Hong Kong Disneyland vs other Disney Parks

[Bluewaves]

So I was reading the NY Times online and thaey had an article that the new DisneyLand in Hong Kong is smaller than the original Disneyland in Anaheim and that it has very few attractions. The crowd in China are afraid of roller coasters, so all the rides are very tame including their version of Space Mountiain.

Disney says it might build on to the park in the future but its in talks with it Chinese partner, the government of Hong Kong who own's 57% of the park.

#1 was it the right decision for Disney to do business is China where it will never be able to completely call the shots in its own park?

#2 Would Walt who was a very active anti communist approve of this?

#3 Is opening the park in an Animal Kingdom type style, only a few attractions on opening day, a good idea?

#4 Didn't Disney learn there lesson about foreign parks after that disaster in France??

Just figured I would like to hear what other people are thinking since it got to my nerves when I see cutbacks and the lack of planned future investment at WDW. Especially when no new big rides are being planned Epcot is starting to follow the Horizons blueprint with WOL and we get Pooh's Pitiful Playground in place of a classic Disney Attracation.

 

[peter11435]

#1 Disney already has a park that they don't call all of the shots in. Its called TDL and TDS. In fact Disney does not call any shots in Tokyo.

#2 About 1.3 billion people live in China, with another billion if you consider the proximity of India. Thus about 2.5 billion people live near the resort. I think anyone would see this as a great opportunity.

#3 That depends. AK has become a successful park, however the case could be made that it would not be as successful if it were on its own and not part of the WDW resort. The primary purpose for such a limited opening day roster is to test the waters and avoid another Paris.

#4 TDL is the most successful Disney resort in the world. So to say that all foreign parks are bad is going a bit to far. Paris is also very popular and has high attendance. The problem in Paris is that they originally invested way too much money in the resort, and far too many hotel rooms. That is why HK was built the way it was and with only 2 hotels as opposed to Paris which opened with 6 hotels, a campground, and a "downtown Disney."

As for your closing comments. You say no new rides are being planned for Epcot. However you have no way of knowing that. Just because they are not under construction and you have not heard about them, doesn't mean they aren’t being planned. As for Pooh, it did not replace a classic Disney Attraction. It simple took the place of a vacant lot, as the "classic Disney Attraction" had been gone for a decade, and was not coming back. That said there is still plenty of land (a ton actually) and plenty of ideas being looked out to go into the former site.

 

[PlaneJane]

I was kinda dissapointed that adventure land was the only West land to be in HK DL. But the theming is great! I think they learned from DCA. Although it seems that now you either get great themeing (HKDL AK) or rides (DCA). Not enough budget for both I guess?

 

[jrriddle]

1. Makes sense to me. Yes the Gov't owns more than part of the park, but they also footed most of the construction bill. Advantage Disney.

2. Moot question. Walt's gone, I love what the man did but he's not running the company anymore. Besides China is barely a communist country anymore. In t 10 years India and China will be right up there with the US as economic powerhouses.
The real question should be "Would Walt build in a country that displays such blatant human rights violations?"

3. Do a search through the threads. This has been discussed to exhaustion. IMHO no. Not nearly enough attractions for an opening.

4. Europe and Asia are two VERY different places. Take a look at the OLC's numbers (they own Disneyland Tokyo). As mentioned in #2, China is on it's way up in the world. Disney is doing the right thing getting in early. After Shanghi next stop... Disneyland India!!!

 

[Tim G]

After Shanghi next stop... Disneyland India!!!

Forget it... This will be an ever lasting rumor... geez...

 

[jrriddle]

Forget it... This will be an ever lasting rumor... geez...

Well if I'm going to take anyone's word for it, it's yours.
Consider it forgotten.
But if it does happen one day, who owe me a Coke.