This story was first published on September 13, 2005.
Dazzling start to Disney carnival
By Dennis Eng and Ambrose Leung
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Hailed as an “everlasting carnival” and a multibillion-dollar “strategic investment”, Hong Kong Disneyland was finally inaugurated on Monday (September 12, 2005) with few of the problems and complaints that plagued it during a month of teething troubles.
Amid the highest pollution levels of the year, dignitaries including Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen gathered in front of the pink Sleeping Beauty Castle as lion dancers gave the occasion a local flavour before the familiar Disney characters poured out for a grand parade.
“The joyous Disneyland will become an everlasting carnival for the Hong Kong people,” Mr Zeng said.
“It has been said Hong Kong is a playground for entrepreneurs and a shopper’s paradise. I hope that, with the establishment of Hong Kong Disneyland and other cultural and entertainment facilities, Hong Kong will further become a major tourist destination.”
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Mr Tsang, who marked the occasion by wearing a Donald Duck bow tie, said the government’s much-criticised HK$23 billion injection into the park was a “strategic investment” that would enable the city to “capitalise on the drawing power of the Disney brand to complement our renowned strengths in dining and shopping, and as a city that perfectly blends east and west”.
