HKDL gets new castle, frozen land and marvel land.

[EarthboundChild]

I am personally way more excited for Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea myself and the budget allocated to it is incredible. However, there's a difference between a blender of three different IPs vs. a land focused on one IP.

It's kind of like if they decided to split the expansion pad between Pandora and the Beastly Kingdom concept or Wizarding World of Harry Potter with a Nintendo IP (like say... Legend of Zelda) concept. While there's no denying you get more variety with an expansion with multiple IPs, at the same time each theme would individually be lesser than a land focused solely on one and the eclectic combination would disallow the ability to fully immerse you in a cohesive world.

What having a land solely on Frozen allows them to do is design a theme with focused on immersing guests into Arendelle on the level of Pandora and Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Cannot say they will succeed in matching the quality of those lands, but the focus allows for that possibility.

There will be two rides in Arendelle as well. To go along with Frozen Ever After there will be a roller coaster themed to Wandering Oak's Sleighs although currently I feel there's not enough details at this point to states its ambitiousness. While Frozen Ever After is a copied ride from WDW (as disappointing as that is considering they do not need to adhere to Maelstrom's skeleton), it's unique for people on that side of the world. Plus it's nevertheless a Frozen-themed ride. Epcot's Frozen Ever After still pulls queues matching Soarin' and Test Track. I will say I can't help but be concerned that something is going to get hit by budget cuts and get Navi River Journey'd here, but perhaps that's why they are planning to just bring over Frozen Ever After.

There is still a possibility that Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs ports' Frozen section can match the Arendelle expansion at HKD, however that could heavily depend on the amount of space allocated to it. The Arendelle area at Hong Kong Disneyland looks quite sizeable when compared to the rest of the park. Do we know the land size for the HKD Frozen themed area and the Fantasy Springs port?

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

There is still a possibility that Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs ports' Frozen section can match the Arendelle expansion at HKD, however that could heavily depend on the amount of space allocated to it. The Arendelle area at Hong Kong Disneyland looks quite sizeable when compared to the rest of the park. Do we know the land size for the HKD Frozen themed area and the Fantasy Springs port?

The Frozen expansion pad at HKDL is approximately 6 acres in size following that blueprint. TDS doesn't have a detailed layout of their new port yet, but we know the full expansion pad is about 34.5 acres in size. Taking away the footprint of the new hotel and Peter Pan/Tangled areas, it's plausible that the TDS Frozen area could be as big or bigger than HKDL's Frozen land. All it really is missing compared to Hong Kong is the second coaster attraction. It will have a much bigger Frozen boat ride in Elsa's ice palace, the recreated town square of Arendelle, and the main castle (along with restaurant inside).

 

[PymParty]

The Frozen expansion pad at HKDL is approximately 6 acres in size following that blueprint. TDS doesn't have a detailed layout of their new port yet, but we know the full expansion pad is about 34.5 acres in size. Taking away the footprint of the new hotel and Peter Pan/Tangled areas, it's plausible that the TDS Frozen area could be as big or bigger than HKDL's Frozen land. All it really is missing compared to Hong Kong is the second coaster attraction. It will have a much bigger Frozen boat ride in Elsa's ice palace, the recreated town square of Arendelle, and the main castle (along with restaurant inside).

The Frozen area will actually be slightly bigger to what is shown on that blueprint. As you can see on this aerial, backstage road has been rerouted for the area.

 

[fctiger]

The difference is that HKDL will get an immersive Arendelle-only area made to look like you walk into the movie set with an E-ticket boat ride, a coaster, themed shopping and dining (WDSP will get the same area eventually but on a smaller scale) whereas TDS's Frozen area will be part of the Fantasy Spring land along with Neverland from Peter Pan and Corona from Tangled, so the land will not be as immersive as HKDL concerning Arendelle, it will only feature one Frozen E-ticket, shopping and dining, but the whole of it will be much bigger and grand.
However, both Frozen E-ticket rides in HKDL and TDS will be different and TDS's one is expected to be much more impressive (the building footprint is HUGE)

Think of TDS's area more like a Nature/Spring heavily themed Fantasyland with different IPs grouped together, one of them being Frozen, and HKDL's area as the Frozen equivalent to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Frozen expansion pad at HKDL is approximately 6 acres in size following that blueprint. TDS doesn't have a detailed layout of their new port yet, but we know the full expansion pad is about 34.5 acres in size. Taking away the footprint of the new hotel and Peter Pan/Tangled areas, it's plausible that the TDS Frozen area could be as big or bigger than HKDL's Frozen land. All it really is missing compared to Hong Kong is the second coaster attraction. It will have a much bigger Frozen boat ride in Elsa's ice palace, the recreated town square of Arendelle, and the main castle (along with restaurant inside).

