This week, documentation released by the Hong Kong government revealed that even after several new attractions, a new themed land, and an overhaul of the park’s castle, only half of the funds allocated to the park’s massive expansion has been spent.
The documentation was released as part of preparation for an upcoming meeting of the Hong Kong Legislative Council’s Panel on Economic Development, part of which will include an annual update on Hong Kong Disneyland, as the government owns a majority stake in the park. These This segment of the meeting takes place on May 22 from 10:50a.m. to 11:40a.m. Hong Kong time, as part of a 90 minute meeting of the panel.
In the documentation, an update is given on the expansion first approved in 2017 following a question by a legislator, the Honorable Pui-Leng Chan:
The total project cost of the Plan is estimated at $10.9 billion, being funded by both shareholders of HKDL (i.e. the Government and The Walt Disney Company (TWDC)) through equal and concurrent cash equity injection (i.e. $5,450 million each) into the relevant joint venture (i.e. Hongkong International Theme Parks Limited) based on progress of works.
HKDL has been actively implementing the Plan. Various new attractions have been rolled out progressively since 2018, including “Moana: A Homecoming Celebration” stage show (2018), “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!” ride (2019), “Castle of Magical Dreams” (2020) and “Follow Your Dreams” daytime stage show (2021).
As of the end of March 2022, the Government and TWDC each injected $2.4 billion into the above-mentioned joint venture for implementing the Plan (i.e. $4.8 billion in total).
This means as of last year, only 44% of the earmarked money had been spent by both Disney and the Hong Kong government. The amount also represents other significant investments such as the development of the “Momentous” nighttime spectacular and much of the development and construction of World of Frozen, which opens later this year.
As well, it leaves plenty of room to expand the still-fledgling park. An Avengers E-ticket attraction was planned for Tomorrowland prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the last we heard of the attraction was in spring 2019.
Are you excited at the possibilities of expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland? Let us know in the comments below!
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