Archive for the 'China' Category
Sneak peek: A scene-by-scene look at Hong Kong Disneyland’s Mystic Manor
November 15, 2009 7:00am
Mystic Manor takes visitors on a circa-1908 tour of an ancient artifact collection belonging to a world-renowned adventurer and explorer. Inside the Victorian home on a remote jungle hilltop, Lord Henry Mystic’s museum comes alive when his mischievous monkey opens an enchanted music box.
Set to open as early as 2013, Mystic Manor is part of a nearly $500-million expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland that calls for the addition of three themed lands.
Mystic Manor will serve as the Chinese theme park’s ghost-less Haunted Mansion, with tributes to the classic Disney attractions Indiana Jones Adventure and Enchanted Tiki Room included throughout the ride.
Spoiler Alert: Join us as Disney Imagineer Dustin Schofield, who worked on Mystic Manor, takes us on a scene-by-scene tour of the new attraction:
Big Grizzly Mountain coaster coming to Hong Kong Disneyland
November 14, 2009 4:48pm
The Big Grizzly Mountain roller coaster at Hong Kong Disneyland will take riders through an abandoned gold mine packed with dynamite and overrun by grizzly bears.
Set to open as early as 2012, the runaway mine train ride is part of a nearly $500-million expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland that calls for the addition of three themed lands.
Big Grizzly Mountain will serve as the centerpiece of the Grizzly Trail themed land, the Chinese park’s version of Frontierland. The new ride blends the themeing of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster with the setting of the Grizzly River Run water ride at Disney’s California Adventure.
Hong Kong Disneyland to add ‘Toy Story’ themed land
November 13, 2009 8:54am
Visitors stepping into Toy Story Land at Hong Kong Disneyland will feel like “Star Wars” action figures in a land of Barbie dolls — smaller-than-life interlopers in a land of larger-than-life toys.
Super-sized Tinker toys, Lincoln logs and dominoes line the walkways as towering “Toy Story” characters Rex the dinosaur and Woody the cowboy welcome visitors at the twin entrances to the lushly landscaped land.
Set to open as early as 2011, Toy Story Land is part of a nearly $500-million expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland that calls for the addition of three themed lands.
The three new rides include:
Hong Kong Disneyland expansion to add three new themed lands
November 12, 2009 8:54am
Disney brass and Chinese government officials hope a nearly half-billion-dollar investment over the next half-decade in Hong Kong Disneyland will boost attendance at the struggling theme park.
The ambitious expansion plan calls for three new themed lands featuring a mountain-range coaster, a Haunted Mansion dark ride and a “Toy Story” kiddie area.
A land-by-land look at the expansion:
Visit Beijing for $788, with airfare and hotel
October 7, 2009 8:30am
Winter in Beijing can be a chilly affair, and that’s why tour companies give you a break on prices then. But really, it’s not hard to warm up to $788 — or even $588, if you’re willing to pay cash — for a seven-day trip to China.
That’s the starting rate for the “China Express: Beijing Free-Style Travel” deal from China Spree, a company based in Blaine, Wash. Here’s the 411:
Deal: You get round-trip, nonstop airfare from San Francisco or New York, airport transfers, five nights at the Beijing Joy City Hotel and daily breakfast. Prices range from $788 per person, double occupancy, for departures November through January to $1,088 for departures in March. Prices do not include airport taxes and Chinese visas. Day tours of Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, 2008 Olympic venues and other sites also are not included, but at $50 to $70 per person, they seem reasonably priced.
China: 10-day tour package to Forbidden City, Great Wall and Shanghai only $999
September 15, 2009 8:44am
The Great Wall of China. The Forbidden City. The Terra Cotta Soldiers. If those three attractions in China are on your must-see list of all time, have a look at this 10-day China tour starting at $999 including air, hotel and some meals.
The “Taste of China” package has been particularly popular with Friendly Planet Travel, and since announcing this deal, they are already sold out of several dates. Hurry, some are still available. Don’t worry, there’s no need to make such a commitment blind; the Friendly Planet Travel website walks you through what you can expect on every day of the 10-day trip, which items are optional and at an extra charge, plus it tells you which hotel you’ll be staying at.
