On This Day | Hong Kong welcomes Mickey Mouse as city’s Disneyland opens in 2005 – from the SCMP archive
On this day 20 years ago, Hongkongers flocked to the grand opening of Disney’s third theme park outside US
This story was first published on September 13, 2005.
Dazzling start to Disney carnival
By Dennis Eng and Ambrose Leung
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.”
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”.
