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Defunctland: The Failure of Hong Kong Disneyland (AKA The Fall of Eisner, The Rise of Iger and We Almost Had Comcast Buy Disney 14 years ago.)

mreddie

mreddie

Member
Oct 26, 2017
44,009


Defunctland is a gold mine and Kevin and his team make amusement park issues and business deals as well other issues sound captivating, this season was mainly about the rise and fall of Michael Eisner as he came to Disney and bailed them out in the 80s only for them to be back in the gutter in the 00s.

There are 5 key pieces in this insanity, Disney's America, Euro Disney, Disney's California Adventure and the side Disney places to rival Discovery Zone and Gameworks. This is the 5th and man, it is such a mess with Hong Kong wanting to be bailed out of their money woes and Disney trying to save them only to be hit with money issues, environmental issues, 9/11, SARS and the biggest one, Shangai Disneyland.

i feel posting this fits considering the recent events this week and seeing how much has changed in just 15 years. Eisner's words before the video ending hits hard seeing what he wanted to do.
 
SunKing

SunKing

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,544
Watched a similar retrospective of HK Disneyland from another channel on YT. It's amazing how much of an impact Euro Disneyland disastrous launch had.
 
WhiteRabbitEXE

WhiteRabbitEXE

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,586
Arizona
SunKing said:
Watched a similar retrospective of HK Disneyland from another channel on YT. It's amazing how much of an impact Euro Disneyland disastrous launch had.
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Euro Disneyland fucked over basically everything at Disney in a time when they should have been at the top of the world. It drives me nuts seeing how much we missed out from the theme park division in specific, because they had sooooo much amazing stuff cooked up. Especially bummed we never got WestCOT.
 
Common Knowledge

Common Knowledge

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,241
I went to Hong Kong Disneyland about three years ago. It's like a neat little "compact" version of the Magic Kingdom with most of the major attractions. Mystic Manor is a pretty interesting ride.
 
MMarston

MMarston

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,605
I loved Defunctland this season and I hope we see more of Universal's ambitions for next season too if he hasn't done them yet

And yeah, I remember going HK Disney a little after it opened -- which was just a year after I visited the original Disneyland -- and I kinda got perplexed at my parents on why we were there even as a kid.
 
patientzero

patientzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,729
WhiteRabbitEXE said:
Euro Disneyland fucked over basically everything at Disney in a time when they should have been at the top of the world. It drives me nuts seeing how much we missed out from the theme park division in specific, because they had sooooo much amazing stuff cooked up. Especially bummed we never got WestCOT.
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I cannot hear about Euro Disneyland without immediately flashing to Euro Itchy and Scratchy Land.

oH_RhQbwMpA0WaaGZVz3hihEoSE=.gif
 
jstevenson

jstevenson

Developer at Insomniac Games
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,042
Burbank CA
HK Disney is a fun 3/4 of a day park. Mystic Manor is terrific, nice Space Mountain, Iron man ride is ok, their frontier mountain coaster is great too.

Not worth a trip on its own (go to Tokyo) but certainly worth a stop by.
 
Grimm Fandango

Grimm Fandango

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,722
Oh nice other Defunctland fans. Have to watch this soon.

Always like the general park episodes. The Disney's America one was great.
 
Strider_Blaze

Strider_Blaze

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,957
Lancaster, CA
Gonna have to check this out later. Didn't think there were fellow DefunctLand fans here!

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
Euro Disneyland fucked over basically everything at Disney in a time when they should have been at the top of the world. It drives me nuts seeing how much we missed out from the theme park division in specific, because they had sooooo much amazing stuff cooked up. Especially bummed we never got WestCOT.
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Pretty much. Pretty recently I also found out we could have gotten a much better Tomorrowland instead of the final makeover in 98. That was also a huge bummer!
 
Alwayscrazybacon

Alwayscrazybacon

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,159
China
jstevenson said:
HK Disney is a fun 3/4 of a day park. Mystic Manor is terrific, nice Space Mountain, Iron man ride is ok, their frontier mountain coaster is great too.

Not worth a trip on its own (go to Tokyo) but certainly worth a stop by.
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I went in 2010 and it was so small and quiet. But from the video is sounds like they have expanded the park some so it might be worth a revisit.
 
Piggus

Piggus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,692
Oregon
Went to HK Disneyland several years ago and was pretty disappointed, mainly because it just felt like a smaller, lesser version of Disneyland. It was also rainy as hell and a lot of rides were closed. Ocean Park is a much better theme park imo.
 
Valkyr Junkie

Valkyr Junkie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
853
I've never been able to believe this guy's last name is "Perjurer." So much worse than even Richie Incognito's lol.
 
