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HONG KONG DISNEYLAND
Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Walt Disney Theme Parks
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(5/14/12) The latest construction update from Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor can be found at Disney and More this week.
(4/26/12) Want to treat mom to a special Mother’s Day experience? Hong Kong Disneyland has posted a new video about how you can really enhance (MORE...)
(4/16/12) Fantastic new pictures showing off the nearly finished and detailed peaks of Grizzly Gulch as well as the first bits of themed exterior being placed on Mystic (MORE...)
(3/22/12) It’s not in English, but a video showing off the kind of premium guest highlight experiences HKDL visitors can expect to have if they purchase one of the upcharge (MORE...)
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing is known at this point in time...
General Park News - (4/26/12) Want to treat mom to a special Mother’s Day experience? Hong Kong Disneyland has posted a new video about how you can really enhance Mom’s special day at the park through the use of their new Star Guest program.
(3/22/12) It’s not in English, but a video showing off the kind of premium guest highlight experiences HKDL visitors can expect to have if they purchase one of the upcharge Star Guest program packs has been posted below. It pretty much speaks for itself as the park tests out this limited-time VIP experience program. Sure seems like a great way to plus your child’s birthday or any other special occasion.
(2/22/12) Disney and More talks about the interesting new ‘Star Guest” program that will take place at Hong Kong Disneyland between March 15th to May 20th.
(1/26/12) Disney and More talks about how Hong Kong Disneyland will celebrate The Year of the Dragon this week. There is also a correction to an earlier posting, as HKDL is only seeking to add two more hotels and not four. (They want to have 4 total…)
It also seems some of the future growth options for HKDL may hinge on a massive 29km sea-bridge that is planned to link Lantau Island to Macau, and will include an 1.4km underwater tunnel segment.
(1/13/12) There was an interesting comment made in this report about Hong Kong Disneyland’s performance growth. The park’s annual attendance hit an all time high of 5.9 million guests, up 13% from the previous year, and revenue was also up by 20%. As previously reported, hotel occupancy rose to 91%, hence the desire for funds to build new resorts. And then there is this comment… “The park reportedly plans to build an artificial lake and another amusement facility with a theme similar to Star Wars.”
So could this be the first leak about possibly building a brand new Star Tours attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland once they are done with Grizzly Gulch and and Mystic Manor?
(1/11/12) Good news for Hong Kong Disneyland this week as MSNBC reports that the theme park resort has moved even closer to profitability over the past year. The resort reported a reduced loss of 237 million HK Dollars ($30.5 million US) in 2011, down from 718 million HK Dollars in 2010. Attendance was up 13% as the park welcomed 5.9 million guests, who reported a 6% increase in PerCap spending. Hotel occupancy rates also rose from 82% to 91% in 2011.
While we’re talking about HKDL, Disney and More reports that the resort has now asked the Hong Kong government for funds to build four more on-site hotels, one large and three smaller hotels, which will be connected by a tram to the park. (More than likely the hotels will be added in phases if approved and not all at once.)
Fall 2011 - Toy Story Land - (12/8/11) Disney and More has posted some excellent new pictures of Toy Story Land this week that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
(11/22/11) Photos and videos from the grand opening of the new Toy Story Land have been posted to the latest update at the Disney & More Blog.
(11/11/11) The new animated TV ad for Toy Story Playland and additional Christmas Celebration entertainment has been posted to YouTube and embedded below. Meanwhile a ton of new images and reviews of the new Toy Story Land have been posted to Disney and More in a two park series. Click for Part 1 and Part 2.
(11/8/11) Disney and More has posted links to some of the first videos to come out of Toy Story Land showing off the new land and some POV videos from the new attractions.
(11/7/11) Disney and More takes us on a photo preview of the new Toy Story Land opening very soon at Hong Kong Disneyland.
(10/21/11) Disney and More has posted a few official pictures from Hong Kong Disneyland teasing the soon to open Toy Story Land.
(9/13/11) Disney and More has posted a new update about the soon to open Toy Story Land.
(8/15/11) While things will firm up as the dates get closer, I’ve heard it confirmed that Hong Kong Disneyland is planning the grand opening of Toy Story Land to take place along with the Christmas event which starts November 17th.
(8/4/11) I’ve been told that Hong Kong Disneyland is looking at linking the opening of the new Toy Story Land with their Christmas celebration. I’m sure this will depend on if the land is ready or not, but the Christmas celebration will begin on November 17th this year.
(4/25/11) Two new
construction pictures added showing off the Toy Story Green Army Men Parachute Drop tower ride as well as the RC Racer half-pipe ride.
(2/1/11) There is a great video showing off a look at the massive construction site for the three new lands on YouTube (embedded below), as seen from the back of the train. Lots of digging and structures starting to go up, but when you get to the last section, you’ll see the track for the RC Racer half-pipe ride for Toy Story Playland already in place now.
(9/15/09) Some new artwork shown at  the D23 Expo is now on Westcoaster and has a peek at the models of the new Hong Kong Disneyland expansion lands and attractions.
