Originally Posted By irishfan Looks like a nice charming addition, something that they can market as a new attraction before Iron Man opens next year.
Originally Posted By dagobert In this new D&M article there is construction photo of HKDL's Explorer Hotel. There's also an interesting info graphic that compares both Chinese resorts. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/02/shanghai-disneyland-and-hong-kong.html">http://disneyandmore.blogspot....ong.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert Explorer's Lodge update: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/02/hong-kong-disneyland-explorers-lodge.html">http://disneyandmore.blogspot....dge.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It looks neat so far. I like how it's smaller than the other hotels (though not tiny by any means), which will give it a completely different sense of scale. I'm also surprised by how small the parking lot is (relative to the hotel size), but I guess they know that nearly everybody will arrive by transit I'm curious if they will connect the hotel grounds to the Hollywood Hotel next door. There's a dense row of plants there now, but it might make sense to have a path or two to tie them together; right now you'd have to use the sidewalk along the main road. I can't think of a similar setup for other Disney hotels (maybe somewhere at Paris?) where there are extensive grounds, but the hotels are still right next to each other There's still another plot or two between the Explorer Hotel and the HKDL Hotel, right?
Originally Posted By dagobert At DLP the hotels at Lake Disney are connected through the walkway around the lake. There's a walkway that runs from Santa Fe to Disney Village along the small river and Santa Fe and Cheyenne are connected by bridges. It's a very lovely 15 minutes walk. It looks like that there are more plots for future hotels. I also think that the new hotel looks nice. At least the theming appeals to me. I wonder when HKDL will get its own DTD/DV/DT.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think we'll see a second park at HKDL before a shopping area. Given the convenience to get to central HK from the resort, I just don't see many people stopping there to shop. Additionally the resort layout is decentralized, which would make it tough to pick a good site for it. Perhaps if they ever open the ferry terminal (completed before the park opened), that would help direct traffic flow in a way that would lend itself to a shopping district
Originally Posted By irishfan The hotel looks great and would be very keen the stay there the next time I find myself at Disneyland. . I would rather they flesh out the original park some more before they look at building a second park. Regarding a shopping district, I'd much rather a fast ferry service direct to Kowloon and Hong island.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I think we'll see a second park at HKDL before a shopping area. Given the convenience to get to central HK from the resort<<< But isn't it the same in Shanghai? SDL is just a few stops on the metro away from the city and that resort got DT. In LA Disneyland is in the middle of the city of Anaheim, so there must also be enough possibilities for shopping and dining. I think HKDL is still many years away from a second park. So there's still enough time to expand the current park.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros DLR is pretty well integrated with the surrounding city, so it’s easy for people to stop by the shopping area for a few hours; from what I’ve seen, SDL is attempting a similar approach. HKDL is a sleepy little outpost at the end of the rail line, and nobody really goes there unless they’re going to the park or hotels. There’s a lovely recreation area/city park (Inspiration Lake) that was built as part of the ownership agreements, but from my understanding it is very lightly used The other park have geography on their sides; it’s relatively easy to get to them from the surrounding areas, and they are destinations to themselves. HKDL is surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, so nobody is just passing through. The park still has a reputation for being a day-long add-on to HK (much like DL in its early days) rather than a destination of its own More than some of the other parks, HKDL seems to have a pretty good idea of what it wants to be. I just haven’t seen anything that would indicate they want to have a shopping district like the other parks, or that it would even be successful in that location. People tend not to linger around the park for too long
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for all the infos. I'm just surprised that there isn't even a Disney merchandise shop along the way to the metro station. I guess the hotel guests only hang out in the hotel after they visited the park. Or is it common to take the train into the city for some drinks?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Yah, I'm a little surprised that there isn't some sort of merchandise by the train station I suspect that most hotel guests stay on property in the evenings. The hotels are pretty far away from the train and would require taking a shuttle bus (and the train only goes one stop, so you'd have to transfer again to get anywhere) so I don't think most people would go through the hassle The one great thing about the location is that it's really close to the airport. We had an overnight layover in HK and switched our reservation to a Disney hotel because it only took a few minutes in a cab and was actually cheaper than hotels in the city (though this was nearly 10 years ago, so that may have changed). The hotels have lovely grounds and a handful of restaurants each, but there's not a lot going on at night
Originally Posted By dagobert So staying at HKDL sounds pretty boring. The park will not be open too late, I guess, so hanging out in the hotel s the only thing to do there. Hopefully they have a big bar. I know DLP's Disney Village isn't very beautiful, but there are some nice bars and restaurants and although the shops sell the same stuff like the stores in the parks, I always enjoy walking through the shops. At WDW at least one park was always open late and then we had a drink at the hotel bar until the annoying Bob came.
Originally Posted By dagobert HKDL is also facing financial problems. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/magic-fades-for-hong-kong-disneyland-ahead-of-new-shanghai-park">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...hai-park</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Welp. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/25c674a29809047716d419e466dff47a/tumblr_mzsn1kDZD21tq4of6o1_250.gif">http://25.media.tumblr.com/25c..._250.gif</a> From the earliest discussions, the HK government was worried about SDL overshadowing their park. It's already caused HK's second park to be put on indefinite hiatus (though I'm sure it will come eventually), but at least they were able to get Disney to add the 3 mini-lands out of it. HK has always seemed like a somewhat odd place for a Disney park, so I hope they're able to get things figured out there
Originally Posted By SuperDry << I think we'll see a second park at HKDL before a shopping area. ... the resort layout is decentralized, which would make it tough to pick a good site for it. >> The location is hidden in plain sight: the designated area for a DtD is on either side of the walkway the entire way from the MTR station to the ferry terminal. Enough room was left between the walkway and the park for this purpose, and the same would be true if/when the second gate is built. It could not be more centrally located to the resort.
HKDL gets more Star Wars. Jedi Training and Hyperspace Mountain are coming to HKDL in June. http://hkmsg.blogspot.com/2016/05/blog-post.html
I suppose it makes sense that they would want to get in on the fun too. I assume the show will be more similar to the DLP format, so they can deal with the language barriers more easily. Is there any indication where the show will take place? I can't really think of any open space in Tomorrowland that could be easily converted into that sort of venue I wonder if this is potentially to gauge interest in a possible Star Wars expansion. HKDL will need some things to separate it from SDL in the coming years, and Star Wars isn't as popular in mainland China as elsewhere, so it could be a suitable fit for the park
Maybe they build an open air stage, like in Orlando? I guess Star Wars would make more sense in HK, since HK was always more influenced by Western countries, especially the UK. So maybe they are more familiar with SW?
Still waiting for an opening date for Iron Man. Disney and More is saying the end of this year, but if they're in test and adjust right now, it should be sooner than that. I want to hit Shanghai and Hong Kong in the same trip, and it seems dopey to go before Iron Man is open.