Cruxist

Cruxist

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,814
I can't believe how big this silly little youtube channel I found way back when has gotten. Seriously, Defunctland is great. The rise and fall of Michael Eisner has been so interesting to watch. It's hard to contrast the struggling Disney of yore with the powerhouse today, but wow.
 
verygooster

verygooster

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,651
New Jersey
The Disney's America episode is fucking FASCINATING to put it one way. One of my favorite YouTube things ever (and channel —even the podcasts are great)
 
UnholyChocolate

UnholyChocolate

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,340
Upside down
I went HK Disney is September last year. It was the best Disney land I have gone to. We did the entire park in about 6 hours and went on all of the rides 3 or 4 times.
 
big_z

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,794
Defunctland is great. I have yet to watch this episode because I found out youtube unsubscribed me from the channel for some reason so im a few episodes behind.
 
halcali

halcali

Banned
Nov 7, 2017
6,317
Hong Kong SAR
What was fun about going to Hong Kong Disneyland when there are ZERO "adult" rides and the park is a miniaturized version of Disneyland?
(also, it's full of noisy babies and tourists from Mainland China.. ugh
 

ZiggyPalffyLA

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
4,504
Los Angeles, California
Always love to see some Defunctland here. Theme Park History is great too!

I went to HK Disneyland in 2006 when there was NOTHING there. Literally the only thing I remember going on was Space Mountain, several times. I don't think we even stayed half a day.

UnholyChocolate said:
I went HK Disney is September last year. It was the best Disney land I have gone to. We did the entire park in about 6 hours and went on all of the rides 3 or 4 times.
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Was it by chance the only Disney land you've been to?
 
Vic_Viper

Vic_Viper

Thanked By SGM
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,030
Just did a Case Study on Euro Disney and HK Disney for International Marketing lol. Basically the biggest problem was that the people in charge just didnt take into account the cultural differences when opening these 2 parks, at least according to the text book.
 
SneakyBadger

SneakyBadger

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,544
Can't wait to check it out. I've been binge watching Defunctland this week. I wish I knew about more interesting, obscure channels like it.
 
Marin-Lune

Marin-Lune

Member
Oct 27, 2017
608
Yeah, HK Disneyland is an interesting one, for all the reasons listed in the OP, especially the latest one with the Shanghai Park dooming HK's. Plus: the competition with the awesome Ocean Park, the weird/awkward location. And the size, THE SIZE! That park is so small is kinda ridiculous.
 
Kwigo

Kwigo

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
8,028
Can't wach the vid right now, but how could Euro Disneyland fuck over other parks if it didn't even belong to the WDC until 2 years ago ?
 
AniHawk

AniHawk

No Fear, Only Math
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,140
Kwigo said:
Can't wach the vid right now, but how could Euro Disneyland fuck over other parks if it didn't even belong to the WDC until 2 years ago ?
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the company is no longer public/has outside investors, from what i could glean online. disney has always owned the subsidiary that owns disneyland in paris. tokyo disney is mostly owned by another company, who did a pretty bang-up job with the park. sensing this was a mistake, disney went about handling things on their own. this was a mistake because they completely missed out on some key cultural differences like not serving wine in the park and... calling it 'euro' disney (it's now disneyland paris). for americans, or at least the people in charge of disney, 'euro' was considered classy, but for europeans, 'euro' is more associated with currency.

what really fucked them over was that they kept investing money to improve the park after it had already posted losses/weak profits. it took away from plans to build other parks or build them up the way they could be.

eurodisney is the beginning of the end for michael eisner, but living in southern california i'll always remember just how shitty california adventure was, and i associate that lack of care with the disney of the late 90s/early 00s that was pumping out direct-to-video sequels and other half-assed products.
 
Kwigo

Kwigo

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
8,028
AniHawk said:
disney owns the subsidiary that owns euro disney. tokyo disney is mostly owned by another company, who did a pretty bang-up job with the park. sensing this was a mistake, disney went about handling things on their own. this was a mistake because they completely missed out on some key cultural differences like not serving wine in the park and... calling it 'euro' disney (it's now disneyland paris). for americans, or at least the people in charge of disney, 'euro' was considered classy, but for europeans, 'euro' is more associated with currency.

what really fucked them over was that they kept investing money to improve the park after it had already posted losses/weak profits. it took away from plans to build other parks or build them up the way they could be.

eurodisney is the beginning of the end for michael eisner, but living in southern california i'll always remember just how shitty california adventure was, and i associate that lack of care with the disney of the late 90s/early 00s that was pumping out direct-to-video sequels and other half-assed products.
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Oh I didn't know that they still pulped money in it!
Man I can't wait for the Marvel, Frozen and SW lands, I've been going 6 times a year for the past years to DLP and it's getting stale.
 
