Originally Posted By schnebs <<In the end ... those extremely low quality projects .. go under ... while the "High Quality" park brings them in, and flourishes!>> I dunno... IIRC, Ocean Park in Hong Kong did pretty well for itself for a couple of years while HKDL had (has?) trouble meeting the attendance numbers they expected. "High Quality" didn't seem to win out that time.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Hasn't Ocean Park consistently had higher attendance than HKDL?
Originally Posted By HongKongDisneyLand If u follow the footsteps of your competitors it is difficult to win. HKDL has better theming and quality in rides, but Ocean Park is still bigger. And HKDL follows Ocean Park's footstep in bringing haunted Halloween in HK.
Originally Posted By dagobert Construction of the castle starts. <a href="http://www.bobweis.cn/2013/05/construction-begins-on-shanghai-disneyland-castle/" target="_blank">http://www.bobweis.cn/2013/05/...-castle/</a> <a href="http://disneyandmore.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/work-starts-on-shanghai-disneyland.html" target="_blank">http://disneyandmore.blogspot....and.html</a>
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: I know I've already said this before, but I hate the idea of a 'one size fits all Disney Princesses Castle'. It just makes it so impersonal. I wish they had either built a castle that was themed to Rapunzel--like the early rumors speculated about--or for Beauty & the Beast. This one won't have any identity and won't be as special.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I'm sure the decision was based on cultural understanding, or lack thereof, of Disney's classic fairy tales. Also, I find it refreshing that Disney is going in a different direction (finally!) with a Magic Kingdom's centerpiece.
Originally Posted By phruby Now we need a Disneyland in Taiwan so we can have the Disney Triangle where many a tourist dollar was lost.
Originally Posted By friarthe My two cents as a local resident -- Snow White is extremely well-known here. Cinderella is a little bit known. The rest of them? They're famous for 15 minutes when a movie comes out, and forgotten the next. My students were crazy about Tangled and Avatar and the Avengers, and now can barely remember what they were. I hate the generic castle too, but it makes some sense. The best they could have called it would be "Disney Castle", just like Duffy was "Disney Bear" for years in Japan before they brought him to the US.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< just like Duffy was "Disney Bear" for years in Japan before they brought him to the US.>>> No, Duffy was "Disney Bear" in the US for years before he was brought to Japan, where he became Duffy. He was then re-launched in the US as Duffy.
Originally Posted By friarthe SuperDry - I'm sure you're right, though I didn't realize that. My experience was this: Japanese exchange students in L.A. told me repeatedly that they needed to buy "Disney Bear" when visiting the park. Though a longtime passholder, I had no idea what they were talking about. A while later, "Duffy" things started getting promoted at DCA. I thought the naming happened in the States, since the Asians I knew had no idea Duffy had a name. I guess my point is that branding simply works differently here, and that may include the castle. The HKDL passholders I know still only vaguely know that the bear has a name, but boy howdy will they put money on the table to buy one. Maybe more to the point: ...grumblegrumbleIhateDuffygrumblegrumble...
