All eyes are on Toy Story Land as the opening draws near and massive creative activations of Cast Member and partners begin to unfold the fun. Hong Kong Disney Resort will be officially opening its doors to the first completed themed area in the Toy Story Land expansion project on November 18th 2011.
In the run-up to opening, the whole of the city will be abuzz with playtime activity as Hong Kong Disney launches its biggest marketing and sales campaign in their history.
The promotional campaign is expected to spread the magic of Toy Story to “hot spots” all over the city as Cast Members prepare to greet guests of all ages and cultures to Toy Story Land.
Activation of Cast Members brings new Toy Story delights
“It started with an idea from the Walt Disney Imagineering team and then a year-long of preparation by the park operations teams; now, Toy Story Land is entering the final rehearsal stage, ” said Andrew Kam, Managing Director, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
“In order to build the Cast Member morale, we initiated our largest ever Cast Activation program in August by recruiting Cast Members for our creative ‘Happy Cast Fashion Post’ program. Some executives and I also took part in the fashion shoot, which was an innovative and creative internal campaign to drive team spirit and to further engage our Cast Members in the preparation work for Toy Story Land’s opening in a fun way.”
Now that opening-time is approaching, a comprehensive marketing campaign will be “rolled out wave after wave” and will utilise television, print, internet and outdoor advertising, all designed to capture the imagination and immerse Hong Kong in the captivating world of Toy Story.
In the first ever collaboration between Hong Kong Disneyland and Disney Pixar Animation, a new TV commercial combines live shooting with Pixar animated characters to “depict a magical transformation from imagination to reality that is sure to engage viewers all across the city.”
There is also expected to be an extension of the Toy Story Land experience into further promotional activities for the brand new themed area. “Toy Story Land brings us not only new storytelling experiences, but also the opportunities for Cast Members to further extend their limitless creativity and for us to stimulate imagination in the community, ” said Fredrick Chan, Director, Marketing, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
“Many well-known lifestyle brands have developed a range of creative co-marketing initiatives with us, giving new opportunities and platforms to bring an endless supply of Toy Story magic to Guests not only in the Resort, but also throughout Hong Kong.”
Working hard to promote Toy Story Land 
The upcoming opening certainly already seems to be creating something of a buzz around the city. To celebrate the opening of Toy Story Land, Hong Kong Disneyland have installed a colourful array of Christmas lights around the shopping area Harbour City, in order to create an inviting Toy Story wonderland for the Hong Kong people and visitors from around the world.
Additionally, Citibank Visa Cardholders will have the chance to win a Magical Vacation at Hong Kong Disneyland and enjoy exclusive rewards when they meet designated spending at Harbour City. Bossini will also be launching a new Toy Story themed fashion collection especially for the event, allowing visitors to really immerse themselves in the Hong Kong Disneyland Toy Story experience.
Further promotions are expected to be launched soon including the Kodak Express Photo Output Offer and the Coca-Cola Combo offer at MCL Cinemas.
However, the Hong Kong marketing drive is just the tip of the iceberg; Hong Kong Disneyland is also to launch Toy Story Land advertising and activities in mainland China and Asia.
These will include the production of a TV series in collusion with influential children’s show the Dragon Club in China. This will be broadcast across China in more than 200 cities and regions. Further to this, Hong Kong Disneyland is strengthening its digital campaign in order to better reach young adults.
This will include engaging the popular Chinese video site Youku and new websites have been created with one of China’s biggest travel sites Ctrip. The sites are dedicated to Toy Story Land and are available in Chinese, English and Japanese in order to provide information around the world. There will also be a “synergistic campaign” to reach potential guests in 14 Asian cities through the Disney channel.
Special, pre-opening ‘rehearsals’ are planned in the run up to the launch of Toy Story Land and Hong Kong Disneyland has invited selected guests to be among the first to enjoy the Toy story experience. These include celebrities, media, travel trade representatives and other partners.
“With our expansion plan, we have new immersive and interactive experiences and thrilling adventures for our Guests. We are fully committed to working even more closely with our trade partners and providing more comprehensive support based on market needs as we promote the new experience of Toy Story Land together, ” said Larry Leung, Director, Travel Trade Sales, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Resort representatives have been working hard to promote Toy Story Land since August and have visited 16 Asian cities, connecting with over 2000 travel trade at a series of Toy Story Land launch events.
“Bringing yet more innovation to the industry, the events adopted a first-of-its-kind edutainment format, making learning about Toy Story Land fun and interactive, ” Hong Kong Disneyland said in a statement.
Image at top: In 3-D glasses and using “spring-action shooters, ” Walt Disney World visitors ride the new “Toy Story Mania!” experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.(Gene Duncan, photographer) Copyright Disney.
