Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report 12/26 to 12/28 2018

indoshakespeare

Reach out and find your Happily Ever After
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Hello, I finally found time to write my trip report of my recent visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. We're from Indonesia and we're lucky to have a Disney resort in Hong Kong because we do not require a visa to go to Hong Kong. It's also the closest Disney Resort to us so we would like to call this our "home" Disneyland although that title probably still belongs to Tokyo Disneyland. As you can see from my signature, we visited Tokyo Disney Resort the most.

On this trip, the participants are me, my wife, my DD (6 years), my DS (2 years) and my parents although they flew to Japan on the 27th (like I said.. we all love Japan so much that we go there again and again and again). We spent 3 nights in Hong Kong Island (Causeway Bay) prior to staying in Disneyland Hotel. On the morning of the 26th, we hired a car to take us from Park Lane hotel to Disneyland Hotel. I wanted to try the Explorer's Lodge but I got outvoted so DLH it is. I had checked in online so I could use the express lane to get my park tickets and Priority Admission Pass (we got 6 for our 2 days stay because I booked the Sea View room).

We took the shuttle to the park and arrived just before 11 AM. We went straight to It's a Small World, which is my parents' favorite ride. It was a walk on even though park had opened for 1 hour by this time. In fact, we rode it twice, both times were walk-ons. After the second ride, we headed to lunch at Clopin's Festival of Food, which was a counter service serving Cantonese food. I took the time to take Pooh Fastpasses, which was one of two attractions that had Fastpasses. It looks like they're going the paid FP route with the Priority Admission Pass. Most thrill rides here had a Priority Lane but no FP machines. We rode Pooh after lunch, which had a 20 minutes wait. I'm glad we had the FPs because I wanted to cover as many rides as possible while my parents were there.

After Pooh, we covered the three expansion areas starting with Toy Story Land. I went the wrong way and headed to Adventureland when we could've gone straight to TSL from Fantasyland. That did give us to see the Moana stage show which was much better than I expected. In TSL, DD wanted to ride Slinky Dog so I rode with her while the others explore the area. Queue time was 20 minutes posted but only 10 actual. It was actually faster than I expected and there was an actual thrill factor there. We skipped RC Racer and Parachute Drop and went straight to Mystic Point. The last time I was here, Mystic Point wasn't open yet so It was my first time riding Mystic Manor. We used the first of the PA passes (Posted wait time was 30 minutes). That ride was great! It's refreshing to see ride with original storylines because most new rides are IP-based. I hope to see more rides with Society of Explorers stories. DD was scared though and closed her eyes from the Medusa scene till the end. After that, we explored both Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch. The Grizzly Gulch band sang "Zip a Dee Doo Dah" so at least there's an element of Splash Mountain here. Only me, my wife and my dad rode Big Grizzly Mountain because my mom and DD don't ride coasters (I want to get her started on 7DMT when we go to Shanghai). This ride rivals Paris' for the best version of BTM but I give a slight edge to Paris. It's a clear second though.

After that we took a break and sat on the curb in Main Street for the 4 o'clock parade. Flights of Fantasy share the same theme song as WDW's Festival of Fantasy with slightly different lyrics but we all thought the parade was too short and not enough floats. The Princess float was my favorite!

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Then we all went shopping while I went to Tomorrowland to pick up Space Mountain FPs. Only me and my dad ended up riding it though. Posted wait time was 30 minutes so the FPs were useful. DD wanted to ride Orbitron (20 minute wait) while the rest went to Plaza Inn to get a table for dinner. In HKDL, Plaza Inn is a table service serving Hong Kong food. It's a Maxim restaurant, who own several popular restaurants in Hong Kong. After dinner, we didn't feel like waiting for the night parade so we went back to the hotel while my parents left us to stay at the airport hotel because they needed to catch an early flight to Japan. I ordered the Princess decoration for the room which I thought was a waste of money because the "decoration" was only this:

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My thought on the first day: we went to Tokyo Disneyland on the same date exactly one year before (12/26/2017) and the crowd level was night and day. Every e-ticket ride in Tokyo Disneyland was 2 hours long and FPs ran out by noon. By contrast, the longest queue in HKDL on 12/26/2018 was 40 minutes (Dumbo and Parachute Drop). FPs for Pooh and Space Mountain had not run out when we had dinner. We had plenty of spaces to watch the parade and queues for food at quick service were very short. We thoroughly enjoyed HKDL more than we did TDL in 2017 (also because It's a Small World was under refurbishment in TDL at that time). Now that I think about it, was TDR Vacation Package available in 2017? the FPs from that package would have been very helpful

Stay tune for day 2. Did we make rope drop? With a 10 AM opening time, it should be no problem right? Well....
 
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The day started early for me as I wanted to explore the resort before the kids got up. I wanted to find out how long it takes to walk from the hotel to the park. It was not too bad, only 10 minutes. I had the video of that walk on Youtube. We decided not to do the walk with the kids as we didn't want to tire out DD (we only had 1 stroller).