(7/1/09) What is likely to be the first new land to open of the three announced is Toy Story Land, since it is near identical to the land announced for Walt Disney Studios Paris. Toy Story Land will start a new pathway that will branch off from the back of the park where Fantasyland connects to Adventureland and feature three flat rides. The rides will include a half-pipe ride themed to RC Racer, a kid friendly parachute drop themed to the Green Army Men and a Slinky Dog themed Music Express style ride. Hong Kong Disneyland hopes that their big expansion plans will be enough to increase attendance at the theme park by 60% by 2015, bringing in around 7.3 million visitors. To read more details and see some awesome concept artwork, make the jump over to Disney and More.
 Summer 2012 - Grizzly Gulch - (5/14/12) The latest construction update from Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor can be found at Disney and More this week.
(4/16/12) Fantastic new pictures showing off the nearly finished and detailed peaks of Grizzly Gulch as well as the first bits of themed exterior being placed on Mystic Manor have been posted to Disney & More.
(3/19/12) The latest construction preview of Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor can be found over at the Disney & More Blog.
(3/5/12) A new construction video from the Hong Kong Disneyland train shows off the incredible progress made so far on Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch. There is also a great collection of still photos to be found here.
(10/19/11) The latest update at Disney & More features a new construction video of the new lands under way at Hong Kong Disneyland.
(9/26/11) A new construction video showing off the progress on Hong Kong Disneyland’s three new lands can be found over at the Disney and More blog. On a sad note, Disney has begun planting trees along the railroad track which will soon make it impossible to see into these areas from the train very soon, so this may be your last chance to see Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point.
(4/25/11) Special thanks to one of our readers who sent in some new construction pictures from Hong Kong Disneyland’s new expansion lands. There is a shot of what seems to be a building for the Mystic Manor area going up as well as coaster track now clearly in place for Grizzly Mountain, which matches up with the same style and color as that test track we’ve been keeping an eye on in The Netherlands as well.
(4/18/11) A new close up video of the Big Grizzly Mountain test lift hill set up in The Netherlands can be found below.
(3/14/11) Another new video of the Vekoma test lifthill set up in the Netherlands has been embedded below. This includes a good view of the hardware installed on the lift hill itself this time, so any ride techs out there want to tell us just what we’re seeing here?
(3/8/11) We’ve got a new video update of that prototype lift hill set up at the Vekoma test site, this time with the wheels and chassis of a train now sitting on the track. The video is embedded below.
(2/14/11) Our spies in the Netherlands are back with a new video update showing off the test lift hill set up at the Vekoma proving grounds.
(2/3/11) After scouring over the various pieces of artwork I’ve been able to gather for the Big Grizzly Mountain coaster, I think I’ve been able to come up with a fairly decent layout plan for the coaster that includes the location of the reversing lift-hill element and the “explosive” launch out of the mine tunnel that we’ve seen in the concept artwork. (Note: the background art was released by Disney, but I’ve zoomed in and added the black track layout line and arrows to show the direction of travel (Green for forward, Red for Backwards).
(2/2/11) While no one seems to know exactly for sure what the mystery Vekoma lift hill that appeared in The Netherlands is for, there has been some good speculation. The style of track used appears to be the same type that Vekoma used on Expedition Everest for Disney, and there may be a really good reason for that.
Screamscape sources report that Vekoma was awarded the contract to build the Big Grizzly Mountain coaster for Hong Kong Disneyland, based on the successful Everest coaster concept. Big Grizzly Mountain is supposed to be a kind of hybrid of ideas between Everst and Disney’s traditional Big Thunder Mountain coasters. A key element unique to Grizzly however is supposed to be a backwards plunge down a steep incline that will be the start of the breakneck backwards portion of the ride. This sounds quite similar to what takes place at the top of Everest, though the track up there is mostly flat.
Add in the unusual amount of extra hardware we can see on this strange lift hill at the Vekoma test site, and we may be seeing the prototype track for that particular element of Disney’s new Grizzly coaster.
(1/31/11) One of our European readers has send in a couple of video links containing footage of a unique looking new coaster hill that has been put up on the Vekoma testing site at Vlodrop in The Netherlands. From the look of it, it looks like some kind of new lift system… but I’m seeing what looks like magnetic brake fins involved as well. The track itself is also looks quite a bit like the same style track Vekoma used for Disney’s Expedition Everest coaster. The first video is a short video capture from the site, while the second is a series of close up photos of the track itself. Anyone have any idea what this may be for?
(7/1/09) Branching off from Adventureland around to the backside of the Jungle Cruise river will be Grizzly Trail, which is themed around an old west frontier gold mine town called Grizzly Gulch. According to the story the town was founded on August 8th, 1888 – the luckiest day / month / year ever to happen… however wild bears have been causing a lot of trouble for the Big Grizzly Mountain Mining Company.
In addition to fun photo opportunities, geysers and scenic props all around the abandoned town area, the major attraction of the area is the Big Grizzly Mountain Coaster, a runaway mine train that passes through the nearby mountain and empty town area. This isn’t just a copy of the popular Big Thunder Mountain concept however, as guests will encounter plenty of life sized Animatronic bears along the way, and the coaster itself may have more in common with Expedition Everest. According to the description the coaster will feature a run backwards down an incline that I assume will twist and turn through tunnels in the mountain before the train hits a launch section that will “blast” it back out of the mountain.
