Any update on whether the new announced expansions gets approved or refused?

[Asa]

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=181331&story_id=47278539&d_str=20170329&sid=11

The Standard

Disney to inject another $350m into expansion

The Walt Disney Company has promised to increase its injection into Hong Kong Disneyland's expansion, giving it better leverage when asking lawmakers to approve government funding.
The US entertainment giant promised to inject an additional HK$330 million for the park's expansion, taking its total contribution to HK$5.45 billion - the same amount to be committed by the government once lawmakers give the project the green light.

Beside the financial proposal, Disney will offer 50,000 complimentary tickets to locals through lucky draws in the coming months.

In a proposal to the Legislative Council in November 2016, Disney and the government proposed to share the project cost of HK$10.9 billion according to the existing shareholding ratio of 53 percent by the government and 47 percent by Disney. That would mean HK$5.12 billion by Disney and HK$5.78 billion by the government.

A document sent to lawmakers yesterday showed a revised plan in which Disney and the government would fund the project on an equal basis, or HK$5.45 billion each.

The money would be injected into Hongkong International Theme Parks Ltd - the joint venture company that owns Hong Kong Disneyland - to support the expansion plan at the Phase 1 site of the theme park.

After completion of the capital injection, the government would hold 52 percent of the company's shares and Disney 48 percent.

Disney is believed to have agreed to the new plan to "shoulder more responsibility" as it wants to push through the expansion project as adding attractions would boost attendance.

The plan aims to fund the launch of at least one new attraction almost every year from 2018 to 2023, which would increase the number of themed areas from seven to nine.

In the financial year October 2015 to September 2016, Hong Kong Disneyland suffered a loss of HK$171 million, its second year in the red.

The funding proposal will be discussed in Legco Financial Committee on Friday.

[HKDLFAN]

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/sectio...0170329&sid=11

The Standard

Disney to inject another $350m into expansion

The Walt Disney Company has promised to increase its injection into Hong Kong Disneyland's expansion, giving it better leverage when asking lawmakers to approve government funding.
The US entertainment giant promised to inject an additional HK$330 million for the park's expansion, taking its total contribution to HK$5.45 billion - the same amount to be committed by the government once lawmakers give the project the green light.

Beside the financial proposal, Disney will offer 50,000 complimentary tickets to locals through lucky draws in the coming months.

In a proposal to the Legislative Council in November 2016, Disney and the government proposed to share the project cost of HK$10.9 billion according to the existing shareholding ratio of 53 percent by the government and 47 percent by Disney. That would mean HK$5.12 billion by Disney and HK$5.78 billion by the government.

A document sent to lawmakers yesterday showed a revised plan in which Disney and the government would fund the project on an equal basis, or HK$5.45 billion each.

The money would be injected into Hongkong International Theme Parks Ltd - the joint venture company that owns Hong Kong Disneyland - to support the expansion plan at the Phase 1 site of the theme park.

After completion of the capital injection, the government would hold 52 percent of the company's shares and Disney 48 percent.

Disney is believed to have agreed to the new plan to "shoulder more responsibility" as it wants to push through the expansion project as adding attractions would boost attendance.

The plan aims to fund the launch of at least one new attraction almost every year from 2018 to 2023, which would increase the number of themed areas from seven to nine.

In the financial year October 2015 to September 2016, Hong Kong Disneyland suffered a loss of HK$171 million, its second year in the red.

The funding proposal will be discussed in Legco Financial Committee on Friday.

Thanks for the update!

9 lands!? That is a lot for such a small park. But then again, HKDL is often billed to have "over 100 experiences" so I'm not surprised it's being pushed for more lands. Hmm, does this mean Tomorrowland is going to stay and Marvel-land will be separate? Interesting.

And hopefully we get something positive on Friday! It's hard to imagine this expansion being delayed more and more as each year the theme park industry gets more competitive, especially in Asia. HKDL needs to get its act together asap.

[hakjie11]

Even as a Disney fan myself and waiting for months to see it approved, I have to say that voting against it might sound like the logic thing to do this time.

1/. the 350 million is in fact not an injection, more like a cash exchange for an additional 1% in shares. This 1% belonged to the government, meaning it belonged to the HK citizens and the cash is now going back into Disney park again. So who is actually financing this? HKgov or Disney? I mean if I sold my shares to a bank and the bank gives me money for it, this money goes back into the business, would you call the bank the investor or me?

The other 2 points :
2/. "Partially" waive the management costs for 2 years. C'mon is it really that difficult to just waive it entirely for 2 years. It is still a money losing park after all. You can take whatever you want when its drowned in money.
3/. 50 000 Free tickets. With the attendance dropped, this is a win-win for Disney. It could attract new customers and benefiting Disney at the end. Ocean Park were already offering heavily discounted tickets to celebrate its 40th year so it was not really something entirely new. Had they done it before Ocean Park then it would have a much better impact on the public.

