News Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

[PennysBayChronicle]

Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong

Source : BusinessWeek

[Coheteboy]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

I feared this also. I think the planning of Hong Kong was so poor and inadequate that nobody will even plan to go to it now. They'll just save up for Shanghai.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

No nostalgia for Michael Eisner's original Chinese park? The only park Michael Eisner ever set foot in.

[DarkSideoftheMouse]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

This could potentially be great for us Disney fans. It's not as though Disney and the HK government would close the park due to low attendance and lose their entire investment before it makes a profit. All this will make them do is continue to expand the park and add unique attractions to draw more visitors.

[HKDLFAN]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

I always feared this. Disney is such a stupid company. WHY can they not improve their current parks all over the world especially HK rather than make another park?

[mclubber]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

I always feared this. Disney is such a stupid company. WHY can they not improve their current parks all over the world especially HK rather than make another park?

Shanghai govt on the other hand, flooded Disney with hot money to build the park. Its such a shame that Disney didn't give much time for Hong Kong to develop before working on Shanghai. Look at Anaheim and Orlando. Anaheim opened in the 1950's it took at least 30 yrs later (late 1970's) Orlando's Disney World was built. In this case, HKDL has only been 5 yrs of operation and has not made profit already its time to build another park in China.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

Will Shanghai be mad if they get approval from Beijing for a third Disney resort?

I know you guys will be mad. But it could happen!

[tasman]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

This is a good thing.

Since Eisner left, Disney has been willing to invest more money in HKDL, but HK govt has prevented this because they themselves are unwilling to invest as much and they don't want Disney to increase its share of control in HKDL. The reluctance to invest more comes from the bad experience with Eisner-era Disney and with local politics - since refusing to invest more money in the park is popular with voters. This one reason why the more expensive arctic-themed area got replaced with the cheaper Toy Story Playland (the other being Ocean Park's own arctic-themed area and the government's stake in that competing park).

But now, HK govt knows that nothing short of full commitment on their part will make the resort a success.

[Dustysage]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

But now, HK govt knows that nothing short of full commitment on their part will make the resort a success.

I hope you are right. A good sign of that would be Disney canceling the Toy Story Land for something actually worth building.

[RandySavage]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

As usual, the media is mistakenly fixated on acreage of the resort rather than number/type of attractions in the park. We still don't know if/how much bigger and more filled out SDL (the park) will be in relation to HKDL (the park). No one is paying to visit the unused acreage of either (yet).

We do know this:
1. Once the expansion is completed, HKDL will be a significantly better park than it is now - and that will pre-date the opening of SDL.

2. HKDL boasts the greater city around it. As a city, Shanghai is not on the same tier as Hong Kong, which is one of the one of very best cities on the planet (along with New York, London, Paris, Rome, Rio and handful of others). If you take away the theme parks, 9/10 first-timers would chose HK over Shanghai.

Like mentioned above, this could be a win-win if HKDL gets in the competive spirit and speeds up/expands their growth over the next 5 years.

[Dustysage]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

As usual, the media is mistakenly fixated on acreage of the resort rather than number/type of attractions in the park. We still don't know if/how much bigger and more filled out SDL (the park) will be in relation to HKDL (the park). No one is paying to visit the unused acreage of either (yet).

We do know this:
1. Once the expansion is completed, HKDL will be a significantly better park than it is now - and that will pre-date the opening of SDL.

2. HKDL boasts the greater city around it. As a city, Shanghai is not on the same tier as Hong Kong, which is one of the one of very best cities on the planet (along with New York, London, Paris, Rome, Rio and handful of others). If you take away the theme parks, 9/10 first-timers would chose HK over Shanghai.

Like mentioned above, this could be a win-win if HKDL gets in the competive spirit and speeds up/expands their growth over the next 5 years.

Great points Randy! There is certainly a reason for HKDL to be worried but there is no reason to believe that these parks can not co-exist. They will serve different markets and will likely be very different in design.

People forget that while technically Chinese, Hong Kong might as well be its own country. It isn't all that easy for mainland Chinese to get to Hong Kong, much less afford it. I really can't see Shanghai eating into Hong Kong Disneyland's business too much.

All the more reason why the HKDL expansion plan is so important. They need more rides and attractions. They still don't have their own Downtown Disney style shopping district. And I'd at least like to know they have aggressive plans for the 2nd park - something better thought out than Disneyland Paris' studios park.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

Rethink Downtown Disney before it's too late. There's no reason to dedicate space to a mall, IMO an arcade of shops within a hotel would be more elegant and exciting.

[tasman]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

As2. HKDL boasts the greater city around it. As a city, Shanghai is not on the same tier as Hong Kong, which is one of the one of very best cities on the planet (along with New York, London, Paris, Rome, Rio and handful of others). If you take away the theme parks, 9/10 first-timers would chose HK over Shanghai.