I have to admit I did not know that there was such a big difference with the two Frozen areas. For some reason I thought TDS was just getting a clone like WDSP and HKDL. Maybe some differences but basically the same layout. TDS definitely sounds a lot more ambitious combined with the areas and new hotel of course. Still though I think Arendelle could be pretty amazing on its own right. Six acres isn't SWL or Pandora but its still a nice size and captures a small village feel which its suppose to be. And I like the comparison to WWOHP. If its anything like that, it will be a huge hit for sure.

 

[BrianLo]

As evidenced, the Frozen attraction in the proposed image is bigger than Maelstrom.

The land also was clearly not finalized and has gone through changes, so while the descriptor seemed like a FEA clone, I expect the final product to hold some key differences (hopefully improvements). The SDMT-like attraction is also possibly not insignificant. Yes it’s no Fantasy Springs, but it’s certainly a robust land that should move the needle.

Hopefully the Marvel attraction is the kitchen sink-level attraction that HKDL deserves.

 

[IMDREW]

 

[PymParty]

Ant-Man and the Wasp : Nano Battle is now in soft opening, first POVs are on Youtube. Generally, I am quite happy with this attraction and I specially appreciate the synergy and cohesion the Marvel / Stark Expo area now has in Hong Kong with everything tied in to the same backstory. Another great aspect is the involvement of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily in the actual ride, which actually makes the Iron Man computer animation look really fake next to it.
On the more negative side, the ride itself has nothing special or new to it. We can see that budget was tight, there is no movement at all except for the screens which gives a feeling that nothing is really happening despite the attack you are supposed to be in the middle of. I would have wished for at least one animatronic, especially as there was a huge Ant-Man shown on the Concept art (where did he go ?). I also don't like how they try to justify elements from BLAB that they did not remove, such as always talking about de Dagger and EMP blasters.
I think the real problem with this ride is that it is only a retheme of BLAB and that for the big battle storyline to be well adapted it would have needed a much bigger show building and an custom ride system to be well integrated. Whereas in this case, it just feels forced.

Overall, I think this ride is a good addition as it will give some novelty and cohesiveness to the park and the shooting dark ride is a classic that guests appreciate. But I am afraid that the ride will quickly lose the spotlight with time...

I simply hope that the reason this is underwhelming is that the retheme of BLAB was needed for the creation of the Marvel area so it didn't have a huge budget. I hope Frozen, the castle and Avengers took bigger chunks of the expansion budget and that they expansions will be great because, for now, both the Moana show and AMATW:NB! are underwhelming.
I sincerely hope that all this investment will benefit HKDL in the end...

 

[EarthboundChild]

I think expectations were tempered in regards to AM&W as it's known it's a re-skin of BLAB. It's just something to help temporarily boost excitement while they construct the more exciting expansion pieces. It does serve to help provide a unifying theme for that particular area.

Tomorrowland in HKD is pretty much becoming an IP land now with all its attractions outside of Orbitron being Star Wars or Marvel themed. It's a pity but without a second gate to absorb them perhaps it was inevitable in their major move to attract visitors.

Does anyone know how popular is Star Wars vs. Marvel in Hong Kong and mainland China? Would it make sense from a business perspective for a Galaxy's Edge type of project if a second gate ever appears?

 

[Timothy_Q]

I think expectations were tempered in regards to AM&W as it's known it's a re-skin of BLAB. It's just something to help temporarily boost excitement while they construct the more exciting expansion pieces. It does serve to help provide a unifying theme for that particular area.