So in fact Disney didn't put much on the table and wants to get 5+ billion HKD from HK again to expand.
If I was a non-Disney fan, this would have been 100% a NO without doubt.

Disney is in a hurry to reach the contractual 8 million attendance requirement or it could lose its purchase rights to the 2nd Gate land. Disney pls step up the game. Time is not on your side now.
Btw with the recent land prices going crazy in HK and if you do a rough calculation, the 2nd Gate land is actually worth around 440 billion (or 57 billion USD or 1/3rd the global total value of WDC itself!!!) by itself. IF "theoretically" the government could reclaim it and just sell in on the market as housing land ( Ok I know its not for housing purposes) instant profit of around 400 billion hkd and if you share the profit with every HK citizen, everyone gets 55000 hkd instead of investing 800hkd into a still money losing Disney park. I think this bill would easily pass overnight.
I mean I would do a hell lot more efforts if I could purchase a land for development possible worth 1/3rd of my global business.

(Secretly wishing the bill to pass, but understandable if it failed and I would blame Disney this time)

[Asa]

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=181433

The Standard

HK needs to ride along with Disneyland

Editorial | Mar 31, 2017

Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je is known for cutting political remarks that belie his reputation as a professional healer.

In his latest one, he called Hong Kong a boring place to visit. That putdown was made during a stop in Bangkok to promote tourism, with Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi other rallying points of his Asian tour.

Hit by precipitous falls in mainland visitor numbers, Hong Kong and Taipei are going head to head for travelers from other Asian countries to fill the void.

Of course, denigrating a competitor rather than designing a campaign around one's own strengths is always going to be self-defeating, with the offensive always going to be seen as self- serving by everyone - and as such serves no one, least of all, Taipei.

However, the silence from tourism authorities here in the wake of the noise Ko generated speaks volumes.

No comment is the worst possible reaction to the insult. Can the authorities guard their turf a little better the next time, even if they are caught off-guard?

Ko's criticism doesn't necessarily reflect how most travelers feel about the Pearl of the Orient, or Fragrant Harbour, but it's conceivable that some of them do feel that way.

Look at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Twelve years after its grand opening, the spell held by the "Magic Kingdom" over visitors has waned, especially for those who have made the pilgrimage many times before.

Unless the theme park is rejuvenated to restore its novelty factor, I'm afraid visitor numbers will continue to drop.

It is in no one's interest for Hong Kong Disneyland to be rendered economically insignificant.

And that's what the HK$10.9 billion expansion planned for Hong Kong Disneyland is meant to fix. Its expansions and new attractions are sorely needed.

The issue at hand is whether the government, which owns 53 percent of the theme park, can use the window of opportunity to squeeze a better deal out of the Walt Disney Company, which stands to cash in from royalties and management fees even if the park slips into red ink after interest, tax and amortization.

How will lawmakers in the Finance Committee vote on a funding request that will soon come to pay for the expansion?

Ahead of that, Walt Disney extended three olive branches: upping its capital injection by HK$350 million to raise its share to half the expansion cost; suspending variable management fees for two years; and giving away 50,000 complimentary tickets.

Mathematically, the concessions do not impress. In exchange for the capital injection, Walt Disney's stake rises to 48 percent from 47. Savings from the variable management fee moratorium are estimated to be in the region of dozens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. The tickets bonanza, while meant as a goodwill gesture, is really nothing more than a public relations exercise.

In needling the SAR, Ko could be doing the government a favor as his criticism may prompt some lawmakers to change their minds and get them to approve the funding needed for the theme park to stay up to date.

[hakjie11]

If this get rejected, I think they should look into the recent Paris Disney finance plan from WDC.

[HKDLFAN]

Any update from the Finance Committee meeting today?

[hakjie11]

After 4 hour discussion (many questioning the unequal deal) they didn't have enough time to vote. But if they did vote today, it would be a guaranteed NO.

[hakjie11]

They actually dug up another thing in the discussion :

A lawmaker noticed that the new proposed deal included Disney agreeing on giving up on the building height restrictions for the lands surrounding the park. Not many noticed this little innocent add-on agreement and what it actually means.
This building height restrictions was a requirement from Disney in the original contract with the HKgovernment, by not having tall buildings nearby disturbing its magical scenery, it could preserve the magic in its park.
They think that this might be the main reason why the government is supporting this unequal deal in the first place. The HKgov had big plans to develop Lantau area (housing, commercial, logistics, tourism,...). But this height restriction will get in its way and therefore the mouse needs to be pleased.

