Word: disney
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Disneyland is supposed to be "The Happiest Place on Earth," but Liang Ning isn't too happy. The engineer brought his family to Disney's new theme park in Hong Kong from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou one Saturday in April with high hopes, but by day's end, he was less than spellbound. "I wanted to forget the world and feel like I was in a fairytale," he says. Instead, he complains, "it's just not big enough" and "not very different from the amusement parks we have" in China. His seven-year-old daughter Yaqin disagrees, calling...
...Hong Kong's Magic Kingdom has so far been a little short on magic. The $1.8 billion theme park, which opened last September, was touted by Disney executives as its biggest, boldest effort to build its brand in China, a potentially vast new market for its toys, dvds and movies. The Hong Kong government?which aggressively wooed Disney and is the park's majority owner"hoped Disneyland would help secure the city's reputation as one of Asia's top tourist destinations. However, the conservative approach of Disney and its partner has produced a pint-sized park that...
...Nonetheless, Disney executives insist the park is on track. Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, says: "I feel great about how Hong Kong Disneyland is doing." Disney's own surveys of park visitors show an 80% satisfaction rate, among the highest of any of the company's parks, says Rasulo: "People feel this is a great experience...
...Burbank, California, headquartered company knows what it is talking about; it welcomed its 2 billionth visitor last week. And it is no stranger to tempestuous beginnings at an international park, at times caused by imposing a very American sensibility on foreign guests. When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, Disney famously banned wine from park restaurants, much to the dismay of European bons vivants. In Hong Kong, Disney went out of its way to tailor the park to local tastes. Its "imagineers" installed Main Street's first Chinese eatery, along with Fantasy Gardens where Mickey Mouse, local favorite Mulan and other...
...Another embarrassment came over the Lunar New Year holiday beginning in January, a popular vacation time in China. Disney neglected to block off the entire week as "special days" for which visitors required specific tickets. Tourists with valid tickets got turned away at the front gates after the park quickly filled up; the jilted travelers screamed at park employees, while TV cameras filmed one family trying to pass a child over the fence. Henry Tang, the city's Financial Secretary, voiced concern that this disarray "might affect the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry." Bill Ernest, Hong Kong Disneyland...