Originally Posted By dagobert Disney and More posted some new infos and a park entrance map of SDL. <a href="http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2013/05/shanghai-disneyland-update-sdl-will-use.html" target="_blank">http://disneyandmore.blogspot....use.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert Robert Iger was in China recently and talked about SDL. It seems SDL will feature many unique rides. <a href="http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2013/06/bob-iger-in-beijing-announces-that.html" target="_blank">http://disneyandmore.blogspot....hat.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>"China Disneyland - authentically Disney and distinctively Chinese"<< Why do I feel like this quote will keep popping up, and being used in the most ridiculous ways possible? Or perhaps I'll just need to keep bringing it up for posterity. Come visit China Disneyland! Now featuring authentic Disney prices with distinctively Chinese quality! Authentic Disney water rides full of distinctively Chinese water! Authentic Disney-branded magic with distinctively Chinese construction and maintenance! While I applaud them for thinking outside the box on this park, and understand the message they're trying to convey, the marketing of this in the English-speaking world has been awkward at best. >>Localization is the key to the Disney strategy. "When it comes to culture, the world is not flat," Iger said. "Disney cannot take our culture and export it to China."<< Funny that they're making a concious effort to make the park in Shanghai fit its unique location, while they are simultaneously trying to treat DLR and WDW as though they are the same place. Sounds like the right hand isn't talking to the left hand here
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Why do I feel like this quote will keep popping up, and being used in the most ridiculous ways possible? Or perhaps I'll just need to keep bringing it up for posterity." Please do Ferret, because other than some egg roll stands and mingling Disney characters dressed in traditional Chinese garb with a few other patronizing elements tucked here and there, SDL will primarily serve as an outpost to promote Disney franchises to the growing Chinese middle class. Every so often, especially when the modern Disney Parks division gets an urge to be grand and experimental, Disney leadership starts speaking in a way that sounds lofty and ambitious and in the end they deliver mediocre projects like DCA, DHS, and Tomorrowland '98. From the artwork I've seen SDL looks spectacular, but I'm betting that a) this resort won't be any more "distinctively Chinese" than HKDL (which is to say barely at all), and b) it'll start out with a very short roster of attractions.
Originally Posted By SuperDry << Funny that they're making a concious effort to make the park in Shanghai fit its unique location, while they are simultaneously trying to treat DLR and WDW as though they are the same place. Sounds like the right hand isn't talking to the left hand here >> You get the gold star of the day for that observation.
Originally Posted By believe >>Localization is the key to the Disney strategy. "When it comes to culture, the world is not flat," Iger said. "Disney cannot take our culture and export it to China."<< I'd have to agree. Especially considering at HKDL, during my visit during xmas time last year, the Pooh ride had a fastpass and 60 minute standby waits, while on the same day, the new Grizzly had a 10 minute wait. And, the Autopia had a 60 minute wait for most of the day.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Localization is the key to the Disney strategy. "When it comes to culture, the world is not flat," Iger said. "Disney cannot take our culture and export it to China."<<< That's a very interesting quote. Disney basically copied the American DL and the MK into TDL and it worked pretty fine. I have never been there, but it seems that it wasn't modified for the Japanese culture. Then Disney tried the same in France and it didn't work and luckily they were smart enough to learn from that failure and soon they changed some things, like alcohol in the DL park. In Hong Kong they used Feng Shui for building the park and now in Shanghai it seems Disney is incorporating the Chinese culture on an even higher level to the resort.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I wouldn't bank on Iger's promise that this park will offer anything more than a superficial nod toward Chinese culture. So far we haven't seen or heard anything planned that supports his claim in any meaningful or substantial way. In fact, all of the materials released to the public, most notably the concept art for the castle centerpiece and the scale model of the resort, appear to be business as usual for Disney.
Originally Posted By friarthe With all due respect to Hans (whose comments are honestly one reason I come to this site), superficial is more than enough. The thing is, "face" is *crucial* here, and that's different from Paris, Orlando, and even Japan. Everyone here flocked to see Iron Man 3 despite the fact that the additional scenes added NOTHING to the movie, just because they tossed in a couple local stars. LP member Believe is 100% right above. Rides that are awesome in Japan, France, or either side of the U.S. just don't fly here. Maybe sucking up with the Monkey King and a dragon (in the DEAD CENTER of the first and last rooms, notice) is going to work. I don't get it yet. I can't figure out "5000 years of culture" (as they claim) in my 2 years locally. But something is definitely different here, and the more Disney talks about it, the more people here will like it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "With all due respect to Hans (whose comments are honestly one reason I come to this site), superficial is more than enough." I don't doubt that at all. I'm simply trying to read through all the corporate marketing talk and translate the hype. Thanks for the nice compliment.
