Hong Kong Disneyland
Topic: Another Expansion Announcement for HKDL

#	Author	Message
1	Witches of Morva Tue 6/24/2008 3:07p	ORDDU: Over on the Mice Chat discussion boards, ducklings, someone has just put up a missing link to an article that just appeared--I believe today--about Hong Kong's 'latest announcement' for expansion plans. Just how serious to take these latest announcements is anyone's guess. But here's the link for you to look at. (We assume you're all fluent in the languages over there... The front-page news of HK Econmics Times's http://www.uwants.com/attachme...WUgx.jpg
2	Anatole69 Tue 6/24/2008 8:37p	Link doesn't work witches. :( - Anatole
3	Spirit of 74 Tue 6/24/2008 10:15p	They're also jumping the gun as no agreement has been reached as to expansion and, more importantly, who will pay for it.
4	Anatole69 Wed 6/25/2008 12:11a	I still haven't read the article, but as far as who will pay for it, my understanding of the financial situation is that in order to maintain majority ownership of the park, the HK government has to pay for the majority of any expansion they undertake. So the only thing to resolve would be what the exact plans will be, and how big of a budget it will have. Though I still need to have a working link so that I can comment on the article in question. - Anatole
5	Malin Wed 6/25/2008 1:52a	Thanks for passing on the news Witches but it sounds a bit to ambitious for my liking. While I'm convinced something big is about to be annouced for that parcel of land like the Haunted Mansion, I am not to sure its going to be either Toon Town or Frontierland. Adventureland takes up one entire side of the park and I don't see Frontierland fitting in on that side of the park too. Toon Town from what I've heard is not a priority with WDI due to how quickly the DL and WDW versions have aged. Plus no real location for it to go anywhere. If Disney want to expand the park it needs to concentrate on the 4 lands it already has, seeing that Adventureland is the largest in the world but only has 3 or 4 attractions, and that includes Tarzan and the rafts.
6	Spirit of 74 Wed 6/25/2008 12:02p	<<I still haven't read the article, but as far as who will pay for it, my understanding of the financial situation is that in order to maintain majority ownership of the park, the HK government has to pay for the majority of any expansion they undertake. So the only thing to resolve would be what the exact plans will be, and how big of a budget it will have.>> Disney has no leverage on their side regardless of the ownership situation. If the HK government were to pull out, Disney would be a HUGE hole. And I doubt any Saudi royal would be coming to the rescue this time. So Disney is the one that's going to have to foot the lion's share of the expansion costs or provide other guarantees to the Chinese. Disney isn't going to be able to come up with say a $600 million expansion plan and put up $45 million and expect the government to pay the rest. It just ain't happening. That's why the park today still barely has a dozen legit attractions.
7	Spirit of 74 Wed 6/25/2008 12:04p	<<Adventureland takes up one entire side of the park and I don't see Frontierland fitting in on that side of the park too. Toon Town from what I've heard is not a priority with WDI due to how quickly the DL and WDW versions have aged. Plus no real location for it to go anywhere. >> Yep. The chances of those two lands ever getting built are truly slim and none. <<If Disney want to expand the park it needs to concentrate on the 4 lands it already has, seeing that Adventureland is the largest in the world but only has 3 or 4 attractions, and that includes Tarzan and the rafts.>> All the expansion plans I have heard of from Glendale involve Adventureland and Fantasyland. I think you can figure out what attractions (or type) they are planning.
8	Witches of Morva Wed 6/25/2008 3:04p	ORDDU: So sorry that the missing link didn't work, Anatole69, duckling. You wouldn't have been able to read it, anyway, I don't suppose. It was all written in a foreign language--possibly Mandarin or Chinese. I really couldn't say. And thank you, Spirit dear, for coming around and letting us know that the article was closer to a hoax than anything else. My sisters and I rather expected as much. But we posted it here, anyway, just because we had nothing better to do. Plus it seems to have given us a reason to exchange some interesting ideas. It would seem that Hong Kong Disneyland is destined to remain the smallest of them all for quite some time. Still, it would be nice if they would go ahead with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. We'll wait and see...
9	Anatole69 Wed 6/25/2008 6:03p	Don't worry about whether it is in Chinese or not; I have a translation program for it. ;) Though if the article is a hoax, then there is no point in reading it. I'm not sure I follow you Spirit. From what I have been able to gather in the past, the HK government is the majority owner of the park. However, if Disney were to invest more than the government in upgrades, then their financial investment would make them majority owners and would force the government to either invest more in order to retain majority ownership or cause them to sell their part of the park. That's why the expansion has been so slow. Even if Disney wanted to invest more, it can't unless the HK government also invests a greater amount. This means any large expenditure has to be approved first, and makes the government inclined to get more for less. Hence an underdeveloped park. Again, anyone more in the know about the financials feel free to add to this. - Anatole

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