before going to the shows and the rides. Do not make the mistake of having to line up the moment you get in for pictures with the characters, this will take up a good hour per line, but if you chance upon a new character coming out, go right ahead.

After eating do the rides and the shows first. Don't miss out on the Lion King Show and Phantasmagic show in 3D. Showtimes are available at the gate. The Main street parade is at 330 so don't miss out.

After all the rides and shows, then you have time to take pictures with the characters. They will all be at the photo garden near the Winnie the Pooh ride. If you take the pictures in the afternoon, you need not worry about missing out on the rides. They have fastpass tickets if you plan to ride again. The Pooh ride and Space Mountain usually have long lines so plan your day.

Answer 2

1. The Peninsula, or Marco Polo I think fit this bil. 2. There is but why ear Italian food in Hong Kong. That's like going to Paris and eating at McDonald's. 3. The Peak, Sheun Wan, Wan Chai, Kowloon Walled City, Various Temples, Day Trip to Macau, Nathan Rd Shopping, Mong Kok, Temple Street Night Market, ChungKing Mansions, Lok Ma Chau (if you want to visit Shenzhen) and many more. Disney is no reason to go to HK and the shopping in HK is unbeatable. 4. Not that I know of. 5. See #3 6. Hong Kong is an semi-autonomous region of China with it's own immigration process. China Mainland is way too much info to talk about in one setting - it's just so big.

Answer 3

We have been to Disneyland Hong Kong in December last year and it was fantastic. You will have loads of fun trust me. The best ride is the space mountain ride. The worst one is the Winny the Poo ride, you will have to wait for hours for nothing special. The queues are long whenever you go but it is worth it. The food is not too expensive and the stores..... well is it Disneyland and you will have to pay for the name.
Enjoy every minute of it!!!

Answer 4

In fact, it may not be too crowded these days. First of all, it is not the vacation season when tens of thousands of tourists will come from China. Secondly, most of the students are preparing for their final examinations. Their parents will not allow them to go to Disneyland. :)

Answer 5

The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was built by the Government of Hong Kong and The Walt Disney Company and officially opened on September 12, 2005. It consists of one Hong Kong Disneyland theme park, two hotels (Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel), and retail, dining and entertainment facilities stretching over 1.3 km² (310 acres) on Lantau Island. It is located on reclaimed land beside Penny's Bay, at the northeastern tip of Lantau Island (approximately two kilometres from Discovery Bay), in Hong Kong.

Currently, the resort is overseen by executive vice president Bill Ernest.

Contents [hide]
1 Construction
2 Theme park
3 Hotels
4 Transport
4.1 MTR Disneyland Resort Line
4.2 Bus
4.2.1 Long Win Bus (including "Airbus" and KMB fleets)
4.2.2 Citybus
4.2.3 Jointly-operated routes
5 Controversies
5.1 Shark fin soup controversy
5.2 Other controversies
6 Trivia
7 Timeline
8 See also
9 External links



[edit]
Construction

Hong Kong Disneyland under construction (October 2004)A joint-venture company, Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP), was created in 1999 with Disney investing US$316 million for a 43 % equity stake in the project and the Hong Kong government owning the remaining 57 % of the US$1.8 billion project. The Hong Kong government expects it to provide 18,400 jobs on opening and up to 35,800 jobs over the following 20 years. The total economic benefits amount to an estimated HK$ 148 billion (US$19 billion), or about 6 % of gross domestic product (GDP) over 40 years of operation.

The construction of the theme park itself started in January 2003, and it opened on 12 September 2005. An artificial lake of some 12 hectares was also created to serve the resort's water irrigation needs

In an effort to avoid cultural friction similar to what happened when Disneyland Resort Paris opened in France, Disney has taken efforts to make this new park reflect the local culture. The New York Times reported that feng shui consultants have helped with the layout of the park and the grounds. Incense was burned when the construction of each building was completed, and one of the main ballrooms is 888 square meters large, as eight is an auspicious number in Chinese culture, signifying fortune. The hotels will skip the number four when numbering of their floors because four is considered bad luck. Hong Kong Disneyland employees speak English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and were trained at other Disney parks while their home park was being constructed.


The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
Disney's Hollywood Hotel.The park is projected to attract five to six million visitors in its opening year, mostly locals, tourists from mainland China and nearby Asian countries. The World Tourism Organization predicts that the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will become one of the world's largest tourist destinations within the next fifteen years.

If the park's first working year is successful financially, and both the government of Hong Kong and Disney see benefits, the Phase Two of construction will commence. (There is room for a 40% expansion.) Disney forums across the world wide web have been busy with rumours and ideas for the second phase, mainly made up of installing classic Disney attractions that were not built in the first phase. At launch, Hong Kong Disneyland was the smallest of any Disney parks. The most likely result of Phase Two will be a fifth land, probably Frontierland, Mickey's Toontown or less likely an original and unique land not built before at a previous park.

The government of Hong Kong has made it clear to the public and Disney that there is land next to the resort for a second theme park and several more hotels, but without a much higher price than what Disney paid for the land they already own, the government is liable to sell the land to one of Disney's theme park industry rivals. Names rumoured to be looking at the land feature NBC Universal, Six Flags and Anheuser Busch. Many view this move as a way of getting more money out of Disney, as the government does not actually want another company to build a separate theme park in the area.

[edit]
Theme park
Main article: Hong Kong Disneyland
Currently, the resort only consists of one Disney theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland.

Besides, reclamation works for Phase 2 Extension is now in progress and it's expected to be finished by 2008. At that time, construction for another new Disney theme park will be started and the new park will open in 2010.

[edit]
Hotels
There are two hotels in the Resort, the five-star Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the four-star Disney's Hollywood Hotel, located on the seashore of the reclaimed land with about 1,000 rooms in total.

