Word: disneyland
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...Will Hong Kong's status be reinforced by Disneyland? Or is the replication of the Magic Kingdom a desperate exercise in copycat tourism that ignores Hong Kong's special attributes in favor of a dated American formula that will bring scant benefit? I know of no such equivalent in or around Monte Carlo?or, for that matter, in Nice and Cannes, both of which combine glamour, history, good food, a healthy climate and the flamboyant luxury of megayachts. By all means bring a casino to Hong Kong. But make it Monte Carlo, not Macau, which today has little more visual...
Disney made sure not to repeat those mistakes in Hong Kong. "We've come at it with an American sensibility, but we still appeal to local tastes," says John Sorenson, one of Hong Kong Disneyland's landscape architects. Fantasyland has a garden where photo-happy tourists can always find Mickey, Minnie and other popular characters. Mulan will have her own pavilion in the garden, designed like a Chinese temple. Mickey even has a new red-and-gold Chinese suit to wear. Restaurants boast local fare, such as Indian curries, Japanese sushi and Chinese mango pudding served in containers shaped like...
...shark population, howled in protest.) "Disney has learned that they can't impose the American will--or Disney's version of it--on another continent," says Dennis McAlpine of McAlpine Associates, a securities-research firm specializing in media and entertainment. "They've bent over backward to make Hong Kong Disneyland blend in with the surroundings...
Still, most of the park looks as if it were airlifted from the U.S. Imagineers used Walt Disney's original designs for the first Disneyland in Anaheim as a starting point. Many Disney classics are there, including a fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty Castle and a Space Mountain roller coaster. Will this slice of Americana appeal to the Chinese? Disney executives think so. The Chinese "have heard so much about the parks around the world, and they want to experience the same thing," says Don Robinson, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland. Disney may be catching China at just the right...
Even before its opening, Disney is plotting to expand. According to Rasulo, Disney has been in discussions with government officials in China to bring a Disneyland to the mainland, perhaps to Shanghai. Executives are already preparing new attractions for Hong Kong, such as an updated version of the popular racing ride Autopia, due to open in mid-2006. On the drawing board are plans to nearly double the park's capacity and possibly add a second park. "We're in for a long-term commitment," says Robinson. "It's not like just opening an office and selling a product...