AniHawk

AniHawk

No Fear, Only Math
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,140
Kwigo said:
Oh I didn't know that they still pulped money in it!
Man I can't wait for the Marvel, Frozen and SW lands, I've been going 6 times a year for the past years to DLP and it's getting stale.
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there's a two-parter on space mountain, and how it essentially saved the park twice. although the revision was not as well received and the current format under the star wars brand has made it lose the special shine it had which drew so many to the park in the 90s.
 
squall23

squall23

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,771
I had the pleasure of going to HK Disneyland for free in November. The castle really was under renovation, the entire Tomorrowland section was closed by 4 pm, and everything else just felt lacklustre. I was however able to go on all the rides I wanted to go on and Big Grizzly Mountain 3 times due to short lines/lack of people so that was good at least. Seriously, Space Mountain was a 5 minute wait time at 2 pm. What?!

If you're ever in Hong Kong and you want to go to an amusement park, go to Ocean Park. It's absolutely worth the money and super fun.
 

Deleted member 401

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,251
Love me some Defunctland. Love me a lot of the big Disney theme park-related channels like Yesterworld, actually, but Defunctland stands at the top of the pack.
 
Cookie

Cookie

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,258
Could someone link some videos or articles about Disneyland Paris? I'd like to do some in depth research into it, I don't know anything about what is being mentioned in this thread and I'd like to learn more because my wife and I go to it at least once a year.
 
Saya

Saya

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,972
Add me to the voices that thinks Ocean Park is indeed so much better than HK Disneyland. It was so small and underwhelming when I visited (but to be fair this was in 2009). I preferred just visiting Lantau Island or Ocean Park where you get a zoo, a few cool rides and a awesome cable car ride along a mountain. And it's right next to the sea with amazing views.
 
ConanEd

ConanEd

Alt account
Banned
Dec 27, 2018
1,033
Saya said:
Add me to the voices that thinks Ocean Park is indeed so much better than HK Disneyland. It was so small and underwhelming when I visited (but to be fair this was in 2009). I preferred just visiting Lantau Island or Ocean Park where you get a zoo, a few cool rides and a awesome cable car ride along a mountain. And it's right next to the sea with amazing views.
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Yeah I visited...I think 2008. It put a huge bad taste in my mouth.
 
manzoman96

manzoman96

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,510
AniHawk said:
the company is no longer public/has outside investors, from what i could glean online. disney has always owned the subsidiary that owns disneyland in paris. tokyo disney is mostly owned by another company, who did a pretty bang-up job with the park. sensing this was a mistake, disney went about handling things on their own. this was a mistake because they completely missed out on some key cultural differences like not serving wine in the park and... calling it 'euro' disney (it's now disneyland paris). for americans, or at least the people in charge of disney, 'euro' was considered classy, but for europeans, 'euro' is more associated with currency.

what really fucked them over was that they kept investing money to improve the park after it had already posted losses/weak profits. it took away from plans to build other parks or build them up the way they could be.

eurodisney is the beginning of the end for michael eisner, but living in southern california i'll always remember just how shitty california adventure was, and i associate that lack of care with the disney of the late 90s/early 00s that was pumping out direct-to-video sequels and other half-assed products.
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For real. Disney in the early-mid 2000s sucked and I'm glad Roy Es plan to get Eisner out worked. Bad parks and bad animation output (both theatrical and those shitty direct to video movies)
 
Linkura

Linkura

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,943
AniHawk said:
the company is no longer public/has outside investors, from what i could glean online. disney has always owned the subsidiary that owns disneyland in paris. tokyo disney is mostly owned by another company, who did a pretty bang-up job with the park. sensing this was a mistake, disney went about handling things on their own. this was a mistake because they completely missed out on some key cultural differences like not serving wine in the park and... calling it 'euro' disney (it's now disneyland paris). for americans, or at least the people in charge of disney, 'euro' was considered classy, but for europeans, 'euro' is more associated with currency.

what really fucked them over was that they kept investing money to improve the park after it had already posted losses/weak profits. it took away from plans to build other parks or build them up the way they could be.

eurodisney is the beginning of the end for michael eisner, but living in southern california i'll always remember just how shitty california adventure was, and i associate that lack of care with the disney of the late 90s/early 00s that was pumping out direct-to-video sequels and other half-assed products.
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Tokyo is 100% owned by Oriental Land Company. Disney pays royalties and lends imagineering.

I can't wait to visit Tokyo DL for the first time and Japan in general again. The US parks are run so fucking poorly now.
 
Vern

Vern

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,097
halcali said:
What was fun about going to Hong Kong Disneyland when there are ZERO "adult" rides and the park is a miniaturized version of Disneyland?
(also, it's full of noisy babies and tourists from Mainland China.. ugh
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Ugh kids at a park for kids ... absolutely horrible can you believe it? Also gross chinese people bleh.
 
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