Deal: $999 is the starting price per person based on double occupancy. Feel good about that amount (even before taxes and optional add ons) because a flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Beijing (BJS) easily costs more than $700 per person in early December. When I tested the deal I found the package available for departure Dec. 1. After the $300 sale discount, optional tour upgrade ($165) and taxes ($120/per person), the price came to $1,284 per person, double occupancy. If you want travel insurance add on $99 per person or $1,383 per person. Plus, the itinerary shows optional tour items that must be paid on site - it will be an additional $233. So, if you wanted to do everything that they suggest for this tour and have trip insurance, the price comes to $1,660 per person, including tax but not including the visa.
Free booklet offers 101 tips for women travelers
September 14, 2009 9:02am
Where do Hong Kong shoppers go for deals? How many credit cards should you take abroad? How do you make a hotel room safer? Find the answers to these questions and more in a free booklet, “101 Tips for Women Travelers,” being offered by a tour company.
The company, Overseas Adventure Travel, based in Cambridge, Mass., gleaned the advice from customers and employees, including trip leaders. Besides the tips, the 126-page booklet offers entertaining profiles of adventurous female travelers, from the Queen of Sheba to Mt. Everest climber Junko Tabei.
You can order the booklet online or by calling (800) 873-5628 and leaving your name, mailing address and the year you were born. Why the year? Because if you’re over age 50, the target customer for Overseas Adventure Travel, the company will follow up with a letter asking if you’d like to receive its catalog, said spokeswoman Priscilla L. O’Reilly.
Theme park news: Legoland water park, Real Madrid theme park, Wizarding World DVD extras, Neverland negotiations
September 12, 2009 5:58am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
* Legoland California to open a separate-admission, 5.5-acre water park by summer 2010. (L.A. Times)
* Built in 1927 and rebuilt in 1948 and 1994, Comet coaster at Great Escape in New York gets American Coaster Enthusiasts landmark designation. (Screamscape)
* DVD extras on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” movie to include short feature on Wizarding World themed land at Universal Studios Orlando. (Orlando Sentinel)
* Report: Michael Jackson’s family negotiating to open Neverland as a Graceland-like amusement park by Christmas. (New York Post)
* Disney: No plans to use Marvel characters in Orlando parks, no concerns about brand confusion with Universal Studios. (Orlando Sentinel)
When, where and how: Marvel characters in Disney theme parks
September 9, 2009 9:13am
I’ve heard the same refrain for the last week or so: How will Disney ever incorporate the dark and edgy Marvel comic book characters into its family-friendly fairy tale theme parks?
While at first glance the task seems daunting, upon further reflection the opportunities appear endless. It’s certainly not a question of “if” but rather “when, where and how.”
It’s been fun to imagine the juxtaposition of Marvel’s assassins, terrorists, serial killers and vigilantes mixing on Main Street USA with Disney’s princesses, fairies and army of anthropomorphic animals. But Marvel also has a deep bench of heroes and villains in its 5,000-character catalog that would blend seamlessly into Disney’s theme parks.
The early contenders will almost certainly come from the ranks of Marvel’s past films (”Spider-Man,” “X-Men,” “Hulk,” “Iron Man,” “Fantastic Four”) and upcoming releases (”Thor,” “Captain America,” “Avengers,” “Silver Surfer,” “Ant Man”). There’s even a few minor characters that would fit perfectly in specific Disney attractions and themed lands.
Disney’s done it before with “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “The Muppets,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and even Aerosmith.
And while Disneyland might not be the ideal match for Marvel characters, the superheroes fit like a skin-tight spandex suit in Disney’s “studio” theme parks.
So, keeping in mind that Mickey and Spidey have only been in-laws for less than a fortnight, lets take an unofficial and speculative look at how the marriage of Marvel and Disney might play out in the company’s theme parks around the world:
Theme park news: Cedar Point water ride, Fantasmic dragon debuts, Rihanna at Magic Mountain
September 5, 2009 7:16am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
* Cedar Point in Ohio unveils the $10.5-million Shoot the Rapids water ride for 2010 set amid an illegal moonshine still.
* Report: Shanghai Disneyland to open in 2013 on a site four times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland.
* Video: New fire-breathing Fantasmic dragon at Disneyland looks stunning and pleases crowd in debut but seems a bit stiff and fails to “breath” fire.
