A Documentary about The Troubled History of Hong Kong Disneyland

[CazzaCarroll]

Hey Guys,

After a few months of research and effort our Documentary about the rough start of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is online! Would love if you guys could give us some feedback as we haven't tackled something like this before!

[hakjie11]

Ｇｏｏｄ　Ｊｏｂ　！

[ree523]

Thank you. (Thumbs up)

[CazzaCarroll]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed

[Fctiger]

Amazing video! And I agree almost everything you said about the park then and now. As someone who was there three weeks after it originally opened in 2005 and then was just back there again not even two weeks ago there is definitely a change in terms of its own identity and desperately trying to make it its own destination park. The fact they are redesigning the castle says it all.

There were so many problems with the park when it opened in 2005 but the biggest two being there was simply not enough to do to keep you in the park more than a few hours and that there wasn't one single unique thing to do in the park. Literally not one. Sure if this your first and only Disney park then yeah I guess that was OK. But if the park was suppose to bring other people from other countries then the question was why would they ever go if they could find better and unique offerings everywhere else? Even bad parks like DCA and WDSP actually had a few unique offerings that made them stand out a little, even if just barely. But also the fact that they were just second gate extensions attached to already amazing parks. The problem with HKDL was that was it and nothing else. That was the first time Disney had made a bare bones resort from the get go. Thankfully they learned their lesson with Shanghai.

But being back there after not being there in about six years it is definitely a much better park now and all the new attractions really felt like they were Hong Kong originals which they were. I love the fact that Iron Man was built specifically around the city of Hong Kong. That makes the attraction feels unique and what they should've done rides like that in day one.

I look forward to all the things coming but its sad how so little of an after thought it felt when it opened, especially all the money the Hong Kong people put into it.

[Asa]

I would have thought Robert Iger taking over from Michael Eisner would have been a fairly big reason for HKDL's turn around. Iger is the one willing to put real money into the park and oversaw the phase 1 and now phase 2 expansion plans.

[Fctiger]

I would have thought Robert Iger taking over from Michael Eisner would have been a fairly big reason for HKDL's turn around. Iger is the one willing to put real money into the park and oversaw the phase 1 and now phase 2 expansion plans.

I definitely think it was considering he was also the one to turn around DCA the same way pumping over a billion dollars in its expansion and just brought DLPR completely and now has big plans to make WDSP an enticing park as well. And his first truly Disney park project, Shanghai Disneyland, is just stunning. That opening felt like the Disney of old and releasing a truly magnificent park and resort. Why I give Iger a lot of credit, he may not be perfect and people question his IP obsession but he knew the parks were giving a bad name by Eisner's cheap and short term mindset the last few years of his rein and now trying to turn it around. I think under him literally every single park, even the third and fourth gates of WDW, are all getting one major land addition (in some cases actually two) if they haven't gotten one already the last few years. Every one not counting SDL being so new.

But that's impressive and why I'm very excited about all the Disney parks future.

[Mondo Mouse]

This was really well done, great job!

[jcruise86]

Thank you for making and sharing this!

That written, I was frustrated by the talk of the other parks without better video to go with it, and the really quick editing annoyed me throughout. It felt like no image was on the screen for more than a second, and that it had been shot by dozens of different people.

I didn't think the discussion of Disney politics was very eloquent or insightful ("Shortly after Hong Kong Disneyland opened, Michael Eisner felt it was best to step down from his position at Disney."), and I disliked how little attention was paid to specifics of the hotels, restaurants, lands & attractions. An effort should've been made to create or at least show the most beautiful and/or interesting video of what is unique at the resort. Whether or not you liked them, I wanted to look inside of each hotel. There were just a few seconds on the innovative Hong Kong Jungle Cruise. Did you notice that there are hills in the background? And where were Mystic Manor and the new lands? What about the new castle?

If this is still a work in progress you may wish to use maps & aerial photographs & aerial video of the resort in relation to the rest of Hong Kong, and use a map & aerial photographs & aerial film of the resort as establishing shots before showing the hotels, lands and attractions.

The narrator has a nice voice, but hearing others and maybe NOT talking for a couple seconds here & there would've made this sound less tedious.

Bob Iger came across well (though we never heard directly from him), but I want to hear from Imagineers who actually put more time & thought into the resort. Maybe mention Ocean Park & the war for better attendance. I would have liked interviews with Theme Park Insider's Robert Niles & Micechat's own Todd Regan ("Dusty Sage.")

Sorry if I came across as too negative, but I spent over 21 minutes watching this, so I'm invested.

Thanks again! I've never made a documentary, and so I congratulate you on creating this. If I thought it was REALLY awful, I wouldn't have finished watching it, and I wouldn't have commented on it. If I see another video by CazzaCarroll, I'll watch it.

[manifest]

I love this video!

[CASurfer65]

Very informative.
When my friend and I were there two years ago, the castle was still under construction.
But I thought the area in which it was located was just beautiful.
And once the park reaches its peak it will be a real showplace.
I wasn't so bothered by the lack of things to do there as I was expecting it. Friends of mine from my Disney CM days who worked on Shanghai had told my friend and I that one day at HK would be enough. So we weren't surprised.
I think our only real issue with the park was in their CMs. There just seemed to be a real disconnect between them and the guests.
We didn't get the smiles and the welcoming feelings that we received at Shanghai or Tokyo. And it was obvious. When you meet people with smiles and cordial attitudes and you don't get it back.....from a CM at Disney, something isn't right.
Having watched this video, however, provided some interesting insight into the people of HK and their reception of, and feelings about, this park. And how they seemingly felt shortchanged.
Perhaps this had something to do with CM attitude.
I will say though that my friend and I got a real cold feeling from the guests at the HK park too. Perhaps a cultural thing?
But suffice it to say, across the board, the Shanghai and Tokyo experiences were top notch. On every level.