"Dozens of employees" are said to be losing their jobs, as Hong Kong Disneyland deals with a 9 percent drop in attendance in its most recent fiscal year. (A Hong Kong official confirms the layoffs in this press conference transcript.) Hong Kong Disneyland reported a HK$148 million (US$19 million) loss in that fiscal year, which ended in October. It was the park's first loss since 2011, when the park achieved profitability for the first time after years of losses following the park's 2005 opening.
Analysts blame political unrest in Hong Kong and a weakening Chinese economy for an overall drop in tourists visiting the city. As one of the more popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong, Disneyland bears much of the consequence of that decline. And that's before June's opening of the much larger Shanghai Disneyland, which could further reduce the number of mainland Chinese visiting Hong Kong Disneyland.
Hong Kong Disneyland will open Disney's first Marvel-themed ride, Iron Man Experience, later this year, along with a third on-site hotel, Explorers Lodge, for 2017.
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I always thought HK was an odd choice to put a disney-grade theme park. Typically A level, and even the better B grade parks look for plenty of expansion possibility, something which I imagine Hong Kong was always going to struggle to deliver.
I believe SDL will canibalize Hong Kong's attendance. Shanghai and Beijing are the two biggest cities in the country, and Shanghai is a lot closer and easier to get to than Hong Kong. No customs and border crossing, too! Not to mention Hong Kong's weather in the Summer is worse than Orlando, whereas Shanghai is rather pleasant. Think Miami vs Savannah, GA.
With that said, if you haven't been to HKDL, there is no rush. It'll always be a fantastic 3/4 day park with virtually no lines.
I'll write a small review on Iron Man Experience after it opens, though I doubt it'll move the needle attendance-wise.
I can already see the commercials for the 25th celebration next year:
“25 years of Disneyland Paris! Come visit us, everything is finally painted and as clean the way a Disney Park should be and what you are paying for! We have nothing new to offer, but come see the working attractions again!”
Think about it: Disney's California Adventure was completely redone, WDW got New Fantasyland and gets Pandora and Star Wars, which is also coming to DL, Hong Kong Disneyland has gotten amazing attractions and don't get me started on Shanghai …
What does Disneyland Paris get? New paint. Working attractions and effects.
Other european parks invested AND did their ongoing refurbishments.
So maybe the tagline should be: #ThanksDisneyManagement.
I know you said Disney already budgeted for Shanghai DL's budget issues by postponing Star Wars Land. But that's not how I remember it. I remember Star Wars Land was pushed back because MyMagic+ was going massively over budget. You see how MyMagic+ costed Jay Rasulo's job and now Shanghai DL is costing Tom Staggs job. There is a pattern.
Now every Disney owned property has to find money to foot Shanghai DL's bill.
Anyway, HKDL will re-hire again when Iron Man Experience and Disney Explorers Lodge open, both happening in the coming year.
Disney needs to stop their overseas misadventures and focus on maximizing the potential of their domestic parks. And it's certainly a slap in the face when they make cuts stateside just to pay for their foreign mistakes.
The mainlanders are the most horrible tourists you can imagine. Their bathroom habits are so 10th Century. They will go on the street if they have to.
How bad does Iger need to screw up before the board fires him? MyMagic+, Shanghai Disneyland, throwing good money after bad in Paris and Hong Kong.
Bob Iger should be fired. Hong Kong Disneyland should be closed.
Before people criticize the current state of Disney theme parks, please Do you homework to see who created the mess in the first place.
Yes Eisner was aggressive in expanding Disneyworld until Disneyland Paris opened and then he became as timid as mouse.
Bob Iger has been Disney's CEO for 11 years now. The Shanghai Disney agreement was signed 5 years after Iger became CEO. The original Shanghai budget was $3.75 billion. After massive budget overruns, the cost of the Shanghai project is now close to $6 billion. That's $2 billion wasted due to a failure of planning and control on Iger's part. If Shanghai Disneyland fails, that is 100% Iger's fault, not Eisner's.
MyMagic+ reportedly cost $1.5 billion. MyMagic+ is 100% Iger's fault.
Eisner does bear initial responsibility for the failures at Paris and Hong Kong, but Iger has compounded those mistakes by throwing good money after bad. Mystic Manor has not fixed the problem that is Hong Kong Disneyland. Iron Man Experience will not fix Hong Kong Disneyland either. Disneyland Paris continues to flounder despite Ratatouille and other additions. Meanwhile Disney World Orlando has not opened an e-ticket attraction since Expedition Everest 10 years ago.
Iger has coasted on Disney's natural strengths. Iger's policies are based on short term profit maximization. Disney's long-term success relies on customer goodwill and employee morale. What is the current state of employee morale? What is the current state of customer goodwill toward Disney? It's time for Iger to go. Spin off the TV networks. Let Iger run that, and give Disney back to the people who care.
Even ABC studios is cutting costs now. "Castle" without Stana Katic, unthinkable. So it is the whole Disney empire doing it, not just HKDL.
Eisner might have started MyMagic+, but Jay Rasulo was assigned to get it up and running. He mismanaged and the costs overruns are his fault, so they fired him.
Same with Shanghai Disneyland, Bob Iger signed the deal but Tom Staggs was assigned to get it built within budget. Staggs failed so he got the chop.
The boss has a vision and a manager is assigned to turn his vision into reality within a certain budget. It is not the boss' fault if the manager fails at his job.
Here's the essence of your argument: "might makes right; the public be damned." Is that the kind of country, you want to live in?
Disney shareholders should remember the words of Edmund Burke: "Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together."
Disney relies on goodwill. Short term profit maximization at the expense of customer satisfaction is destroying that goodwill.
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Also the park was obviously underdeveloped initially and faced bad word of mouth, something they have tried to rectify with fantastic new attractions. Finally, with Shanghai Disney opening soon, I fear drops in attendance will only increase.
The park as it now stands is pretty good, with unique attractions (and the benefit of smaller crowds). Hong Kong is also a fantastic place to visit, with a mix of the more traditional Chinese with the colonial side of the British control. Its not as sterile an environment as Singapore, but more comforting for westerners than many other Asian cities, its well worth a visit
Maybe as a pan-Asian theme park tour your could do Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong Disney, with Tokyo Singapore Universal. Hmmmm, maybe one day.