HKDL gets new castle, frozen land and marvel land.

[Supersnow84]

Okay I found the recording of the event and watched the part I missed

So functionally there is no update, frozen is opening in November, Hollywood hotel in June and the Walt statue in October, the Disney liaison dodged around the question of marvel and LegCo didn’t press him on it

Overall the meeting basically amounted to “we appreciate everything Disney is trying to bring to Hong Kong but it’s becoming a problem you still can’t show us a meaningful direction towards profit in the projectable future” (though since this is the first time I’ve watched anything with LegCo this might just be how they act, they seemed very blasé about potentially closing ocean park as a means of directing tourism towards Disney during the presentation so I don’t know if that means they actually view Disney really positively or they are just “mean” overall)

After the initial question the expansion didn’t come up again and the 5 billion figure was never directly mentioned

 

[Supersnow84]

Sorry to kinda dump this thread with my own replies but I’ll just draw attention to it individually here, during the update on HDKL by LegCo they were very open and honest about the idea of closing ocean park, idk if this was hypothetical and I know it’s hard to translate intention since the members were speaking either mandarin or Cantonese but to me they seemed to like what Disney is doing and offering much more than ocean park (deferring of royalties community outreach and not laying off any cast member during Covid were applauded by the members multiple times) and were open to the idea of closing ocean park and deferring it’s funding towards Disney

They obviously understood that Disney was a net positive for the city and for most of its operation would be operating at a profit if not for royalties so they seemed mostly positive even if they were drilling the liaison hard

 

[MysticMDisney]

Tarzan’s Treehouse will reopen later this year! And they basically confirmed that the Marvel expansion is delayed as the park continues to recover from the pandemic.

 

[DLR92]

I wonder if Disney could ever negotiate again to secure back the landfill to use for second gate and more hotels.

 

[Supersnow84]

I wonder if Disney could ever negotiate again to secure back the landfill to use for second gate and more hotels.

Extremely likely, there is an agreement older than the “preferential treatment for the second gate” agreement surrounding the master planning of penny’s bay that severely restricts what can be built on the site of the second gate, TDLR it’s basically another non competing tourist attraction or government buildings, nothing of real use

On top of this during the meeting yesterday they discussed the second gate site still from a very Disney centric perspective (they used an example of building Shanghai disneytown on it) plus the park is experiencing record high favourability ratings amongst the Hong Kong population

It’s likely that the decision to not renew the contract was just pageantry on the part of the government so that when Disney is ready to buy it they can get a more favourable deal, it is at least good in the short term the park has 4 more expansion pads, another hotel space (and think the explorers lodge is huge they don’t need hotel space) and a short term space for downtown Disney on the esplanade

 

[Supersnow84]

Google maps has updated with arendelle and really gives a look at the nitty gritty of the land

It appears though there is no connection to TSL unless they plan to break the trees down at the last minute

Definitely seems like a fantastic addition to the park

 

[marni1971]

View attachment 718105
Google maps has updated with arendelle and really gives a look at the nitty gritty of the land

It appears though there is no connection to TSL unless they plan to break the trees down at the last minute

Definitely seems like a fantastic addition to the park

As far as I’m aware the TSL connector is for service / emergency use only.

 

[J4546]

seems like an amazing addition, crazy that Paris frozenland isnt getting a supporting ride for FEA like HK. I bet this will be beautiful when its done.

 

[sedati]

I'm always amazed at how massive these rock works look, and how minimal they seem from other angles. They have really mastered the craft and (more or less) have nailed exactly what needs to be built to pull of the grand illusion.

 

[Supersnow84]

seems like an amazing addition, crazy that Paris frozenland isnt getting a supporting ride for FEA like HK. I bet this will be beautiful when its done.

Paris just seems to be getting the worst version of every land that’s at every other park

It’s better than old WDS but it certainly isn’t going to be a draw for frozen fans for example pro go to Paris when they have the Hong Kong land

 

[Timothy_Q]

Paris just seems to be getting the worst version of every land that’s at every other park

It’s better than old WDS but it certainly isn’t going to be a draw for frozen fans for example pro go to Paris when they have the Hong Kong land

I get the sentiment, but I'd argue Avengers Campus at WDS has a much better layout, food options, and walking space than the one at DCA

 

[Supersnow84]

I get the sentiment, but I'd argue Avengers Campus at WDS has a much better layout, food options, and walking space than the one at DCA

I know that WDS has HTH next door but I think that GOGMB is a better redesign of an old ride than avengers assemble flight force

For me all avengers campus’s are ugly (the only concession I’ll give it HK manages to hide it as appearing more like just more of Tomorrowland) so DCA wins out on principle of having better rides, and while none of the three of them can get quinjet off the ground I think DCA has the best chance at getting it first

But ultimately you’ve got a pretty equal avengers campus, a decidedly inferior arendelle, one of the worse TSL’s (I rank them DHS->SDL->WDS->HDKL) and a French area in a French park that EPCOT does better than it, oh and a potential GE mini land even though despite its monstrous footprint GE’s main problem is it feels too small for what it’s trying to achieve

It really isn’t selling me

 

[Supersnow84]

As far as I’m aware the TSL connector is for service / emergency use only.

That seems strange, walking from TSL into fantasyland, around fairy tale forest and the train to walk back into arendelle when if that expansion pad gets used they are just going to open that path again anyway

I’m guessing because they want arendelle to kinda be an expanded fantasyland rather than a wholly unique land but still

 

[cjkeating]

a French area in a French park that EPCOT does better than it

Obviously we can have two difference preferences but I don't see how Rat shoehorned into the back or the French Pavilion is better than a more spacious Place de Remy with fun themed restaurant and shop? Also the sightline are better with no 2D facades.

 

[Supersnow84]

Obviously we can have two difference preferences but I don't see how Rat shoehorned into the back or the French Pavilion is better than a more spacious Place de Remy with fun themed restaurant and shop? Also the sightline are better with no 2D facades.

I think for me it’s a combination of

1) WDS is just that bad (which to be fair to the land that’s not really it’s fault)

2) the idea of a French land in France goes off just about as well a park about California in California

If I had to compare them purely based on space and design of that space then yeah I’d say the WDS one is better, but the EPCOT one achieves its theme much better

 

[MysticMDisney]

Disney’s Hollywood Hotel reopening on July 14!

 

[DznyRktekt]

Looks like a nice hotel, but those are some pretty rough concept sketches.

 

[Supersnow84]

Does Hong Kong really need the third hotel open right now draining resources

I know with this, the Tarzan treehouse reopening and the move to 7 day operation the resort wants to give the impression that it’s fully back open and ready to go but even before Covid the park rarely needed all three hotels open and with the park trying to cost cut without affecting service is maintaining 3 hotels useful right now

 

[marni1971]

Does Hong Kong really need the third hotel open right now draining resources

I know with this, the Tarzan treehouse reopening and the move to 7 day operation the resort wants to give the impression that it’s fully back open and ready to go but even before Covid the park rarely needed all three hotels open and with the park trying to cost cut without affecting service is maintaining 3 hotels useful right now

You’d think they know what they’re doing. I’d hope so anyway.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I think for me it’s a combination of

1) WDS is just that bad (which to be fair to the land that’s not really it’s fault)

2) the idea of a French land in France goes off just about as well a park about California in California

If I had to compare them purely based on space and design of that space then yeah I’d say the WDS one is better, but the EPCOT one achieves its theme much better

While I understand that the concept of having a French-themed area at WDSP is a bit ... convoluted... I think the area there is far better done than what they did in Epcot (As long as you don't enter from the tunnel to TSL. ). It feels more organic, or at least did to me.