TIME-OUT
Disney in Hong Kong
SHONALI MUTHALALY
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The fun and excitement of a Disney theme park came alive with a spectacular grand opening.
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PHOTO: MARK ASHMAN
NEWEST ADDITION: Hong Kong's cityscape provides the backdrop for Sleeping Beauty Castle, the icon of Disneyland Park.
THE touristy teenyboppers at the entrance brought cameras. He brought red roses. They posed flamboyantly in front of the still bolted gates — all victory signs and goofy whistles. He grasped the stems sweatily, screwing his eyes shut and praying hard.
When Hong Kong Disneyland finally opened, to let a torrent of Mickey Mouse fans into its much talked-about, carefully designed, expensively contoured interiors, the teenyboppers rushed for Space Mountain, a zipping-zooming roller coaster ride in "Tomorrow Land". He went to Fantasy Land, making his way past the musical Cinderella carousel, his knees knocking together, till he reached the Mad Hatter Tea Cups. Then, while the squealing hoards got their adrenaline rush and Disney high in the electric darkness of Space Mountain, alive with dancing stars, his world went kaleidoscope-crazy in a completely different way. Because, in front of an audience, this usually shy Hong Kong citizen quietly got on his knees and asked his girlfriend, a Disney cast member who was on duty at the spinning Teacups ride, to marry him.
A special opening
The opening day was as magical as Disney had promised. Not because the company and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government had lavished a total of HK $14.1 billion on the park, in a bid to make it as "magical" as it could be in a real world, beset with smog, sweat and merciless sunshine. Not because the Disney "imagineers" (storytellers who come from more than a 100 different professions, from animators, to lighting technicians to "rock sculptors") had worked for more than two years, putting the stories together, by doing everything from fixing Cinderella's crystal slippers on chandeliers to balancing on scaffolding at Tarzan's tree house to angle each of the artificial tree's (biological name: Disneydendron semperflorens grandis) 10,000 leaves so they would naturally reflect the sun. Not because Disney's signature entertainment architecture had ensured that every part of the park teemed with carefully chosen colours. Or because the company's newest park opened on September 12, a day considered auspicious by the Feng shui master who guided its layout. Though all these factors probably did play a large role in the opening day's success.
The fact is Disneyland's opening in Hong Kong was special because of the stories it brought to life. Stories that its guests had obviously grown up hearing, judging by how they lined up, to gingerly shake regally blonde Cinderella's hand, or bear-hug Donald and Daisy Duck, who tripped around the pavements waggling their honey yellow beaks to "Zippedy-doo-dah, zippedy-day".
Stories that made the park magical enough to propose in, nostalgic enough to choose for a family holiday and even unique enough to spend about HK$350 per head, for a day of frantic photography and fidgety queues.
"This is not just about a roller coaster that goes faster or higher," says Tom Staggs, Senior AVP and Chief Financial Officer of Walt Disney Co., "It's about fantasy and adventure, and that is unique." He adds that they don't compete with other theme parks. "Because we are on a different mission. We take a story and make it physical." Their treasury of tales backs every ride, every character and every bit of overpriced merchandise that flew off the shelves in the Mickey mania that surrounded the opening.
Rumblings
In Hong Kong city, however, muttering about the mouse reached a crescendo by opening day, since a substantial number of citizens were, apparently, unhappy about the government using taxpayer's money to fund a park that, they felt, would be unlikely to recover it's huge productions costs. It didn't help that there was talk about another bigger park coming up in Shanghai by 2010, meaning Hong Kong was "merely being used as a stepping stone" according to some of the obviously-miffed local visitors.
But, in spite of it all, Mickey suddenly became hip. The city trains were packed with commuters wearing Disney T-shirts and Mulan, Disney's only Chinese heroine, memorabilia. And even Giordano, a popular international label from the Special Administrative Region, launched a new Disney collection, in its first licensing agreement with another brand. "It's impossible to boil it down to a formula," beams Tom. "This is entertainment that is uplifting and touches basic human emotions." However, some of the emotions stirred weren't always to Disney's benefit. When the park announced that it would be serving shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese favourite, animal activists protested vociferously, some even using Disney's loveable fish, Nemo, as their poster boy.
The crowds
That wasn't the only hiccup. On trial runs, the crowds overwhelmed Hong Kong Disneyland, which, at 126 hectares can fit into Walt Disney World, Florida, almost 90 times over. Even at 1/3 of its maximum capacity, which is reportedly 30,000 people, the park's trial runs saw long waits in the blazing sun for the more popular rides. When people protested, the authorities announced that they would stay open longer, instead of cutting down on the number of guests, which didn't really solve the problem. While waiting for 90 minutes to meet Snow White can be quite exasperating, especially since the bright-eyed princess tends to excuse herself with an "I have to go check on the dwarves" every time she gets bored signing autographs, there's plenty to do, if you have time and patience.
The highlights are undoubtedly the thrilling, goose flesh inducing "Festival of the Lion King", filled with music, bongo rhythms, ballerinas, acrobats and some fabulous singing performances. And "Disney in the stars", where fireworks explode above the Sleeping Beauty castle, painting the night sky, in time to songs from Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
Stating that Hong Kong Disney Land "is a key tourism infrastructure project that will bring significant economic benefits" to the city, till now popular with visitors for just food and shopping, Donald Tsang, HK SAR Chief Executive, says that the park will make an estimated HK $148 billion over a 40-year period, in "terms of value added, such as employment income and profits for large and small companies."
If they do get their projected 5.6 million guests in the opening year, it's very likely that Simba and his warthog buddy won't be the only people whistling Hakuna Matata. "Ain't no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy ... Hakuna Matata."
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