Hong Kong Disneyland launches immersive experiences ahead of ‘golden week’ and Halloween
As mainland China’s week-long holiday approaches, the park unveils hospitality and culinary offerings to delight tourists as well as locals
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is ready to create even more engaging and lasting memories during the National Day “golden week” holiday and Halloween, with a variety of new immersive elements and activities awaiting visitors.
While rides and performances are usually the main draw, the theme park’s hospitality offerings are becoming increasingly important to delivering the captivating experiences that guests are looking for.
“Modern guests have evolved and have higher expectations,” says Manfred Wong, director of food and beverage at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. “They want experiences that go beyond what we call purely transactional. They want to be part of the experience, and crave something more immersive.”
The ability to adapt to these changing preferences is key to sustaining the park’s ongoing growth. In addition to a strong fiscal year in 2023 followed by a record-breaking first fiscal quarter of 2024, Hong Kong Disneyland is also seeing visitor numbers continue to rise.
“To maintain this positive momentum, we’ve introduced a wide array of new elements and products for the upcoming golden week and Halloween festivities,” Wong says.
Golden week refers to the week-long holiday in mainland China that begins with National Day on October 1.
Highlighting the theme park’s accommodations, Fannie Tsang, senior manager of hotel operations integration and projects at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, says: “Our occupancy rates have been very encouraging. We just launched our new Marvel-themed [hotel] rooms on August 9, and ahead of golden week, booking rates for our three hotels have already crossed 80 per cent, which is higher than last year. We are very optimistic about driving guests to our hotels during the holiday.”
Characters star in culinary line-up
Many of the new autumn offerings at Hong Kong Disneyland will be interactive, in response to trends that have been observed among the park’s visitors.
At World of Frozen, the themed land based on Disney Animation’s hit film franchise Frozen, guests can meet the character of Queen Anna at the all-new “Arendelle Royal Breakfast Buffet”, which will take place every Saturday from September 28 to November 30 and is available to book through the online travel platform Klook. Held at the Golden Crocus Inn restaurant located inside World of Frozen, the special breakfast event will also feature live musicians performing familiar tunes from the beloved films.
As part of the Halloween celebrations at the theme park, the River View Cafe is offering a unique interactive theatre-meets-dining experience called “Jack Skellington’s The Nightmare Before Dinner”, inspired by the classic Disney film The Nightmare Before Christmas, from mid-September through October.
“Throughout the two-hour dinner, diners will interact with various characters from the movie,” Wong explains, adding: “I think one of the biggest advantages of working in [food and beverage] at Disney is the chance to incorporate many of our different Disney characters into our products, and to weave the whole dining environment into the story.”
Wong reveals that planning a new dining experience like this typically takes months, as it calls for developing a themed menu, creating costumes and writing a fresh storyline. In addition, Hong Kong Disneyland’s “cast members”, or employees, must practise and prepare to deliver engaging performances and service during the meal.
“We strive to add a touch of magic to our food. We hope to broaden that dimension [of what a dining experience is],” Wong adds.
Another seasonal food offering is the Duffy and Friends-themed mooncake gift set for Mid-Autumn Festival, featuring a box that can be transformed into a lantern. Visitors to the park should also keep an eye out for new must-try treats: World of Frozen has Olaf-themed soft-serve ice cream that can be customised with four types of marshmallows, while The Archivist inside Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is serving cocktails inspired by different Marvel characters.
Seasonal surprises for hotel guests
The new cocktails are not the only reason to pay a visit to the recently renovated Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. In recent months, new Marvel-themed guest rooms have been launched along with revamped “Mickey and Friends” room designs.
Tsang notes: “In the coming Halloween holiday, we’ll introduce hotel activities that align with the park’s overall Halloween happenings. We’ll provide special room decorations and props for guests to get in the mood and dress up before joining the Halloween fun at the park.”
Activities will include trick-or-treat tours for younger guests as well as complimentary workshops and in-room surprises.
Regular seasonal updates throughout Hong Kong Disneyland are crucial to drawing in visitors, especially locals who may have already been there multiple times. New happenings allow the park to offer a refreshing experience with every visit.
Booking figures show that these efforts are paying off. Guests from all over have been returning to stay at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel since it reopened last year, leaving positive feedback. In addition, the upcoming golden week is expected to bring in a surge of tourists from mainland China. During last year’s holiday, about 70 per cent of the park’s hotel guests came from the mainland.
“We are very optimistic that the momentum will continue, and the occupancy rates during golden week will be strong,” Tsang says.
Ahead of the October holiday week, Hong Kong Disneyland has been ramping up its promotions in Hong Kong as well as across the Greater Bay Area and other major cities in mainland China. Guests can enjoy attractive theme park ticket offers such as 15 per cent off for a party of three or more, in addition to Magic Access membership benefits and year-round fun – which will include Christmas festivities at World of Frozen for the first time this winter.
“With a plethora of activities, we hope that we could attract more tourists to not just visit Hong Kong, but also choose to visit or stay at Hong Kong Disneyland for their trip,” Wong says. “Disneyland embodies what a truly immersive experience is, offering an all-encompassing, 360-degree product experience.”