Gratuitous Disney references

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  1. #31

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    Hilarious

    Canny Hongkongers do Disney on the cheap

    Few can match the ingenuity of thrifty Hong Kong people when it comes to finding ways of getting the most bangs for their buck at a Disney theme park, according to experiences drawn by Disney managers after a series of rehearsals.

    At any of the popular Mickey Mouse entertainment venues around the world, visitors enjoying the rollercoaster rides can often be seen observing the action afterwards on a monitor and snapping up professional photographs of all the fun.

    Not for local fans of Hong Kong Disneyland, however. They have found a way to get the pictures for free: they use their own cameras to photograph the monitor image.

    A popular free photo opportunity also exists by the balloon stand. Local fans have no problem sending their loved ones and children to stand by the balloon seller for a quick snapshot but have a big problem when it comes to buying a balloon.

    They also have no qualms about capturing important moments on film, even if it means interrupting a ride. At Space Mountain, just before the ride begins, people get out of their barricaded seats to take pictures. The breach automatically halts the ride.

    The same happens at the spinning Mad Hatter Tea Cups, where passengers disembark from their individual cups to take snaps, only to set off the safety mechanism. To prevent the situation from escalating, the park will place a stationary cup by the queue in the hope passengers will satisfy their camera cravings before going for a spin.

    "Taking photographs is just phenomenal in Hong Kong," said group managing director Don Robinson.

    Meal times are largely dictated by the parades, which occur at 1.30pm and 3.30pm. This means the roughly two-hour period in between is crunch time for the theme park's catering staff, who can only churn out 10,000 meals an hour. The park can accommodate a maximum of 30,000 people.

    "Everybody eats at the same time and this puts a lot of stress on our operations," Mr Robinson said.

    He said one possible solution was to extend the period between the parade times.

    The lunch crowd often hangs around in the restaurant after their meal and some customers continue to occupy their tables, which they use as their base camp for the day.

    On average, Hong Kong visitors spend 9.3 hours at the park, with many arriving early and leaving late. The average in the US is eight hours.

    Mr Robinson is considering extending the park's operating hours and this has already been planned for the busy Mid-Autumn Festival.

    He said bookings were coming in and that two firms had inquired about taking over the park for a day of staff activities.

    Taking the mickey?

    * Hongkongers can't get enough of taking photographs. But they don't want to pay for them and will photograph the monitor image of the Space Mountain ride, for example

    * Parents will also photograph their children standing next to a balloon seller but won't buy a balloon

    * At the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, they will get out just before the ride starts to take photographs, causing the ride to stop automatically

    * Groups occupy a table in a restaurant for the whole day as a base camp for their trip





    this and the piece about Wu are both taken from the unlinkable S.C.M.P.

  2. #32

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    Thats pure gold... HK at its very best!


  3. #33

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    >> "Taking photographs is just phenomenal in Hong Kong," said group managing director Don Robinson.

    By "group MD" .. I'd assume he has a clue of what goes on in Japan? Or are the Japanese to reserved to wreck safety mechanisms?

    >> "Everybody eats at the same time and this puts a lot of stress on our operations," Mr Robinson said.

    Errr ... thats the point right?

    We're going tommorrow. Will probably get a fairly unbiased review (i.e. will control my cynicism) done by Monday.


  4. #34

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    Overheard in an escalator, twenty years from now...

    "so where were you when HK Disneyland opened"


  5. #35

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    Sage words from Bernie



    Queues at Disneyland? Just typical

    BERNARD CHAN


    Hong Kong people who are worried that the new Disneyland represents only western culture can relax. After attending a rehearsal day last weekend, I can assure them they will feel very much at home when they visit the new theme park.

    First of all, they can expect Causeway Bay-style crowds, as the first phase has capacity for just 29,000 visitors. During the parade down Main Street USA, you simply cannot move.


    Inevitably, this means there will be queues for many of the attractions. Of course, all theme parks have queues, but by any standards a visit to the Hong Kong park is likely to involve quite a lot of waiting in line.

