HONG KONG, Mar 9 (AP) -- The Hong Kong Disneyland theme park set to open in September has already received 10,000 room reservations for its hotel since it opened a customer call center three weeks ago, officials said Wednesday.

"It really took us by surprise, the volume of calls coming in," said Bill Ernest, managing director of operations at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Ernest said Hong Kong residents have made most of the 10,000 reservations at the park's 1,000-room hotel, though the park expects that about 40 percent of the visitors will eventually come from mainland China.

The park, scheduled to open Sept. 12, plans to start an advertising blitz on the mainland soon, Ernest said.

"Once the word is out, I think it will be quite busy," he said.

The park _ a joint venture between the Hong Kong government and The Walt Disney Co. _ is being built on reclaimed land at Penny's Bay on Hong Kong's outlying Lantau island.

The park will employ about 5,000 people, from cleaners and concession workers to musicians and dancers, said Esther Wong, manager of public affairs. It will begin by hiring 3,000 during in third week of April, she said.

About 500 performers will be needed -- and the park will probably have to look outside Hong Kong for many of them, said Don Robinson, the park's group managing director.

"We've already been doing auditions for characters, singers and dancers," he said.

Disney operations in France are having financial problems, and Ernest said that one lesson learned from Europe was that the company has to do a better job of listening to what the public wants.

Hong Kong Disneyland will make special efforts to cater to Asian tastes, Ernest said, adding that most of the food offered at the park will be Chinese.

It will also have more "photography stops," places where visitors can pose for pictures, and shops will have more souvenirs because Asian guests like to bring home gifts for family and friends, he said.