After four-hour queues during trial run, will Shanghai Disneyland’s lengthy lines send tourists to Hong Kong instead?
People queued for up to four hours for most popular attractions
Thursday’s official opening of Shanghai Disneyland might not be bad news for its Hong Kong counterpart.
The Hong Kong theme park reported a loss last year, the first since 2011, on a 23 per cent slump in mainland visitors. However, that means its queues are now shorter, and that could appeal to some mainlanders who have expressed dissatisfaction with the long lines encountered at attractions in the Shanghai park during the past month of trial operations.
I’ve heard the Hong Kong version is quite empty these days, plus air fares are cheap
Some visitors had to queue for up to four hours for the most popular attractions and said they would consider visiting the Hong Kong park instead – even though it’s only a third the size of the Shanghai one.
“The biggest impression for me [of Shanghai Disneyland] is too many people. I think this is the most painful part of this resort,” said Martin Guo, who visited the park with his wife, their 18-month-old daughter and his mother-in-law on May 29.
He said he was impressed with the attractions, fireworks show and parade, but his family had to queue for between 20 minutes and two hours to get into rides and shows.
An online survey by polling group Horizon found that 94 per cent of people would be reluctant to queue for more than an hour for any attraction.