Chinese Get a Disney Education

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As I mentioned in the “Attraction Update” column of the July 2006 issue of The Genre Traveler, Hong Kong Disneyland has been having some marketing issues. Bill Ernest, managing director of the theme park, feels this may be due to many Chinese tourists not understanding the park's themes 'because they didn’t grow up with Disney characters and stories."

So, to remedy that, the park is preparing a "pre-show" for visitors to watch once they've entered the park, reports Satish Gupta of eTN Asia. This show, which would last from 10 to 15 minutes, would clarify for those unfamiliar with the Disney world "how the stories and characters knit together," said Ernest.

Sounds interesting, huh? I can just see it now. "Welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland. So you can enjoy our park's themes, here is a primer in Disney-speak." It just seems to me that instead of trying to change the Chinese to understand Disney better, it would make more sense to change the nature of Hong Kong Disney to meet the needs of the patrons. I'm just sayin' …