HK Disneyland says good-bye to bumpy year
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-01-09 08:58

With their big smile, large black ears and colorful Chinese-style outfits, Mickey and Minnie are going to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, their first in China.

Mickey, Minnie and their friends must be in a happy holiday mood these days because the tickets of the world famous park sold out for four separate days, a good sign after being left out in the cold for a pretty long time. They could finally say good-bye to a bumpy year of settle down.

Hong Kong Disneyland first announced its tickets sold out on Dec. 13, the opening day for the Six Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) holding in Hong Kong. The good luck brought by the WTO conference then went on for an other three days and made the park proudly announce that its tickets were sold out due to "high Guest demand".

It also published the number of its visitors for the first time,saying that since the park's opening until the beginning of Dec., 2005 an average of 14,000 passengers visited Hong Kong Disneyland, almost reaching the expected level of daily guests of 15,000.

According to its statistics, among over 1 million visitors it received, 26 percent came from the Chinese mainland, 25 percent from overseas and another 49 percent were Hong Kong citizens.

To attract more passengers, Hong Kong Disneyland took a series of measures such as improvement of service, ticket promotion and ahigh profile publicity. It also grasped the chance of holiday season, arranging new decorations, music and food to add festive mood.

The encouraging trend of ticket sales might be considered a small progress for an international group like Walt Disney, yet entering the Chinese market might be considered something big for the entertainment giant, who always wants to get a share of the profitable market with a growing middle class.

High holiday spirit now whirled in Hong Kong Disneyland since Christmas with important holidays coming one after another. The theme park now is busy in preparing a big celebration for the Lunar New Year in late January, an effort to please its visitors.

The costuming department of the park is tailoring traditional Chinese outfits for Minnie and especially for the famous dog, Pluto, who is going to celebrate his special year, the Year of theDog.

Seamstress Ngai Kong Sang said: "We are all looking forward to our first Chinese New Year celebration at Hong Kong Disneyland. Minnie will look resplendent in her Chinese silk dress and guests will love taking pictures with Minnie, Pluto and all the other Disney friends."

Minnie and Pluto would wear their new outfits to greet guests throughout the Chinese New Year celebration from January 29 to early February.