Hong Kong's 10th Anniversary

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Although Disneyland in Anaheim is celebrating it's 60th anniversary and Paris is preparing for it's 25th, Hong Kong will have it's 10th in just a few weeks time on the 12th of September. My last visit was in 2009 so I'm very excited to return in February next year (after the Chinese New Year to avoid peak crowds).

Back in 2009 my experience was that park was beautiful and charming, yet lacking some unique attractions. However, that was made up for with unique entertainment like the Waterworks Parade, the Golden Mickeys and Festival of the Lion King. I considered the latter to be mindblowing and was surprised to see that the one in Animal Kingdom was not as spectacular as it's Hong Kong counterpart.

Six years and three mini lands with two unique rides later, Hong Kong is getting ready to be a serious competitor for it's future sister park in Shanghai. Hong Kong is completing the Fairy Tale Forest (a walkthrough labyrinth like Alice in Wonderland in Paris) and the Golden Mickeys have been discontinued since last month, only to make room for a new show called Mickey and the Wondrous Book. Visitors can enjoy Flights of Fantasy since 2011 and Paint the Night debuted last year.

All of the above are enough reasons for me to go anyway, but Disney wouldn't be Disney if they wouldn't have planned something special for their 10th anniversary. Will they keep their nighttime spectacular Disney in the Stars or come up with a new fireworks show? What will Mickey and the Wondrous Book be like? What kind of merchandise will they offer? Will they enable fastpass for other attractions besides Space Mountain and Winnie the Pooh?

Any insights or thoughts on this would be highly appreciated - thanks!

 

[orlando678-]

They describe the new show as featuring a cast with performers of 17 different nationalities and a story that will feature many characters from many popular Disney films: Mulan, Toy Story, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, as seen when Mickey, Goofy and Olaf from Frozen travel through an enchanted book.

The princess forest is still very unclear whether its meet and greet or an actual walkthrough ride, but im very curious to find out.

No news about the nighttime spectaculars yet though. I hope you will enjoy your trip and maybe even see something from the upcoming Iron Man Experience. I have never been to Hong Kong, but I would love to see it once!

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Thanks buddy, if I find anything new I'll let you know!

 

[brb1006]

I feel old a little since I remember the day the park first opened. I saw the opening ceremony on the Disney website while browsing about Disneyland's 50th Anniversary that year.

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

@brb1006 Since your profile information states "male, 18, from New Jersey" you must have been 8 at the time

(and in view of your signature from Marie - no worries, I would never ask a lady to reveal her age!)

 

[Disneysea05]

I'll be visiting this December. Hoping that the park will receive some decor in addition to the new show. Actually kind of glad they are not getting a new parade, I've never had a chance to see Flights of Fantasy....or will it be a christmas parade?

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Maybe they'll do both! I hope you have a great time over there - perhaps you could share your experience with us when you back?

 

[Burgower1994]

 

[Disneysea05]

I am starting to wonder, will a more traditional celebration (with decor, food items, merchandise, etc) begin after the holidays?

I was expecting at the least the castle to have some decorations. I do see the CMs wearing gold nametags.

 

[Disneysea05]

And thank you for the videos!

The projections on the castle are very impressive.

 

[Burgower1994]

An all-new stage show, “Mickey and the Wondrous Book”, will be opening on November 17, 2015, at Disney’s Storybook Theater. The 25-minute concert-style stage show will celebrate some of Disney’s most loved characters and stories, including “Jungle Book,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Tangled,” “Brave,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Frozen.”

It was also announced that Fairy Tale Forest will be coming to Fantasyland in December, which will let guests walk through a winding, living storybook realm based on Disney fairytales. Using creative landscaping, the whimsical passages will feature miniature scenes from “Tangled,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cinderella” and “The Little Mermaid”. The forest will also be home for Tinker Bell where she will greet guests in Pixie Hollow.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.fr/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-announces-new-entertainment-and-experiences/

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Thanks so much @Burgower1994 !! I had seen some of the concept art but you provided so much more. I chatted with a CM the other day and she told me that the new Mickey show would be the only thing HKDL would do for it's 10th anniversary, which was very difficult to believe. Disney tends to celebrate anniversaries of their parks with much more grandeur and I'm so happy to see that several other things have been announced as well. From what I understand from HKDL's FB page, even more is coming!

 

[orlando678-]

Thanks so much @Burgower1994 !! I had seen some of the concept art but you provided so much more. I chatted with a CM the other day and she told me that the new Mickey show would be the only thing HKDL would do for it's 10th anniversary, which was very difficult to believe. Disney tends to celebrate anniversaries of their parks with much more grandeur and I'm so happy to see that several other things have been announced as well. From what I understand from HKDL's FB page, even more is coming!

I heard something about two new rides coming to Adventureland, I wonder whether thats true.

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

That would be awesome, but I'm not sure if they can get those rides to open during it's 10-year anniversary (which lasts till November 2016). But the rumours are growing stronger that HKDL will get a second gate, which I think is only natural in view of Shanghai's DL opening. If SDL opens and it is a great succes, HKDL needs to compete with it just like DLR and WDW do on both coasts in the US. So new, but more importanly, unique, rides need to differentiate HKDL from SDL imo.