HKDL gets new castle, frozen land and marvel land.

[momo123]

If the park is going to be built for the future then it has to be built assuming that guest flow is going to one day become a problem

HK currently has 1 big choke point and it’s caused by a variety of issues, currently they aren’t going to build the path connecting TSL to arendelle so the outer path is not complete, that area of inner fantasyland is going to become a large choke point with people moving from the old outer lands to arendelle, the way to combat that is to have more people coming into arendelle from the other direction, but Tomorrowland doesn’t draw enough guests towards it due to its size and lack of attractions

This isn’t a problem now of course but if HK’s attendee goes back up towards the 6-7 million range then it will become like Asia in DAK before pandora is built if Tomorrowland stays as unbalanced as it is

I think the park is already probably looking close to 7m my most recent visit there we’re definitely over 20k guests on that day

 

[Supersnow84]

I think the park is already probably looking close to 7m my most recent visit there we’re definitely over 20k guests on that day

If the current summer crowds were the every day attendance I’d say the park is looking at about 8 million, based on wait times HK is still about a third lower than Shanghai (who is regularly pulling 180-200 minutes on its headliners) and Shanghai is projected to pull about 12 million this year

As of right now since the reporting year is September to September and reported in March it I believe HK will report about 5 million next may, it has still only been open 5/7ths of the year due to its reduced schedule (though it hasn’t been affected by Covid closures this reporting year)

It’ll be interesting to see going forward if the park can maintain the momentum when the population of HK isn’t a functional “captive audience” so to speak

 

[momo123]

If the current summer crowds were the every day attendance I’d say the park is looking at about 8 million, based on wait times HK is still about a third lower than Shanghai (who is regularly pulling 180-200 minutes on its headliners) and Shanghai is projected to pull about 12 million this year

As of right now since the reporting year is September to September and reported in March it I believe HK will report about 5 million next may, it has still only been open 5/7ths of the year due to its reduced schedule (though it hasn’t been affected by Covid closures this reporting year)

It’ll be interesting to see going forward if the park can maintain the momentum when the population of HK isn’t a functional “captive audience” so to speak

I think Shanghai needs to be expanded asap to be fair no park should be pulling 200minutes across multiple rides a day (that isn’t one of the new rides) I think park is close to numbers done by tokyo and the some of the us parks but with very low number of rides and the park not being built in a balance manner.

 

[momo123]

I think once the 2 plots are filled in HK Disney I don’t see Disney ever beyond that expanding hks park. Unless it’s upgrades or replacement in the long term. The numbers don’t justify that. I’m not even sure the tsl and frozen space will ever be used (from the way frozen has been designed it doesn’t look like it has been thought of as a future expansion pod)

 

[Supersnow84]

I think Shanghai needs to be expanded asap to be fair no park should be pulling 200minutes across multiple rides a day (that isn’t one of the new rides) I think park is close to numbers done by tokyo and the some of the us parks but with very low number of rides and the park not being built in a balance manner.

Shanghai just has no depth of offerings of non ride attractions (something HK excels in)

Shanghai probably should have more rides for the guest numbers it draws but it also needs things to do that aren’t just standing in lines for it’s rides, it’s why I don’t like Shanghai, it feels too much like a 6 flags park

 

[momo123]

Shanghai just has no depth of offerings of non ride attractions (something HK excels in)

Shanghai probably should have more rides for the guest numbers it draws but it also needs things to do that aren’t just standing in lines for it’s rides, it’s why I don’t like Shanghai, it feels too much like a 6 flags park

I think the park is to spread out really agree that it doesn’t feel like a Disney park. I actually think universal Beijing does a better job as a universal park than what Disney has done in Shanghai. The park does feel like one line to the next with little magical feeling that normal castle parks have. I’m not exactly sure how this issue can be rectified or it’s even in disneys interest. Maybe this set up was something Disney researched about China and came up with? Why I’m not sure but the park is a success so I can see it doesn’t bother the locals.

 

[momo123]

I’m actually going to both the Chinese parks this week. Universal Beijing and Shanghai

 

[Supersnow84]

I think the park is to spread out really agree that it doesn’t feel like a Disney park. I actually think universal Beijing does a better job as a universal park than what Disney has done in Shanghai. The park does feel like one line to the next with little magical feeling that normal castle parks have. I’m not exactly sure how this issue can be rectified or it’s even in disneys interest. Maybe this set up was something Disney researched about China and came up with? Why I’m not sure but the park is a success so I can see it doesn’t bother the locals.

I think it fits with authenticity Disney distinctly Chinese mantra they were going for, maybe not as much Disney but they seemed to have more success going their own way then replicating the stateside parks like they did in Hong Kong (though to be there were large differences in opening quality)

I don’t think they really need to fix it, me as a western guest is not the target market for Shanghai, if I want a Chinese Disney park Hong Kong does what I want better anyway

 

[Supersnow84]

Plus as a random aside I work at a theme park in Australia and I like to chat up guests who I see with Duffy and friends Merch because I know it can only be bought from the 3 Asian parks (whereas most other Merch is guesswork if it’s parks Merch or random Disney Merch)

Of those I talk to the overwhelming majority of them purchased their Duffy Merch at Shanghai, since Tokyo is so closed to everything but itself Shanghai dominates the local Asian and pacific markets over HK just on this front at least which shows Shanghai’s success

 

[Robbiem]

Plus as a random aside I work at a theme park in Australia and I like to chat up guests who I see with Duffy and friends Merch because I know it can only be bought from the 3 Asian parks (whereas most other Merch is guesswork if it’s parks Merch or random Disney Merch)

