Disney hired a feng shui master to help design Hong Kong Disneyland before it opened Sept. 12, 2005. The hotels skip the fourth floor, the entrance path curves so luck can’t escape and a restaurant counts its crystals in Cantonese puns.
Hong Kong Disneyland opened on Sept. 12, 2005, a date Disney picked off the Chinese almanac because it was lucky. That was not a gimmick. The whole resort was laid out with a feng shui master at the table, and the results are hiding in plain sight if you know where to look.
Twenty-one years in, it’s still the most superstitious Disney park on Earth. On purpose.
Did Disney really use feng shui to design Hong Kong Disneyland?
Yes, and the park says so itself. Hong Kong Disneyland’s official visitor guide states that “a Hong Kong-based feng shui master advised Disney” during design. Imagineer Wing Chao, later a Disney Legend and the company’s top development executive in Asia, led the effort.
Feng shui, roughly, is the practice of arranging buildings and spaces so that energy, or chi, flows well and luck stays put. Disney took it seriously enough to reroute a sidewalk.
Why does the Hong Kong Disneyland entrance curve?
To keep the luck in. The path from the train station to the front gate has a bend in it, per Associated Press coverage from the 2005 opening, so that good chi wouldn’t flow straight through the park and out to the South China Sea. AP reported the company shifted “the angle of the front gate by 12 degrees” on the master’s advice.
A big bronze fountain sits near the entrance, with Mickey riding a whale spout. Water features, the official guide notes, “enhance chi.” A fountain in front of the gate also blocks a straight road, which feng shui considers bad news.
Why is there no fourth floor at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotels?
Because in Cantonese the word for four sounds like the word for death. Both of the resort’s original hotels skip the fourth floor entirely; the elevators go from three to five. The official guide confirms it.
The park’s main hotel is laid out on a north-south axis, with hills to the north and east, per the resort’s own description of the site. In feng shui terms that’s a mountain at your back and open water in front, which is the ideal.
What’s the deal with the 2,238 crystal lotuses?
The Crystal Lotus restaurant at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel has exactly 2,238 crystal lotus flowers in its decor. Say “two two three eight” in Cantonese and it sounds like a phrase meaning “generate wealth easily.” That’s in the official guide too.
The hotel’s ballroom measures 888 square meters, per AP and the Las Vegas Sun’s opening coverage. Eight sounds like “prosperity.” Three of them is a lot of prosperity.
What else at Hong Kong Disneyland is feng shui?
Red, everywhere. The official guide explains that “red is considered as an extremely lucky color in Chinese culture,” so it shows up on the main entrance and throughout the park.
AP reported that incense was burned as each building was finished. The Las Vegas Sun noted there are no clocks for sale in the park’s shops, because giving a clock as a gift is associated with funerals. That one comes from a single 2005 report, so file it as a strong rumor.
The opening day itself, Sept. 12, 2005, was picked because the Tung Shing almanac called it auspicious. Disney doesn’t usually let a calendar choose its dates, but here it did.
How big is Hong Kong Disneyland now?
It was the smallest Disney castle park when it opened, at roughly 100 acres per AP, with a daily capacity that was the lowest in the company.
It’s grown. The Castle of Magical Dreams replaced the original Sleeping Beauty Castle copy in 2020, and the World of Frozen, the first Frozen land anywhere, opened Nov. 20, 2023.
The park drew 7.5 million guests in its 2025 fiscal year and turned a profit of about 536 million Hong Kong dollars, per its annual business review. The Hong Kong government owns 52 percent of the resort and Disney owns 48.
It celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sept. 12, 2025.
One thing the internet gets wrong about Hong Kong Disneyland’s feng shui
You’ll see a specific feng shui master named as Disney’s consultant in a lot of retellings, usually Peter So, a well-known Hong Kong practitioner. He was quoted in the 2005 coverage as an outside expert commenting on the park. Disney has never named its actual consultant, and the official guide doesn’t either.
So the person who bent the sidewalk is still anonymous. Which, for someone whose job is keeping luck from leaking out, seems about right.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Hong Kong Disneyland (official Insider’s Guide, feng shui pages), the unnamed master, no fourth floor, the 2,238 lotuses, red, water features and the site orientation
Hong Kong Disneyland (Annual Business Review FY2025), attendance, profit and ownership split
Hong Kong SAR Government and Disney (Nov. 2004 joint release), the opening date
Associated Press (April 2005, via Deseret News), the walkway bend, the 12-degree gate shift, the incense and the lucky date
Las Vegas Sun (Sept. 2005), the entrance fountain, the ballroom size and the no-clocks detail
NBC News / AP (Sept. 12, 2005), the park’s size at opening
D23 (Hong Kong Disneyland A-to-Z entry and 20th anniversary feature), Wing Chao’s role, the castle, World of Frozen and the anniversary
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.