Hong Kong Disneyland Begins Expansion Amid Red Ink

Profit Quest: Hong Kong Disneyland hopes Toy Story Land and two other new areas will help it turn a profit.

On Thursday Hong Kong Disneyland kicked off the first phase of an expansion aimed at allowing it ultimately to turn a profit. It has been losing money since its 2005 opening.

An opening ceremony was held for new attractions based on the Toy Story movies dubbed “Toy Story Land” which is exclusive to Disney’s Asia theme parks. That will be followed by areas based on Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point over the next two years. Overall, the new areas will boost the park’s 126 hectare (311 acre) area by about 23%.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s financial woes since opening have been blamed on the fact that it is the smallest of all Disney parks worldwide.

Grizzly Gulch will be based on an original story of the American West’s “gold rush” days to be developed exclusively for Hong Kong. It will feature a high speed terrain coaster.

Mystic Point will feature an eccentric world traveler and adventurer with a collection of exotic and mysterious international artifacts that will be activated by a magical music box.

Thursday’s expansion adds about 1,000 full and part-time staff to the 5,000 already employed by Hong Kong Disneyland.