Disney unveils initial design for Hong Kong theme park
Thu Jun 27, 6:25 AM ET

HONG KONG - The Disney theme park being built here will look a lot like other Disneylands, with a sleeping beauty castle and a main thoroughfare depicting America at the turn of the 20th century, according to initial plans rolled out Thursday.

One difference: The Walt Disney Co. said it is consulting a feng shui master as it puts up the park Hong Kong is banking on to bring in more tourists when it opens by 2006.

Most of its plans have met with the master's approval, Disney executives told a briefing on Thursday.

The Disney executives also said special parades and decorations will be staged during traditional Chinese festivals, including the Lunar New Year.

Thomas K. Morris, vice president and executive producer in charge of creative development of Hong Kong Disneyland, said the park will also feature an Adventureland that imitates parts of Africa and Southeast Asia.

The $3.55 billion project has been financed mostly by Hong Kong taxpayers.

Hong Kong hopes it will rejuvenate an economy that has been sagging badly the past few years.