Spring 2013 - Mystic Point - Confirmed - (12/21/11) The Disney and Blog has posted a nice update showing off the peaks of Grizzly Gulch, which are forming nicely, and takes us for a nice long look at what we can expect to find inside Mystic Manor when it opens in Spring 2013.
(4/25/11) New construction picture added this week.
(3/28/11) I’m not sure how I missed this when it was announced a week or two ago, but Disney and More has confirmed that Danny Elfman (popular movie score composer and former front-man for Oingo Boingo) will compose the music for Hong Kong Disneyland’s new Mystic Manor attraction. There are some great pictures of Elfman peering into the Mystic Manor scale model and talking about how he jumped at the chance to do this project when asked, as Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion was his favorite ride. Check out the video clip embedded below. Danny also reveals that the ride itself will only be four and a half minutes long.
(8/26/10) According to a posting at Laughing Place the Mystic Manor dark ride, intended to be Hong Kong Disneyland’s version of a Haunted Mansion style dark ride, may have been changed significantly. They report that the budget, ride system (no more trackless cars) and entire attraction may have come under review and had the budget slashed to the point where what is eventually installed will be quite a bit different than what Disney showed off to theme park fans at the D23 Expo last year.
(7/13/09) Some great new artwork showing off all the proposed new Hong Kong Disneyland attractions and lands has been posted to the Disney and More blog.
(7/1/09) Set up between Toy Story Land and Grizzly Trail is Mystic Point where you will encounter Mystic Manor, a large creepy home hidden away in the heart of the dense uncharted rain forest. The home belonged to a very eccentric world traveler and adventurer and serves as a large showcase for all of the various exotic and perhaps magical artifacts he had collected over the years. Thanks to a “mischievous monkey” an enchanted music box is activated and is the cause for the dark ride adventure that follows. Nothing was said about the exact story or what happens within the ride itself, but it was mentioned that it will feature a trackless ride system that will allow the cars to move about anywhere they want inside Mystic Manor. Nearby the Manor is Mystic Point, a garden full of relics and statues that hide a hidden world of illusions. In a move sure to really bother some Walt Disney World fans, the area will also feature a restaurant with a very interesting theme… The Adventure’s Club. Guests will dine in a restaurant themed around a vast collection of strange and unique artifacts discovered all around the world. Yep… the Adventure’s Club restaurant idea that was once rumored for DisneySea is actually going to Hong Kong. I’d assume they will take many of the props from the closed Florida location to build this one.
2014/2015/2016 - Star Tours 3D - Planning - (1/26/12) Disney and More reports that if HKDL can’t work out their plans to get Star Tours 2 open by 2014, they will likely wait until 2016, as there are big Entertainment ideas being planned for 2015 to celebrate the park’s 10th Anniversary.
(1/16/12) As rumored last week, Disney and More has also confirmed this week that Hong Kong Disneyland does have plans in development to bring Star Tours 2 to the park in the 2014/2015 timeline. There is even a link to a map where you can find the site ear-marked for the attraction in Tomorrowland, nestled into a corner kind of between the Autopia and Buzz Lightyear.
(1/13/12) There was an interesting comment made in this report about Hong Kong Disneyland’s performance growth. The park’s annual attendance hit an all time high of 5.9 million guests, up 13% from the previous year, and revenue was also up by 20%. As previously reported, hotel occupancy rose to 91%, hence the desire for funds to build new resorts. And then there is this comment… “The park reportedly plans to build an artificial lake and another amusement facility with a theme similar to Star Wars.”
So could this be the first leak about possibly building a brand new Star Tours attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland once they are done with Grizzly Gulch and and Mystic Manor?
2015 - New 10th Anniversary Entertainment - (1/26/12) The only rumors go far claim that in typical Disney park fashion, for the park’s first big anniversary celebration, they will likely focus on adding major new entertainment options such as shows and parades.
???? - New Hotel - Planned - (7/26/07) While attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland is below expectations, that hasn’t stopped the Disney Resorts on site from filling up. Based on the occupancy rates at the resorts existing two resorts, HKDL is moving ahead with plans to build a 3rd hotel to fill the growing demand. The new hotel is only in long term development and wont open for several years, but is earmarked for a site between the resorts other two hotels that is currently used for “sporting activities”.
Downtown Disney - Planning - (6/8/11) According to the latest word from Screamscape source, a meeting between WDI and Cirque du Soleil at the Grand Californian hotel last week was actually to talk about adding a new Cirque show to Hong Kong Disneyland and not to the California park. It’s felt that a new Cirque theater building could serve as an anchor to a new local Downtown Disney style retail between the park and the resorts.
(6/6/07) Sources claim that a Hong Kong version of Downtown Disney is on the drawing boards right now, though we have no idea when they may try to move forward with it. We’ve also heard they have plans for another themed hotel too, but those plans will only move forward if and when the current attendance problems have been solved. Right now the focus is on improving the park experience and adding new attractions that can draw in bigger crowds.
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