Hong Kong Disneyland
Topic: Hong Kong Missing Attraction

#	Author	Message
21	X-san Sun 5/18/2008 5:45a	Well Lee did concede that SOME of the issues were monetary (I'm not sure specifically what those were). Thought you weren't gonna come back to LP for a while WD? Hooked like a crack whore eh? :p
22	X-san Sun 5/18/2008 5:50a	***Every single park since DLP has had major cutbacks in development*** That sucks. I get the impression that DLP sort of broke the mold on that "no holds barred" theme park making that was on it's way up...from the Magic Kingdom (can't comment on the PARK being so much better than before, but the infrastructure was out of this world), to Epcot, to DLP. Then...thud. Too bad they blew it in Paris for whatever reason...if Disney had never ventured into Europe, imagine how much better it would be in America today! *sigh* And while I can appreciate the idea that "they did great with what they had", and I would totally agree on Animal Kingdom which I LOVE but which many tourists (including the entirety of my family and most of my friends) find to be a snore, it's still sad that THAT has to be a topic of conversation. With only a pitance of a budget, which of all these parks did a "reasonable" job of making a worthwhile Disney experience. I'd say one...Animal Kingdom. The rest, since DLP are severely lacking. Except the one with the big budget (argue all you want, it's pretty obvious that they made a top dollar park there and it shows).
23	Witches of Morva Sun 5/18/2008 8:23a	ORDDU: You make a lot of very good sense, X-san, duckling. My sisters and I are right there with you. The Disney company has long been speaking like a politician--as if their explanations for things are 'truth', while forgetting the fact that their audience is much more intelligent than even they are! They are the one's who 'don't get it' and they continue to look more foolish every day.
24	Spirit of 74 Sun 5/18/2008 9:37a	What an interesting little discussion has come up over just a little pic of a dino ;-) A few points in no particular order: I agree with Lee that originally HKDL was going to be an interesting mix of DL meets DAK meets Disney's America (with a little DLP nod in Phantom Manor tossed in). I wasn't thrilled about it when I heard development plans because it seemed like, unlike DLP, that they weren't taking HKDL to a next level but tossing in whatever concepts that had been lying around and/or recently used to defray development costs and build a park 'on the cheap.' As time went on, and the park didn't follow the original plans, I started to realize how great they were ... and how they would have created a familiar MK, yet very much different from all its siblings. Back then, things like attraction count were never a concern because it seemed like plenty were going in even if certain favorites like Splash Mountain or Pirates weren't. The explanations Lee cites for not going through with Frontierland and Toontown are quite likely accurate. Yet they're also company spin at the same point no matter how you look at it. I'm sure Disney can produce surveys saying HK denizens weren't familiar or interested with the Wild West ... or that since they weren't that knowledgable of Disney characters that a Toontown concept would have been a tough sell. But as others have pointed out, you build something else in their place (and I can argue quite convincingly that both lands could have and would have worked but for now I'll leave that). Knowing a bit about budgets at WDI, I think it's safe to say that well over $500 million and possibly close to a billion in development costs were taken out by leaving out all of the aforementioned lands and attractions on some renderings and art that WDI never lets out of the archives. How can that much $$$ be taken out of the equation and it not be financial? It wasn't like that money went into anything else ... unless it was pumped into stateside marketing celebrations (that's a joke, I hope). As to people doing their best with what they have, I do think DAK is a great example of that ... especially since 1/3rd of the original park basically was hacked off. But DAK was a FOURTH gate. It wasn't a first. It wasn't a MK. It wasn't opening up a huge new market. Sitting back one can only ponder how much more successful HKDL might have been had the original plans been followed. I do think one good thing has come out of it, though. And that is I doubt Disney will ever attempt to throw out a third day or half day park again. I do think that Iger has learned the lesson that Eisner, Pressler and Rasulo seemed so slow to pick up on. Me ... I'd just like to see the original park art, but I doubt that's going to happen for a long time.
25	Witches of Morva Sun 5/18/2008 4:16p	ORGOCH: Okay, Spirit, ducklin'. Ya make a lot a good sense, yer own darn self.
26	X-san Sun 5/18/2008 5:40p	Everyone here makes a lot of sense (Lee included), and I've no doubt that there were varied and challenging issues in even getting a park off the ground in Communist China... It's just that when you see the end result, and then hear about the possibilities...it's just tough to swallow that much of it didn't really just come down to cheaping out. I mean, come on...12 attractions at opening or something? Fantasyland with one single dark ride? Only four LANDS (I don't even generally count Main Street as there's nothing to "do" there but shop...but you HAVE to with HKDL). Like I said, I've heard the complaints from Chinese folks themselves, both from Hong Kong and the mainland (every Chinese person I meet, I ask...but I don't ask negatively or anything, just "what do you think of the new park?)...and it's always the same answer. It's the same 'cause it's the truth.
27	Spirit of 74 Sun 5/18/2008 10:32p	I've just decided after taking to a friend who used to work for TWDC (not WDI perse) that the reason the original park rendering/model are MIA (not at my local airport) is 'out of embarrassment over how many things were removed' ... HKDL is the only Disney park that I'm aware of where the orginal model simply isn't in circulation.
28	mstaft Mon 5/19/2008 9:52a	Very telling!
29	RandySavage Mon 5/19/2008 2:29p	Early iterations of the park were more of a mini-park, then it must have been expanded to a 6-land park, then reduced to the current 4-land park. I have seen a couple early blueprints which included only 3 lands with the following attractions: Main Street: -No visible attractions... much smaller than a typical MS with one block taken up by a Disney Store Adventureland: -Star Wars Stunt Theater -Star Tours -Temple of Peril (like in Paris) -Orbitron -Adventure Isle (with Fort) -Tough to be a Bug Fantasyland: -IASW seemed to be incorporated into the castle. -Art of Animation -Carousel -Theater Classic Stage -"Once Upon a Time" - possibly a dark ride -A Hedge Maze -A Pooh-themed teacup-style ride -Meet Mickey In addition a hotel was built into/above Main St & Fantasyland. Adjacent to the park was an elaborate Downtown Disney featuring the following: -Magic Underground -Rainforest Cafe -House of Blues -DisneyQuest -Cirque du Soleil
30	mstaft Mon 5/19/2008 5:34p	Wow- what an interesting history this resort must have!

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