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    The Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, visited Hong Kong Disneyland and the related support facilities in Penny's Bay this afternoon (August 12). With the theme park scheduled to start rehearsal days on Tuesday (August 16), the visit this afternoon was aimed at inspecting the progress in the final preparation and ensuring that all necessary support facilities and arrangements in the surrounding areas were in place.

    The Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, and Commissioner for Tourism, Ms Eva Cheng, also took part in the visit.

    The visiting party rode on the Disney Resort Line from Sunny Bay and arrived at the Disneyland Resort Station in the afternoon, where they were briefed on the operation of the public transport interchange as well as the transport and crowd control arrangements during the rehearsal days.

    The visitors then proceeded to the Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre to receive briefing on its operation before touring the Joint Command Centre for the Opening of Hong Kong Disneyland at Penny's Bay.  

    Inside the theme park, Mr Tang and the accompanying party were briefed on the safety and operational requirements of the amusement rides.

    Mr Tang said after the visit: "I am sure that the whole of Hong Kong and the Mainland are very excited about Hong Kong Disneyland." He was pleased to see that staff from the theme park, related government departments and private sector operators had gone to great lengths to ensure smooth and successful operations of Hong Kong Disneyland.

   "We have made detailed arrangements and plans to cover all contingencies that we can think of," Mr Tang said. "But in any new major project, there are bound to be unexpected situations arising that will require an immediate response.

   "We will closely monitor the situation during the rehearsal days and strive to resolve any teething problems that may arise before the formal opening of the theme park," Mr Tang said.

Ends/Friday, August 12, 2005

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News clip (Real Media/Windows Media)