[Asa]

The deal is for the height restriction area to be reduced, not removed altogether. This will allow the government to develop Kau Yi Chau into a commercial as well as residential area as well as a new route to Lantau Island, two islands off the west coast of HK Island.

But Gregory So is not from the Development Bureau, which is responsible for land development, so he has no answers for the legislators.

[Asa]

http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1322926-20170401.htm

Disney expansion funding still not approved

Saturday's Finance Committee meeting in Legco has ended without it approving a HK$5.5 billion funding application to finance the expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Lawmakers spent the morning discussing whether the taxpayer should shoulder half of the total expansion cost.

Commerce Secretary Greg So said the agreement between the government and Disney was reasonable. He called on legislators to approve the funding as soon as possible so as to boost the theme park's competitiveness.

[Asa]

http://hd.stheadline.com/news/daily/hk/555731/

Widely circulated free newspaper Headline Daily is using the Tokyo Disneyland expansion news to push for the passing of the expansion bill in the LegCo Finance Committee. The newspaper quoted that the establishment lawmakers are already ready to pass the bill. The democrats still want exclusivity deals from WDC.

[HKDLFAN]

http://hd.stheadline.com/news/daily/hk/555731/

Widely circulated free newspaper Headline Daily is using the Tokyo Disneyland expansion news to push for the passing of the expansion bill in the LegCo Finance Committee. The newspaper quoted that the establishment lawmakers are already ready to pass the bill. The democrats still want exclusivity deals from WDC.

That is reassuring, this bill needs to be passed asap. Although WDC should throw in exclusivity rights as well. When is the bill likely to be addressed? This month?

[Asa]

http://www.todayonline.com/lifestyle...oration-disney

Star Wars, Disney-themed events to come to Singapore under Disney tie-up: Singapore Tourism Board. Starting with the Star Wars theme this year, Disney and STB will bring in Marvel-themed events next year and Disney Animation/Disney Pixar-themed events the year after.

See how WDC is already working with other Asian countries to bring their characters there. HK needs to move forward with the expansion plans and cannot stay on its feet.

[hakjie11]

I don't think anyone is really blocking Disney's expansion plans besides Disney themselves this time.

For anyone who understand Cantonese, there is a recent discussion on tv (below link) with the lawmakers mostly supporting it, in short the only point they can't agree with Disney now is the fixed management fee during loss making years.
Link ==> http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=216633

If Disney comes out and agrees on the management fee part, it should pass easily since they also waived the fixed management fee for Paris Disney when they were loss-making then why not for Hong Kong?

[hakjie11]

http://www.todayonline.com/lifestyle...oration-disney

Star Wars, Disney-themed events to come to Singapore under Disney tie-up: Singapore Tourism Board. Starting with the Star Wars theme this year, Disney and STB will bring in Marvel-themed events next year and Disney Animation/Disney Pixar-themed events the year after.

See how WDC is already working with other Asian countries to bring their characters there. HK needs to move forward with the expansion plans and cannot stay on its feet.

Btw I don't think the events would lead to a Singapore park even with Malaysia market considered. I would bet my money on South Korea for the next Disneyland in Asia.

[Asa]

The main body of the Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai mega bridge will be connected within this month. After that they will start the road work (surface, barriers, lighting etc). The HK, Macau and Zhuhai governments are confident the bridge will be able to open near the end of this year.

The tourism industry is very hopeful that once the bridge opens, tourists living on the west coast of the Pearl River will flood across to Hong Kong. Disneyland, being on Lantau Island, looks likely to benefit from this influx of visitors.

I am highly skeptical about the tourism benefits as the people living across the river generally do not make as much money as those working on this side. But I guess when the bridge opens there will be a lot of people trying to cross it for fun.

[Asa]

http://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=218313

Now TV reports that CE Leung Chun-Ying had a talk with the establishment lawmakers, he told them he fought hard for the Disneyland expansion deal, so they have to vote yes when the bill comes up later this week.

[hakjie11]

Thank you for the update.

I just read today that Michael Tien and Eddie Chu were openly against Disney expansion and will vote against it tomorrow.
If it gets voted down it will most likely be Carry Lam's government to take care of this, meaning a delay of at least 4 months again.

Let's hope it will pass or Disney comes up with a last moment slightly better proposal. (if that is still possible)

[hakjie11]

after a 2 day marathon meeting, finally meeting to be continued on 28 April

too many opposing legco members repeating the same thing over and over again in order to use up all the meeting time to avoid the bill getting green light

since the CEO of HK Disney was also there to answer questions, hope he can communicate with his US bosses after witnessing such a large opposing feedback and get HK people a slightly better deal

[Asa]

At the very least WDC should grant HKDL new expansion exclusivity for Asia for 10 years if not permanently. I really don't want to see Arendelle built both in HK and Tokyo, then Shanghai getting similar Marvel rides.