Speaking of Chinese parks, maybe Lazyboy and BrianLo who've been to Shanghai can opine on the park's two apparent design misfires after 7 months of operations.
1. DisneyTown: It looks to be a ghost town night & day - making me wonder how the other On-Property shopping district is doing.
2. Voyage of the Crystal Grotto: The central, most visible Fantasyland attraction appears to have lowest average wait times among locals (could be high capacity) and weakest reviews among Westerners. I saw an interesting suggestion online that they change out the finale for the Animatronic dragon cavern (a la Paris), possibly add more story narration?
Are you talking about the G-Park (I think that's what it is called, just East of the subway), or the huge outlet to the SE of property?
The former wasn't quite open yet, the second is essentially not on property. It's very inaccessible and is not organically connected to wishing star park or the subway. I imagine both are doing significantly worse, but probably don't command the same rent.
I should get around to sharing some photos of the Eastern side of the property. It is very oddball and you realize where the Disney influence fades and the government is temporarily just doing whatever they please until a second park comes along. There was a large floral/botanical park and the second gate is a park space you can freely enter, along with a 5CNY golf cart tour of it, which I did.
I think disneytown is a misfire because it's a little bit too much too soon. There simply isn't the resort rooms to support such a large amount of retail and dining. This is partially the fault of neither resort being that close to it and a general misunderstanding of its purpose. I hear Starbucks and the Disney store are quite successful, but they are the most prominent and what you walk by towards the gate. The patrons don't really seem to grasp the concept, especially those complaining about the park food prices. With a direct gate between SDL and the back of Disney town, it's even more accessible than DLR's layout where you contend with all the current security layout. The are lots of cheaper options like a Food Republic. It's so easy to walk out, get lunch and easily access the park again.
Voyage is fine, but that's about it. I think from a potential side it's a big let down. It certainly isn't the headliner that we originally expected. I think the vignettes are fine, some are clearly better than others. The ride suffers from immature foliage (which is true of lots of SDL). An AA Dragon finale would certainly be a big improvement and give the ride a bit more of a purpose. Right now it's kind of just 'cute and acceptable'. I don't by any means hate it and think it needs to be ripped out, but a missed opportunity.
I still think my biggest complaints are the hub, which is pretty atrocious, the too often prominent empty spaces, and the idiocy that was choosing to build a two theatre Soarin'. Foliage will eventually grow in, the biggest loser is Roaring Rapids from that perspective.
