BEIJING - Hong
Kong Disneyland is considering capping the number
of visitors during holidays after the trial
opening on Sunday saw chaos and long waits for
rides and meals, Financial Secretary Henry Tang
said Tuesday.
Tang admitted that the more
than 29,000 visitors to the theme park had
suffered when it was filled to its daily capacity
of 30,000 during the charity trial run at the
weekend, ahead of its grand opening next Monday,
September 12. "We are studying flexible ways to
control the number of visitors entering Disneyland
during busy holidays," said Tang. "We deeply
realize that visitors were upset about having to
wait for such a long time. We are reviewing
the
arrangements and studying the possibility of
limiting the number of visitors entering
Disneyland at peak holidays when the theme park
reaches its capacity. We should prevent the theme
park from being swamped by people." Tang was
speaking after a meeting with Disneyland's
management to improve crowd management and
facilities in the park.
Preparing for
holiday visits The theme park management is
considering not allowing the park to be filled to
capacity, particularly during the coming
Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week
holidays. Also, the government has discussed with
Disneyland the possibility of extending the
operation hours during busy holidays and adding
more scope to its food stalls, said Tang, who
chairs a government steering committee to oversee
the operations of the theme park.
During
the meeting, the government discussed with the
Disneyland management the theme park capacity,
entry arrangements, queue management, food and
beverage facilities, seating area, and car parking
arrangements. After a series of rehearsals
conducted over the past three weeks, Tang said the
committee had found that Hong Kong visitors
preferred staying in the park for long hours,
reaching about 9.5 hours on average. Tang said the
rehearsals had served their purpose, allowing
Disneyland managers to learn lessons such as the
arrival, behavioral and consumption patterns of
visitors, and measures will be taken to fine-tune
operations based on this information. He said
Disneyland has continuously improved its
facilities already; so far it has added 600 seats
to food stalls and added 20 more food and drink
carts throughout the park.
Hong Kong's
Disneyland Group Managing Director, Don Robinson,
pledged to learn from Sunday's lesson to improve
overall performance. Robinson said the (bad)
weather together with the substantial number of
visitors flocking to the park had caused the
chaos. "The lines are longer than we would really
want," he said, vowing to solve this problem. "We
can add more things and extend the operating
hours."
Selina Chow, chairman of the Hong
Kong Tourism Board, eased worries that there would
be a repetition of Sunday's chaos on the theme
park's official opening day. Chow said it was
within expectation that there would be flaws in
various kinds of arrangements and facilities
during the park's initial opening period. She
urged the public and the media not to hastily
evaluate the park's performance negatively.
On Sunday, Disneyland faced its biggest
challenge as more than 29,000 locals - the largest
crowd so far - visited the theme park on Charity
Day. The aim was to raise funds for the Community
Chest. The overwhelming numbers forced visitors to
wait for hours to play the games and buy food.
In related developments, the Immigration
Department was set to introduce comprehensive
arrangements to cope with the anticipated
substantial number of mainlanders crossing the
border to visit Disneyland during its initial
opening period. The department's assistant
director, Simon Peh, said it had already
redeployed 187 immigration officers to reinforce
air, land and sea control points. The immigration
department, along with police, customs, excise and
the transport departments, the KCRC
(Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation) and the
Shenzhen authorities will establish a joint
command center at the Lo Wu border crossing point.
The immigration department will closely
liaise with Shenzhen authorities to monitor the
crowd control situation at the control points. Peh
said the department does not expect a substantial
increase in mainland tourists crossing the border
to flock to Disneyland on Monday as the park has
reduced the number of tickets sold to some 15,000
on the day. On the other hand, Peh anticipated a
sudden surge in human traffic, and hence pressure,
at the border checkpoints during the Mid-Autumn
Festival and the National Day holidays.