    It took us an hour to see the Festival of the Lion King and 85 minutes to get into Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. There is a "fastpass" system that lets you book a time, but its quotas were already filled. So one parent stood in line for the show, while the other went off to get something to eat.

    There were long lines in the restaurants too, with my patient wife waiting half an hour for some takeaway food. In the sit-down places it would have taken longer, with people spending a lot more time eating and sitting around afterwards than would be the case in an American theme park.

    We had fishburgers, but the majority of outlets offered noodles, barbecued pork and a variety of other Cantonese-style and Asian foods. Many shops were very busy, too, with long lines of people waiting to buy Disney souvenirs. This came with another Asian twist: people were buying items made of gold.

    In true Hong Kong fashion, all the announcements were in Cantonese, English and Mandarin, though not everyone seems to have been listening. Requests not to use camera flashes in the Lion King show, for example, had little apparent effect.

    Although the crowds were well behaved, as they usually are in Hong Kong, the large number of visitors is likely to give Disney some challenges.

    I saw that a lot of park employees were busy clearing up litter, which suggests they might need to install more bins. Some visitors were perhaps a little too enthusiastic, and were rushing from one show to another. I could not help wondering about crowd management after the official opening, when a larger proportion of the visitors will be from the mainland and Southeast Asia (most of them last weekend were local).

    The small size of the site was very noticeable, and the second phase will probably need to go ahead as soon as possible.

    But the main thing is that everyone was enjoying themselves. Although Hong Kong Disneyland has been controversial among commentators and politicians, the children have no doubts at all. They love it, and I know I will be taking mine back - or they will take me - because, to them, the atmosphere and the staff are fun, and the things to do and see are well worth waiting in line for.

    However, I will probably make sure it is on a weekday or some other relatively quiet time.

    What surprised me the most, though, was that the place had a surprisingly Hong Kong feel to it. Everything, from the efficient public transport links to the amazing fireworks display, seemed to fit in with the local environment.

    Mickey Mouse comes from western popular culture, but so what? Lots of things in this international city are non-Chinese, but we still think of them as local.

    And that is how I think our new Disneyland is going to turn out: as a typical Hong Kong experience.

    Bernard Chan is a member of the Executive Council and a legislator representing the insurance functional constituency.


  6. #36

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    ..and a nice touch from Hemlock (see last entry)

    http://www.geocities.com/hkhemlock/r...y-03sep05.html


  7. #37

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    you won't catch me there anytime soon, or ever i suppose. what's the point going all the way to ratville and then chomp a char siu? ludicrous! they can get those in yau ma tei. and i think the joke's on HK coz for Phase II read Shanghai.


  8. #38

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    I wonder if Diney knows?

    http://www.leslielegacy.com/Scr_2ndAn_eng.htm

    and from the SCMP

    A 92-year-old woman who also waited for the ride said she would not visit the park again unless conditions improved: "It is even worse than queueing for rice handouts during the Hungry Ghost Festival," she said.

    and for an encore

    Londoner Nicola Fu, who has been to Disneyland parks in Florida, Los Angeles and Tokyo, found the street parade impressive. But she said the colours of the park were "too pale", adding: "Winnie the Pooh does not look like the original one because it is too round."


  9. #39

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    Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally wrong about Disneyland? Setting aside the fact that old walt was a rampant nazi and his hobbies included trying to build a utopian village for all (as long as you are exceedingly rich and happen to meet predetermined parameters), the underlying nature and main characters of disney cartoons are supposed to epitomize the very nature of 'innocence' and dare i say it 'goodness'. Disneyland on the other hand is all about squeezing every penny out of you, playing on the volitile emotions of children to maximize the amount their parents have to spend, and effectively manipulating money out of you.

    Now, that said, seeing and hearing Mickey Mouse and friends meeting and greeting with a chinese accent has to be almost worth it in itself....


  10. #40

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    Just heard in the evening news that ratville officials, aka Disneyland, demanded from two health inspectors to remove their hats and badges before entering the park for inspection.. LOL!! ffs!

    Just found an article about it too