Hong Kong Disneyland News

I'm sure that they are not talking about Iron Man because they want all the focus to be on Shanghai. Once Shanghai is open and running we will see the opening date for Iron Man.

 

Anyone believing the rumour that HKDL's castle might get replaced.

RUMOR: Hong Kong Disneyland to Tear Down Sleeping Beauty Castle - WDW News Today

 

Nope, I don't believe it for a second. Why would they tear down the castle to just replace it with a bigger (but still not huge) one? Where is the return on that investment? Where is the space to physically build a larger castle? Why does the park's development history in the article sound so unfamiliar?

Maybe the park isn't happy with SDL's big fancy castle, but they have known it was coming for years; why act now? Like many spaces in the park, HKDL's castle was built to allow a walkthough to be added later, like the one in DL. If they want to try and do something special, maybe it's time for them to finish the interior and actually let guests inside. Or how about filling in the empty show building intended for Peter Pan's Flight?

But tear down a castle just to rebuild it? No, that doesn't pass the BS test

 

It sounds indeed ridiculous and I don't believe the rumour myself, but I just wanted to share it.

 

Wow. So the castle thing was true. I'm shocked. And the design is hideous:

It seems to borrow a lot from the mishmash style in Shanghai, along with a very similar stage/moat/viewing area. It looks bad in the isolated concept art, but I really wonder what it will look like with the mountains in the background; Disney really is becoming a parody of itself.

They're also going to have some Moana entertainment in Adventureland (in 2018?), a Marvel area to replace Autopia (and possibly Buzz Lightyear?) in 2023, and a Frozen land behind Fantasyland (which will apparently be the first to open in 2020...I wonder what happened to TDS?)

Here's the official Parks Blog release:
Hong Kong Disneyland Announces Plan for Multi-Year Expansion With New Attractions and Entertainment
And one with a little more context and analysis:
Frozen and Marvel attractions planned in HK$11 billion Hong Kong Disneyland expansion

I just have so many questions about all this

 

I'm baffled by the news, because they came out of nowhere. Sure there were rumours, but I didn't expect them to come true. Very exciting times coming up for HKDL.

The castle looks indeed hideous, but SDL taught me to wait and see how it actually turns out.

The Marvel area looks fantastic and as a huge Marvel movies fans, this is the area I'm looking forward the most.

Frozen looks very similar to TDS' new port.

 

Here's the full press release, which has some more details and a lot more concept art
Hong Kong Disneyland Set for Multi-Year Transformation with All-New Attractions and Entertainment

• Buzz definitely getting redressed to Marvel (Ant Man?)
• Autopia replacement appears to be Avengers
• Tomorrowland will have one side that's awkwardly all Marvel stuff without really being its own land but also not matching the existing design aesthetic
• Frozen land will have 2 attractions, 1 of which appears to be an indoor version of the new Luigi's ride with bigger (2-row) vehicles
• There will still be an expansion pad between the Frozen land and the existing Toy Story Play Land
• Castle additions will be on the back of the existing structure, in the plaza behind the castle. There does not appear to be a guest walkway through the castle due to the stage configuration
• Moana stage appears to be replacing landscaped areas & walkways in Adventureland. The open areas really made AL unique for the park, so hopefully some of that remains

I still have so many questions. I'm glad that the park is getting some more attention, but so much of this just doesn't seem like the right direction to me. I know a lot of the decisions come from the HK government, but it really does make me question what WDI is capable of these days (and makes me fear for Epcot)

 

I waited to see SDL's final product, and I still think it's really ugly. Granted I haven't seen it in person, but I can't imagine it looks all that different. Sometimes a hodgepodge concept art means that the building will look like a mess in reality. I just hope that HKDL's comes off a little more elegant and less corporate than its mainland sister

 

I guess Tomorrowlands in Disneyland parks will become Star Wars and Marvel themed lands. While I like both franchises a lot, I don't want them to take over the whole lands.

 

I really like SDL's castle. For me it's the second best after DLP's.

HKDL's castle looks indeed terrible, like a stretched version of DLP's castle combined with the castles from SDL and DL.

 

The Explorer's Lodge looks really beautiful. And it will open on April 30th.

New 'Explorers Lodge' resort hotel prepares to open in Hong Kong Disneyland

 

Looks nice! Definitely more of a modern design approach than the Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge in WDW, but it looks like it will be a really nice addition to HKDL's hotel roster

 

Inspiration for the Mystic Manor mansion.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.at/2017/02/d-exclusive-mansion-which-inspired-hkdl.html

 

I think in hindsight, creating an exact copy of the iconic Sleeping Beauty castle from Disneyland was a mistake.

I'm glad it's being replaced with its own distinctive castle.

 

I also like how taxpayers get to help pay for the expansion. Wowzer.

 

First look into the lobby of the Explorer's Hotel.



Looks very pretty!

 

Looks great! The easy choice would be to overdo the decorations for a project like this, so I like how restrained the design is, especially for such a small space. It looks like the theme is clearly evident, with lots of cool details to explore, without being over the top

 

Does anyone know which Imagineer was responsible for that hotel? It looks like Joe Rohde was behind the hotel.

Here are some pictures of the shop. I really like the hotel specific merchandise.

迪士尼探索家度假酒店「叢林商店」及酒店獨有主題商品特集 - Hong Kong Main Street Gazette 大街小報 - HKMSG

Here are some food pictures from the hotel.

迪士尼探索家度假酒店餐廳簡介及美食特集 - Hong Kong Main Street Gazette 大街小報 - HKMSG

I don't like the Disney character references in the flowers.

 

Pictures of the great looking Explorer's Hotel

體驗全港獨有異國風情體驗「迪士尼探索家度假酒店」4 月 30 日正式開業 - Hong Kong Main Street Gazette 大街小報 - HKMSG

 

Looks nice! It has a few more character references than I would have chosen, but they're subtle and appropriate enough that I can live with them. I especially like how they managed to find ones connected to the diverse geographic areas

It's interesting that they're using the same RFID door locks that were installed in WDW as part of the MM+ project. I wonder if there are any plans to roll out certain elements of that project to HKDL