Disney+Asia=Unfair?

[zanzibar138]

As another Aussie Disney nut, I have to agree with Anaheim Boy. Disney nuts in Australia are few and far between. We don't even have Disney stores anymore as they weren't profitable.

Personally I am thrilled to have Disney parks in Asia as without them my nearest Disney park would be in Anaheim, 15 hours flight away. I hope they keep investing in HKDL as it is the most accessible park for us Aussies. I'll be excited to see the end product after all the expansions, as it currently a fairly pitiful comparison to anything you have in the US, or even Paris.

However, I'm happy to accept that Disney want to make each park different. Why would you have 7 parks exactly the same? For those people who are lucky enough to visit different Disney theme parks around the world, it would be pretty boring if they were all the same. For me, even though HKDL is much smaller than its counterparts in the US, it's still exciting to go there to experience something a bit different, but still with all the Disney magic that we know and love

 

[Anubis7]

Hi zanzibar138,
after all those arguments, I finally think that it isn't that bad, I mean people in Shanghai get a new awesome park, which will (hopefully) bring new attractions, people like you have a near(er) park. . . I really hope that after Asia they'll concentrate more on DLP and I would love to see a new European resort, but I#m sure someday they'll come.
Now again, I'm afraid, not for other parks but for SDL itself. They seem to repeat their mistakes. For DLP they envisioned a smaller WDW (having three parks. . .) and bought enough land and built enough hotels. It's sad that DLP wasn't a success and so on. Then they built HKDL with only 4 lands, 2 hotels and almost no other land and 2 days after its opening, they announced plans for a second park. Now comes Shanghai which seems to follow both parks: Only 4 lands (HKDL), enough space for more parks (DLP). And if that what Disneyandmore says is true, the park is envisioned to have: Storybook Castle, Castle Boat Ride, Dumbo, Carousel, Pooh's Tea Cups,Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie The Pooh ride, Lost World River Rapids, Pirates of the Caribbean Water Ride, Pirate Stunt Show, TRON Indoor Rollercoaster, Astro Orbitor / Rockets Ride, and seems to get less than that. Really that doesn't sound like three times the size of HKDL. . . I really hope that it won't become a new troubled park.
Greetings,
Anubis7

 

[tokyodisneydad]

I just wanted to say that atleast for Tokyo Disney Resort, the reason we get the great shows, seasonal parades and superb attractions like Pooh's Honey Hunt---trust me a 1,000,000 times better than it's stateside counterpart---and the best park in the Disney park collection Tokyo Disney SEA is that OLC is not afraid to invest. They have deep and open pockets when it comes to the parks. They invest in and expect a superior product. As for Hong Kong Disney it was nothing more than a big disappointment on my one visit there.

 

[Sparkly]

Disney are a multi million dollar company who can afford to take risks. They saw a huge possible market in Shanghai and thought "hmm.."

I've only been to Disney World Florida but I would LOVE to visit Tokyo Disney or Hong Kong Disney. Not sure about Shanghai though.

 

[MyMoneyTreeWontGrow]

I am sure Disney considered expansion in other countries it has a wealth of experience in doing business far greater than you and me. Sometimes it is not as simple as pinpointing a country and saying "hey we haven't been there let's open a park there". Often it is the host country's government putting its foot down on who it will let in. For instance, and this is a real reason, a country has x acres of land it intends to build a theme park on. It invites several global park brands to submit a business plan and bid. Based on these submissions and a flurry of other economic factors as with projected long and short term demand, the host country will decide on the best candidate overall. This will explain why sometimes Universal Studios seem to get picked over Disney.

For some countries it is not even simple. Weaker economic ties with US, political reasons (errr not going to build a park in Pakistan surely?), and as previous poster mentioned maturing markets are all very valid considerations. Well of course prime goal is to make money, without which nobody will work there for free! So unless there is considerable and sustainable business whether coming from locals or foreign travelers, a huge multi billion dollar investment outlay isn't going to pay off.

I think Asia is booming. Apart from maturing markets like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, Asians are very quickly progressing from poverty to prosperity, while much of the rest of the world ex some counties in Middle East are pretty much stagnating so it makes less sense to set up new parks in those countries.

 

[WaltsMartini]

What an interesting thread - thanks for posting!

The fastest growing countries in the world are the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Iger apparently mentioned recently that they've been looking at Brazil as a possible site.

Besides the good points above, especially about friendly government interactions, I also think that Disney focuses on emerging markets to create brand loyalty amongst people who may someday have the same buying power that Americans do. I know that Disney has English language programs designed for Chinese children that integrate Disney characters - they're starting them young!

So rather than us looking at it like we're getting the short end of the stick, we should consider that they're just aiming for global domination

 

[ChrisFL]

Besides the good points above, especially about friendly government interactions, I also think that Disney focuses on emerging markets to create brand loyalty amongst people who may someday have the same buying power that Americans do. I know that Disney has English language programs designed for Chinese children that integrate Disney characters - they're starting them young!

So rather than us looking at it like we're getting the short end of the stick, we should consider that they're just aiming for global domination

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say if the Chinese children are learning english with Mickey's help, then that can only improve U.S./Chinese relations as well