[edit]
Transport
[edit]
MTR Disneyland Resort Line
Main article: Disneyland Resort Line (MTR)
Main article: Disneyland Resort (MTR)
[edit]
Bus
[edit]
Long Win Bus (including "Airbus" and KMB fleets)
Long Win Bus currently operates 2 external routes between the city and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

R33 - Tuen Mun West Rail Station <> Disneyland
R42 - Tai Wai KCR Station <> Disneyland
Please note that the above routes depart for Disneyland only with several departures each morning, and they depart Disneyland only after the firework display every evening. Outside the service period, passengers can take any North Lantau and Airports routes which via the Lantau Link Toll Plaza and interchange there for R8 with a bus-bus interchange discount.

Cancelled Routes

N31D - Discovery Park, Tsuen Wan <> Airport via Disneyland
This route was cancelled due to low demand.

[edit]
Citybus
Citybus currently operates 3 external routes between the city and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

R11 - North Point <> Disneyland
R21 - Laguna Verde, Hung Hom <> Disneyland
R22 - Yau Tong <> Disneyland
Please note that the above routes depart for Disneyland only with several departures each morning, and they depart Disneyland only after the firework display every evening. Outside the service period, passengers can take any North Lantau and Airports routes which via the Lantau Link Toll Plaza and interchange there for R8 with a bus-bus interchange discount.

Cancelled Routes

N21D - Star Ferry <> Airport via Disneyland
This route was cancelled due to low demand.

[edit]
Jointly-operated routes
These routes are jointly-operated by Citybus and Long Win Bus.

R8 - Disneyland > Lantau Link Toll Plaza Circular
R8A - Disneyland > Inspiration Lake Circular
Route R8A serves as a temporary route for the opening of Inspiration Lake which is located also in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. This route was proposed to be cancelled within weeks after the grand opening, replaced by the bi-directional sectional fare of route R8. However, until now the route is still not cancelled.

Special Routes

R8S - Disneyland > Lantau Link Toll Plaza Circular - Night service
The route was operated for only once. On that day, there were special activities in Disneyland causing the park to close late.

[edit]
Controversies
[edit]
Shark fin soup controversy
Disney originally planned to serve shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, at wedding banquets [1]. Animal rights groups protested in June 2005, citing the declining shark population in global waters and the cruel methods sometimes used of cutting the fin and discarding the live sharks back into the water.

At first, Disney removed shark's fin soup from its menu but said it would still offer the soup if their clients insisted on having it served at their wedding. They said they would distribute leaflets about shark conservation to discourage the choice. [2].

However, after constant and continuous pressure from environmental groups and schoolchildren [3], shareholders concerned about the company's image, Disney announced on 24 June 2005 that shark fin soup will not be served at all, because, according to their press release, "After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmental sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove shark's fin soup from our wedding banquet menu." [4]

[edit]
Other controversies
There have been widespread concerns in the media and by local watchdog groups of the inherent endangerment to children at the park. These concerns include the excessive violations of smoking by visitors in the designated non-smoking areas of the park. It has been reported that Disney employees have been very lax in enforcing any type of non-smoking policies out of fear of offending their customers. There have also been many reports of unsafe sanitation at the park, including visitors from mainland China urinating in the flowerbeds and near the food facilities. Local newspapers ran photo essays for days after the park opening showing this anti-social behavior. Complaints have been made by visitors that despite witnessing such infractions, Disney employees did nothing to enforce any type of civic responsibility.
The Walt Disney Company gets 43% of share of the joint venture by investing HK$2.3b, while the Hong Kong Government gets only 57% while investing HK$23b.
Cast members are paid relatively low wages.
Fish around Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation, damaging the economy
Ancient commercial vessels and bone china on the sea floor have been buried under land reclamation
The refusal to use a more environmentally-friendly fireworks launching technology developed and used at Disneyland in California. This is a concern for neighbouring residential area, Discovery Bay.
The official size of the entire development as released by the government is 1.26 km². The size of the first phase was reported to be 700,000 m². Nevertheless the size of the area of the theme park portion, the Disneyland, is estimated to be between 152,100 and 187,200 m². For the maximum capacity of 30 000 visitors, the area per visitor would be 2.5 m² . The commercial area is divided into:
Disneyland: 325,700 m²
Two hotels: 165,300 m²
Car park and public transport hub: 171,900 m²
Inspiration Lake 300,000 m²
When health officers came to inspect the facility after several reports of food poisoning, they were asked to remove their caps and badges. Although two of the officers did so, the department has taken offence, indicating that Disney is not above the law. [5]
[edit]
Trivia
The plans for the park, when released in early 2001, made it clear that Hong Kong Disneyland would be based on the original 1954 plans for Disneyland in California - including just four lands (Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland). Public outcry both from Disney fans and the Chinese caused the addition of Frontierland to the plans which would come later on, possibly as a second phase expansion.
This is the second project of The Walt Disney Company's extension into Asia after the Tokyo Disney Resort having opened more than 20 years ago. Animation studios have been set up in India, Disney has been extensively advertising and publicising the traditional characters on billboards and Asian-only Disney cartoon shows, and plans are being drawn up for a second Chinese resort in the mainland, probably in Shanghai. Scouts are also reportedly surveying Australia for a new resort.
[edit]
Timeline
August 1998 - The Walt Disney Company and the government of Hong Kong announce their intention to construct a themed entertainment resort in Hong Kong, the second in Asia
February 1999 - Penny's Bay, Lantau Island is announced as the future site of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
November 22, 2004 - Disney announce that the opening day of the resort has been re-scheduled from 2006 to September 12, 2005
September 12, 2005 - At 1:00pm local time, Hong Kong Disneyland opens to the public