Referring to Buzz as BLAB is the funniest thing

Does anyone know how popular is Star Wars vs. Marvel in Hong Kong and mainland China? Would it make sense from a business perspective for a Galaxy's Edge type of project if a second gate ever appears?

Star Wars is infamously not popular in China. IDK about HK though
Marvel is just as popular there as it is here right now

 

[IMDREW]

It does get better i think. Moana was not special in any regard, but ok. This ride is nice, not amazing, but good. The castle and surroundings will be much better. Don’t forget the castle revamp will also include a new daytime show and nighttime spectacular. Then Frozen land will be great. With two rides and a beautifully designed land. And finally, the Avengers ride will be epic and amazing.

Nice buildup imo. I think the real test comes when they’ll open the new castle. That’s when most new visitors should come (or people who didn’t like HKDL in the past will make a repeat visit to give the park another chance), and having a moana show and antman ride ready at that time will be benificial to the overal experience of those visitors.

 

[616.1314]

I haven't tried the ride in person yet (will do very soon hopefully) but judging from the video it's quite disappointing. It's supposed to be a "battle" but seems like nothing in the ride actually moves(?)... so the atmosphere is not intense enough to convince the guests that they are fighting? But yea, I agree with the above sayings that this and the Moana Show are just for building up hype before the real works unveil.

 

[NateD1226]

 

[616.1314]

I just tried the ride yesterday and it's actually better than what I've expected.
Here's my comments:

Good sides:
1. It complements well with Iron Man Experience, both externally and internally

• externally refers to the facade of the building: BLAB was more cartoon-styled whereas IME is futuristic so they look awkward standing next to each other; while the design of AMAWNB show building is simple, it matches and echoes with the style of IME. This is an aesthetic upgrade to HKDL's Tomorrowland
• internally means the plot: since the stories of IME and AMAWNB correlate with each other, the addition of AMAWNB actually makes the whole "Stark Expo" thingy more immersive to the guests; and it's nice to feature Jessica Hsuan in the ride, making the ride more "local"

2. It is actually more difficult than it seemed to be

• the new shooting system (similar to that in SHDL Buzz ride) is smooth, accurate and more user-friendly, so I thought it'd be a piece of cake to score high
• turns out it's not! the targets are actually ventilation holes (idk whats the professional term for that in English so I hope you get what I mean) of the Swarmbots - so they'd open and close from time to time - even it's easy to shoot, you still have to be fast and switch targets quickly in order to score

Bad sides:

1. The queue area is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo small that I'm shocked :0
2. As mentioned above, nothing moves inside

 

[IMDREW]

Best video yet.

 

[malice]

Construction crane up on the former Autopia soon to be Avengers site:

 

[BrianLo]

Construction crane up on the former Autopia soon to be Avengers site:

Timing wise it certainly makes sense if this is anything like RoTR.

I'm glad this wasn't pushed back a year. Hopefully an early 2023 debut.

 

[616.1314]

Construction crane up on the former Autopia soon to be Avengers site:

hopefully this will be a real E-ticket attraction
currently IME and AMAWNB are just mediocre rides that can attract more local guests but not international tourists, which is what HKDL truly needs
oh and, the facade of AMAWNB will look even better if they followed the concept art and used blue and grey instead of merely using grey, wonder why did they change it :0

 

[IMDREW]

 

[616.1314]

https://hkmsg.blogspot.com/2019/04/blog-post.html#more
Hong Kong Main Street Gazette's column on the details of the Ant-Man ride

 

[PymParty]

I was thinking about something the other day : I can't imagine the future Marvel land to open without any proper F&B location.
So I was thinking, what if they closed Starliner Diner in 2021/22, after Frozen opens with a big scale restaurant, to repurpose it to fit the Marvel theme when the whole area opens in 2023 ?
I think this would be a good idea as it would complement the marvel area perfectly and I think it is important to remodel the restaurant as, today, when guests enter Tomorrowland, the outdoor area of Starliner Diner hides the entires facade of Ant-Man and The Wasp and the restaurant sits right next to the marvel rides even if they have really different theme. This would still leave the remainder of Tomorrowland (SM, Orbitron, SW M&G) with one restaurant : Comet cafe.

EDIT : Starliner Diner already serves all the Marvel themed food and beverage offerings in the park