News: Hong Kong Disneyland falls short of attendance goal

Posted at 6:49 PM EDT (2249 GMT)

Sep. 5th, 2006 -- Confirming speculation about Hong Kong Disneyland's lower-than-expected attendance figures, the park announced yesterday that it has failed to meet its goal of 5.6 million guests since opening a year ago. However, park managing director Bill Ernest says that the park has brought in over 5 million visitors and expects to reach 5.6 million in September or October.

Ernest said the park was suffering "teething problems", one of which was the lack of familiarity with Disney stories and characters. He announced that the park is putting together a 10 to 15 minute-long pre-show for guests remedy this. Guests have also been seeking more events, which Ernest said the park is planning to do.

Ernest did not release financial figures, but said the park was on "solid financial footing".

See the Boston Herald for more.