bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Hong Kong Disneyland suffered further protests on Friday after locking its gates to ticket-holders for a second consecutive day.

In a repeat of Wednesday's angry outbursts, visitors shouted abuse at Disney staff and security guards after park management told them at about 10am that it would again enforce its daily limit, unofficially estimated at 30,000 visitors.

Some visitors rocked the main gates, and a handful scaled the spiked barriers. Those who climbed the gates helped others, including children, to cross over.

Weekday tickets cost $295 each and on Wednesday refunds were offered only to those who held tickets for that day's admissions or those unable to return to the resort on Lantau Island for a later visit.

This story by Dennis Eng and Anita Lam was first published in the SCMP on Friday

This week's ticketing chaos at Hong Kong Disneyland is a black mark on the city and the tourism industry, as well as on the theme park operator, the government has indicated.

Legislator Fred Li Wah-ming said Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen expressed deep dissatisfaction at the chaotic scenes since Wednesday caused by ticket holders, including tour groups, being shut out of the sold-out park.

An informed source said Mr Tang had been urging Disney in discussions with local and US personnel over the past two days to improve the flow of people and ticketing arrangements. But the source said there was a limit to what the government could do, apart from advising the company.

According to Mr Li, the government had told the park to ban flexible tickets during the Lunar New Year period as a precaution against overcrowding but Disneyland had not done so.

This story by Dennis Eng and Helen Wu was first published in the SCMP on Saturday

Viewpoint

The park's executive vice-president and managing director Bill Ernest: 'We regret that anyone may have been disappointed. No one is more disappointed than we are. As a father, I understand how frustrating it is to disappoint your children.'

Mainland visitor Mr Tan from Shunde  : 'There are too many people. I only managed to get on the cruise and the train after spending at least half an hour to one hour waiting for each. I was very disappointed to see queues everywhere. I won't come again, even if I am paid to.'

Mainland visitor Wong Ping from Shenzhen:

'I arrived at 7am because I was worried I wouldn't get in. I came on Wednesday, at around 9am, only to find the park was already full. I was so angry that I needed to spend an extra $800 for another day in Hong Kong. But I know my son really wants to come, so I decided to come as early as possible.'

Spokeswoman for a mainland tour operator: 'Not only were our customers' holidays spoiled, but our reputation was tarnished and we had to refund more than half of the $600 tour price.'

Factbox

Flexible tickets, on sale since January 3, are valid for six months and do not guarantee entry on a given day. Date-specific tickets, which guarantee entry on that day only, are offered for special event days and holidays. Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were treated as 'regular', flexible-ticket days. Holders of date-specific tickets issued before  January 3 have no guarantee of entry.

The MTR  displayed notices informing the public that Disneyland tickets had  sold out, but not at all its stations.

The government spent $23 billion (82 per cent of the $27.7 billion total cost) on developing the Lantau Island site and building Disneyland. In return it took a 57 per cent stake, with Disney taking the remainder.

Weblinks

www.hongkongdisneyland.com  -

Disneyland homepage with details of ticket prices

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Disneyland  -

Wikipedia is an excellent online encyclopaedia, this link leads to lots of useful Disney facts

www.screamscape.com  -

guide to theme parks around the world

Discussion Point

Should Disneyland be held responsible for last week's chaos?

Enquiry

What was the problem?

Why were the tourists angry at being locked out of Disneyland?

What should Disneyland management do to fix the problem?



Trouble at the park