I agree with most of what you say but the company is doing the right thing by having a long-term vision. Shanghai is destined to be China's top metropolis (just as it was a hundred years ago) - China's New York. Hong Kong is an incredible city and more developed today but the focal point for the coming century will be Shanghai. So Disney is right to focus there.

[RandySavage]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

And I'd at least like to know they have aggressive plans for the 2nd park - something better thought out than Disneyland Paris' studios park.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Euro Disney S.C.A. had contractual obligations to open a 2nd gate or they would forfeit certain rights under the original agreement with the French government. And so they built the second "theme park" as cheaply has they could. And it showed. I'm not sure ED S.C.A. would have gone forward with a 2nd gate as early as 2002 had it not been for this provision.

From what I remember, HKITP has similar provisions with the government and could lose control of the 2nd Gate landfill if they do not build another park before a certain date (with some time-extension if attendance at HKDL meets specified levels).

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

Paris' 2nd gate is a landfill, too.

A step up from a place that instills nostalgia for the parking lot.

[RandySavage]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

Shanghai is destined to be China's top metropolis (just as it was a hundred years ago) - China's New York. Hong Kong is an incredible city and more developed today but the focal point for the coming century will be Shanghai. So Disney is right to focus there.

Shanghai will be top in terms of population, commerce & finance (in mainland China), so, yes, Disney is smart to go there.

But much, much more goes into making a great city than those things. In terms of geography, history, architecture, arts, culture, etc., Hong Kong will not be surpassed by Shanghai in terms of greatness, just as Sao Paulo, Brazil, while a bigger financial and population center, will never overtake Rio on the scale of great cities.

A century of British and Chinese culture melding, the jaw-dropping physical geography, and the sheer energy make Hong Kong among the 3 best cities on Earth.

[tasman]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

^^ Shanghai has more history than HK IMO. I would also say that the art and culture scene in Shanghai is the most vibrant in China. Hong Kong is still tops overall now and of course will always have greater physical beauty - but in other aspects I feel that Shanghai is or will be at least an equal. So I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree and see how history pans out .

[Asa]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

Yes, there is an agreement which states that Disney must build a second gate before a certain date, otherwise the phase 2 land will be used for something else.

Right now the phase 2 land is on offer for a 5 year lease and tenders are invited, since Disney definitely won't be using it in the next 5 and maybe even 10 years. There is still enough room for expansion in phase 1 for sometime to come...

The one thing that I think most HK people want to see is that the HK govt give up its share on HKDL. The govt simply is not up to running a business and the entire thing is better off in businessmen's hands, let them decide what is best for it in the future.

Ocean Park is run by a businessman, Allan Zemen, and he is doing great things with it, and he isn't even paid! I am sure there are other equally capable businessmen in HK to run Disneyland, just not the stupid govt.

[ImagineerWaryur]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

I believe they have to make the decision on the second gate by 2013. Of course, they could pressure the HK Council for an extension. But hopefully the mistake of making another Walt Disney Studios Paris won't be made. Better to wait and build something worthy of the Disney name.


ImagineerWarrior

[PennysBayChronicle]

Re: Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong, BusinessWeek

^^ Shanghai has more history than HK IMO. I would also say that the art and culture scene in Shanghai is the most vibrant in China. Hong Kong is still tops overall now and of course will always have greater physical beauty - but in other aspects I feel that Shanghai is or will be at least an equal. So I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree and see how history pans out .

Yes, Shanghai has longer history than Hong Kong. wait a min....

Hong Kong has just announced the opening of Hong Kong National GeoPark of China, which covers about 5,000 hectares, is made up of eight geo-areas distributed across the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region and Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region. The oldest rocks in Hong Kong date back 400 million to 360 million years!!!

but if you look at the history of HSBC, Hong Kong has a little bit of longer history than Shanghai.

HSBC, Europe's largest bank, and one of the biggest bank in the world. The HSBC Group is named after its founding member, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, which was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade between Europe, India and China.The bank first opened in Hong Kong in March 1865 and a branch in Shanghai a month later. If you look at the name of HSBC (it was previously refered as Hong Kong Bank), H stands for Hong Kong and S stands for Shanghai, the letter H is placed before letter S, due to the fact it was founded in Hong Kong first, and then Shanghai in that order.

Regarding Art and Culture scene in Shanghai vs Hong Kong, Hong Kong gov is going to change that by transforming Hong Kong as the Culture Hub of Asia. Hong Kong is going to spend around HK$21 billion on WKCD (West Kowloon Culture District), by developing a prime harbourfront site into a mega cultural district.

Don't forget, Hong Kong is the Pearl of the Orient.