Today In Disney History ~ September 12th
Hong Kong’s Disneyland marks 10th anniversary with fireworks and promise of more to come by Christy Leung for scmp.com
Celebrating are (from left) Bill Ernest, CY Leung, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Bob Chapek and commerce chief Greg So. Photo: Felix Wong
Celebrating are (from left) Bill Ernest, CY Leung, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Bob Chapek and commerce chief Greg So. Photo: Felix WongHong Kong Disneyland kicked off its 10th anniversary celebrations with a bang last night as it previewed a raft of new attractions to help it fend off new rivals and a slowdown in tourism.Among the features is a Disney in the Stars firework show, previewed last night but due to launch in November. It will combine pyrotechnics with state-of-the-art video projection to light up Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Another new feature, an all-new 25-minute stage show called Mickey and the Wondrous Book, will open at Disney’s Storybook Theatre in mid-November.A third new attraction, the Fairy Tale Forest, will be added to Fantasyland in December. Lightbody said it would use “creative landscaping” to take visitors through “whimsical passages” to see miniature scenes from films such as Tangled and Cinderella.The park’s managing director, Andrew Kam Min-ho, admitted earlier this week that it faced challenges, and analysts warned of tough times ahead amid weak regional economies, a strong local currency and competition from rival attractions.At a ceremony to mark the start of the 10th anniversary fun last night, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek said he was proud of the 10 years of magic the park had created.
“Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world,” he said, quoting the famous words of Walt Disney.Guest of honour at last night’s ceremony was Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who took the stage to say thank you to Mickey and Minnie Mouse and hail Disneyland as the “pillar of the tourism industry”.The park, a joint venture between the Hong Kong government and Disney, had a tough start amid disappointing visitor numbers, financial losses and criticism that it lacked the scale of other Disney parks. But it finally reported a profit in 2012 and now has ambitious expansion plans.”Speaking of the second-phase development of the park, we can say that the government is making good progress with Disney,” Leung said.
TMSM Today in Graphic by Sherry Rinaldi DeHart; Article and additional images from scmp.com “This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Fairytale continues as Disney celebrates 10th year”
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