Disneyland Hong Kong

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923. The main goal of Disney was to deliver quality entertainment for all ages. The first resort that Disney opened was in Anaheim, California, in July 1955. The success of the first park caused disney to open its second park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in 1971. The continued success of these two parks in the United States caused Disney to seek out international success. Disney anticipated that there would be continued success by “bringing the original disneyland model to new territories, and then, if feasible, adding a specialty them park.” (5) Disney began the venture of internationalizing its theme park operations with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. This park is regarded as one of the most successful amusement parks not only in the Disney operating parks but in the world. Disney’s highly successful operation in Tokyo meant that there could be international success outside the United States. Disney attempted expansion in France which was the largest consumer of Disney products outside of the United States. In 1992, Disney opened Disneyland Resort Paris. However, the park was much less successful than its counterpart in Japan. This case explores Disney's efforts to open its third park outside the United States; Hong Kong Disneyland. The case outlines the experiences of Tokyo and Paris Disneylands. The case provides details of the ups and downs with the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland. including the finances of the deal, and how the operations, human resources management and marketing were incorporated to complement the Chinese cultural environment. The case also discusses the tourism industry in Hong Kong and some problems that were encountered during the first year of operations. On December 10, 1999, the Hong Kong government officially signed a contract with Disney to build a Disney theme park, resort hotel, retail, dining, and entertainment facilities. The new facilities were scheduled to open in 2005.