Hong Kong Disneyland celebrates first birthday
2006-09-12

People Jacky Cheung Event HK Disney Theme Park

Torrential rain has dampened celebrations at Hong Kong Disneyland as the entertainment giant's first resort in China marked its first anniversary.

In a relatively muted event by Disney's standards, park chief executive Bill Ernest joined Hong Kong pop and movie star Jacky Cheung to lead a brief open-air musical ceremony featuring actors dressed as cartoon favourites including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

The unsettled weather, which left the hundreds of media and invited guests soaking wet, was an unwelcome reminder for management of a year that saw the 3-billion-dollar park open in spectacular fashion but very quickly hit the rocks with a spate of scandals and incidents.

An on-going feud between staff unions and management over working conditions, several food poisoning scares and a near-riot at the gates over a ticket mix-up forced the park to reshuffle its management team within just a few months of opening.

More recently the 57-percent government owned resort has come under fire for refusing to open its books to public scrutiny and faces allegations that its merchandise is made at Chinese factories that abuse labour laws.

More damagingly, management conceded last month that the park had not been the hit it had expected, with poor attendance failing to reach the 5.6 million visitors in the first 12 months.

No formal speeches were given during Tuesday's event which also featured a giant birthday cake.