25th September 2023 – (Hong Kong) Most recently, a mainland Chinese man took to social media to complain about a distressing experience he had with his child at Hong Kong Disneyland, where inadequate toilet facilities forced numerous children to urinate on the ground. The man’s complaint drew criticism from netizens who questioned whether it was a normal occurrence or if his expectations were simply too high.
A post on the Chinese social media platform “Xiaohongshu” titled “Is Hong Kong Disneyland’s Management Failing?” highlighted the incident. The author claimed that the urinals in the men’s restroom were out of order on a Saturday evening. After inquiring about the issue three times, the cleaning staff finally admitted that the facilities were indeed broken. The author expressed disbelief at the situation, stating that adults could endure the inconvenience, considering they had already spent hours queuing for various attractions. However, the high influx of children on weekends, combined with the fireworks display scheduled for later in the evening, resulted in long queues at the restrooms. Consequently, some children could not hold it any longer and ended up urinating in their pants or inside the restroom.
The author suggested that Hong Kong Disneyland should have placed a notice at the entrance of the restroom, indicating that the urinals were temporarily unavailable. This way, parents could have been informed in advance and directed to alternative facilities. However, the author also questioned whether it was normal for all the urinals in a restroom to be out of order on a weekend, wondering if his expectations were indeed too high. He emphasized the need to address the problem without resorting to personal attacks, discrimination, or regional bias, and suggested focusing on self-reflection and optimization of solutions.
However, not all netizens agreed with the author’s perspective. Some argued that Hong Kong Disneyland has multiple restroom facilities, and if one was out of order, visitors could simply use another nearby. They considered occasional maintenance issues to be normal and not worthy of excessive online criticism. The author responded in the comments section, explaining that it was not the fact that the urinals were broken that bothered him, but rather the lack of notice at the entrance, which led to unnecessary queuing and wasted time. The author later updated the post, acknowledging that Hong Kong Disneyland generally provides excellent service and entertainment, and attributed the incident to being an isolated case. They reiterated the importance of self-reflection, optimizing solutions, and resolving the issue.