Disneyland fans eagerly await the official opening of Hong Kong Disneyland (HKD) on September 12, 2005. And to help ensure overall visitor satisfaction, management has put in place certain measures to cater to the tastes and wants of Chinese visitors.

The Disneyland name is synonymous with attention to detail, especially when it comes to visitor satisfaction.

But during its trial operations, HKD management found that visitor satisfaction wasn't as high as expected. The main reason for this was that HKD, a direct copy of the Disneyland theme parks in the United States, had a style and feel to it that didn't quite suit Chinese visitors.

HKD found that Chinese visitors spend more time at the dinner table, preferring to stay on for about 20 to 25 minutes after their meals rather than pay the bill immediately and leave. This is vastly different from the North American fast food model. As such, restaurants experienced a seat shortage, which prompted management to add 600 seats, bringing the total number of seats to 3,500.

Hong Kong Disneyland Group Managing Director Don Robinson said that HKD will expand food sales networks inside the park to provide familiar foods like hotdogs and baozi (Chinese buns) at affordable prices.

Another thing that HKD noticed about Chinese visitors was that they absolutely love to take photos, even while on the rides, which is extremely dangerous. To satisfy their appetite for photo-taking, models of rides will be constructed and placed outside the main gates so that visitors can take photos to their hearts' content.

Chinese visitors also like moving around in groups; they "explore" in groups, have dinner in groups, watch fireworks and road shows in groups. To ease crowd congestion, show times will be staggered, shows will start 20 minutes earlier and end an hour later.

Insiders said that HKD's efforts reflect Disneyland's business style. When Euro Disney opened in Paris, its North American manager decided to open many restaurants in the park because he believed that the French liked dining out. But au contraire, the French prefer dining at home. Restaurants soon saw profits plummeting. As a result, many of the restaurants were removed.

Chen Xinkang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance & Economics, said that Disneyland is good at brand promotion. It adjusts its business model according to customer experience, wants and needs.

(China.org.cn by Wang Sining September 11, 2005)