Hong Kong Disneyland to Close?!

March 18, 2009
By Wayang Times

Photobucket

It appears that Hong Kong’s Disneyland may close down?!

The park, a joint venture between Walt Disney (DIS) and the Hong Kong government, was supposed to be Disney’s foothold in the potentially lucrative China market but has steadily lost money since opening in September 2005. The Hong Kong version of the Magic Kingdom is the smallest of Disney’s theme parks, and some visitors gripe that it’s too small to entice them back for a second visit.

Now the project has hit a new snag: Disney has indicated that it is putting on hold long-awaited plans to expand on the park. In a statement from Disney’s Burbank (Calif.) office released on Mar. 16, the company said it was laying off employees in Hong Kong after failing to reach an agreement with the Hong Kong government to fund a much-needed expansion. According to Disney, “the uncertainty of the outcome requires us to immediately suspend all creative and design work on the project.” Thirty Hong Kong-based Disney “Imagineers” will be losing their jobs, leaving a skeleton team of 10 behind.

One reason Disney might be willing to walk away from negotiations with the government: The company has another China option, since it is talking with Shanghai officials to open a theme park there that would be much larger and easier for many Chinese families to visit. “Now that the government has decided not to support Disneyland in Hong Kong, Walt Disney is going to shift its focus towards its new and arguably more exciting China project—Disneyland Shanghai,” Parita Chitakasem, a research manager with research firm EuroMonitor, said in an e-mail. The Shanghai park, which has not yet received final government approval, could open in 2014 and be as large as 800 hectares. “Hong Kong Disneyland would have a lot of trouble competing,” she says.

Full story here.

Visit my blog at http://wayangtimes.blogspot.com/ if you like these. Or visit my new blog at http://adsensetweets.blogspot.com/ for even more girls.

Please subscribe to my RSS feed. You can subscribe by entering your email address below, and you will never miss any good posts updated by me DAILY. Don't worry, you can unsubscribe ANYTIME.

Subscribed by email for daily free updates:

Related posts:

  1. China Will Get Their Own Disneyland Theme Park in Shanghai – Will Hong Kong get Pwned?
  2. New Shanghai Disneyland Mickey Mouse Models Should Look Like This
  3. Ewong – Weng Hong, The Hot Hong Kong Cat 3 Actress Who Looks Great as Hot Pregnant Mother!
  4. Pretty Hong Kong Lady Likes Ice Cream and Photos
  5. Pretty Cute Hong Kong Girl Loves to Self Cam

Comments are closed.