Of those I talk to the overwhelming majority of them purchased their Duffy Merch at Shanghai, since Tokyo is so closed to everything but itself Shanghai dominates the local Asian and pacific markets over HK just on this front at least which shows Shanghai’s success

That’s really interesting, are they from across Asia or mainly mainland China? Maybe Shanghai is more international and Hong Kong more local (like WDW and DL)

 

[Supersnow84]

That’s really interesting, are they from across Asia or mainly mainland China? Maybe Shanghai is more international and Hong Kong more local (like WDW and DL)

It’s hard to get a lot of conversation going because i find that most guests with Duffy and friends Merch (another aside it’s overwhelmingly Lina-Bell and Stella-Lou, I’ve never seen cookie-Lyn, olu-Mel or gelatoni, Duffy and Shelly-may are pretty rare) don’t speak a lot of English but from what I can gather Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese seem to mostly get it from Shanghai, Japanese is split between all three but slightly biases Tokyo and most people who have said HK have also mentioned getting it from the airport store as much as from the park itself

This is across a sample of maybe 120 or so people who I picked up on their Duffy Merch and they could speak enough English I could get enough info to have a conversation

 

[Robbiem]

It’s hard to get a lot of conversation going because i find that most guests with Duffy and friends Merch (another aside it’s overwhelmingly Lina-Bell and Stella-Lou, I’ve never seen cookie-Lyn, olu-Mel or gelatoni, Duffy and Shelly-may are pretty rare) don’t speak a lot of English but from what I can gather Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese seem to mostly get it from Shanghai, Japanese is split between all three but slightly biases Tokyo and most people who have said HK have also mentioned getting it from the airport store as much as from the park itself

This is across a sample of maybe 120 or so people who I picked up on their Duffy Merch and they could speak enough English I could get enough info to have a conversation

Thanks. Surprised Duffy and Shellie Mae are rare, they were everywhere in Tokyo. interesting that Koreans go to Shanghai rather than Tokyo. I remember the Hong Kong Airport store, great to browse on a stopover

 

[Supersnow84]

even though the castle is old news now I think this photo best shows why I think the castle of magic dreams is fantastic even if as a functional castle it makes no sense

The castle is almost like a bridge between the real world and Disneyland, it doesn’t need to look real because that isn’t what it’s try to achieve

 

[Rush]

It's quirky, looks weird from certain angles and doesn't have a whole lot to do inside, but it's almost like the stepping stone that HKDL needed to finally graduate into a park with it's own character and history after being the forgotten child of all castle parks. I've grown to like it and appreciate it for what it is. I especially appreciate how it looks in front of the beautiful mountainous backdrop. It's definitely the castle that evokes the most fantasy and etherealism, and architecturally it's also the most recognizable.

 

[Supersnow84]

It's quirky, looks weird from certain angles and doesn't have a whole lot to do inside, but it's almost like the stepping stone that HKDL needed to finally graduate into a park with it's own character and history after being the forgotten child of all castle parks. I've grown to like it and appreciate it for what it is. I especially appreciate how it looks in front of the beautiful mountainous backdrop. It's definitely the castle that evokes the most fantasy and etherealism, and architecturally it's also the most recognizable.

The only angle I don’t love is the back which has the strange unwieldy long windows and bulging back but fantasyland has always been rather awkward so I’m willing to forgive it

But I agree it’s big advantage is it gives the park it’s own identity and let’s it’s stand amongst the other castle parks on its own

It’s no longer just “oh yeah and HK has the same castle as Anaheim and has no distinguishing features so we excluded it here”

 

[Rush]

The only angle I don’t love is the back which has the strange unwieldy long windows and bulging back but fantasyland has always been rather awkward so I’m willing to forgive it

But I agree it’s big advantage is it gives the park it’s own identity and let’s it’s stand amongst the other castle parks on its own

It’s no longer just “oh yeah and HK has the same castle as Anaheim and has no distinguishing features so we excluded it here”

Now that you bring it up, Fantasyland could you a refresh. Not that it's run down or anything, but an upgrade to the facades would massively help the aesthetics of the land. Something like Paris's or Anaheim's would work beautifully.

Edit; OK maybe only Pooh's

 

[Supersnow84]

Now that you bring it up, Fantasyland could you a refresh. Not that it's run down or anything, but an upgrade to the facades would massively help the aesthetics of the land. Something like Paris's or Anaheim's would work beautifully.

It’s not like I realistically think it’ll change because in reality it really isn’t a problem but if Disney had an infinite budget on HK I would actually prefer if they redid the facades of all the legacy lands

Of course you can see it with the euro Disney fallout but the difference between the facades of the Paris lands and the cheap HK lands is a stark difference, mystic point and grizzly (and looking to be arendelle as well) just have more high quality facades

I do agree that fantasyland is probably the one most in need of an upgrade because the land is too “like a fair” for the newer more opulent castle but this is getting into pie in the sky “what off HK had a literal infinite budget”

 

[IMDREW]

The thing I dont understand is, if theres so much budget left, then why did they made ant-man so cheap.

 

[Supersnow84]

The thing I dont understand is, if theres so much budget left, then why did they made ant-man so cheap.

I’m assuming part of the budget was for R&D for quinjet

WOSS is likely more expensive than WODS so arendelle likely cost more than they originally budgeted for

Disney asked for a split based on the budget of everything they wanted plus HK’s share of the R&D cost of quinjet

Now that quinjet has been functionally shelved they now have a bigger budget than expected because they likely realised early in R&D the ride design they were going for was infeasible

 

[marni1971]

Now that quinjet has been functionally shelved they now have a bigger budget than expected because they likely realised early in R&D the ride design they were going for was infeasible

Quinjet was designed and ready to go. I’m still trying to find out what happened.