We did not make rope drop lol. Even though the kids were up by 8.30...they took TOO LONG to get ready. We ended up in the hotel lobby at 10:15 and arrived at the park a few minutes before 11. (They are totally not ready for Disneyland in America) In the second day, we were joined by my cousin and her family (2 girls aged 9 and 1), her single older brother, her younger brother + GF and a couple of friends They are also Disneyland fans who stay extended stays in Disney resorts. For this particular trip, they stayed 6 days in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. We would meet them after lunch as they are usually late comers to the park. On the second day, I wanted to meet some characters especially face characters. Ever since I met all the princesses in WDW, I am hooked on conversing with characters. I checked the Royal Princess Garden first thing first and only Sofia was there. It was okay if the line was short but it looked too long for a non face character. I went to Fairy Tale forest with DD while my wife took DS to TSL to meet Jesse and Buzz.

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Fairy Tale forest was great. It's like Storybook Canal Boat in Disneyland without the boat. The main reason for going here was to meet Tinker Bell. The downside of meeting characters with DD is they go immediately to her and ignore me. Tinker Bell started talking to her but DD was too shy to response and she refused to meet any other face characters after that (good then, I actually got to talk and converse with Moana). I got a bit of their interaction on video.


We met up with DW and DS in TSL and DD wanted to ride Slinky Dog Spin again. Queue time was again posted as 20 minutes but we waited less than 10. We then went to have lunch at Mystic Point's Quick Service restaurant: Explorer's Club. This is my favorite restaurant in the resort as it has my favorite dish of all time: Hainanese Chicken Rice. The theming is the extension of Mystic Manor and the rest of Mystic Point. The restaurant also served Indonesian staples like Nasi Goreng. I had to wait a bit because in front of me was an Indonesian group who ordered 8 servings of Nasi Goreng and 8 servings of Hainanese Chicken Rice. I swear if California Grill doesn't exist, I can declare this the best restaurant in all Disney Resorts around the world. As for now, California Grill is still my #1 and Explorer's Club #2. While waiting for DD and DS to finish their meals (they're slow eaters), I rode Mystic Manor again which had 5 minutes wait time even though it was 12:30 pm. After lunch we went to Adventureland and explore Karibuni marketplace. We saw Baloo meeting at its meet and greet place but line was already close. DD wanted to watch the Moana show again before we met up with my cousin's group.

My cousin treated us to a VIP tour. We actually had to hire 3 guides because we had more than 12 people (1 guide is for 6 people). While I have my apprehension about VIP tours (I wanted to teach my kids to be patient and queue for rides), it was a boon because most of the kiddie rides here have the longest queue times (i.e. Dumbo, Pooh and Parachute Drops). While waiting for the tour to start (3 pm), my wife wanted to watch the 2.30 castle show (Christmas songs singing by Mickey and friends). I took the time to finally meet some face characters by myself. I checked the Royal Princess Garden again and it's still only Sofia, so I went to Adventureland to see Moana. Her line was short and within five minutes, I was chatting with her. It was really the personal highlight of my trip. She was very fun and friendly. I told her I enjoyed her stage show the most which made her happy. She sounded genuinely happy to talk to me because I notice most kids just met characters for pictures and barely interact with them.

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At 3, we met with the tour guides and we hit several rides without queuing: It's a Small World, Pooh, Slinky Dog, Dumbo and Carousel. We had a reserved spot for the Flights of Fantasy Parade (and also later on for the Paint the Night parade). We also had reserved seating for Mickey and the Wondrous Book (which was AMAZING! Best stage show in a Disney Park anywhere). This is the sister show of Mickey and the Magician in Disneyland which also feature a princess trio number. This is also the only place in the resort where you can see Rapunzel, Merida and Tiana.

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After the show, we had dinner at Clopin's again while my cousin went to Royal Banquet Hall. Clopin is more Hong Kong food while RBH is more Pan-Asia food. During dinner, I went to ride the one ride we missed on day 1: Iron Man Experience. I used the third of my PA Pass. This ride is so much better than Star Tours. Great story line and we actually help Iron Man beat Hydra. The ride starts and ends in Hong Kong Disneyland and takes place mostly in Hong Kong so the immersion is wonderful. Can't wait to try the Ant Man ride. After dinner, we had some time before Paint the Night so we hit Jungle Cruise. DD was a bit scared of the fiery finale. We then went to our designated VIP spot to watch Paint the Night which was so much better than Flights of Fantasy. The Cars float is the highlight. The parade actually starts right after the park closes so the park doesn't actually close at closing time, only the rides. After the parade, you can stay as long as you want. They don't rush you out. We ended up exiting at 9.30 because we waited for the crowd to thin out (8 pm posted closing time). The VIP viewing area was the furthest from exit as it was right near where the parade starts.

(to be continued)
 
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Day 3 is our check out day. I woke up early again and took the time to visit the Explorer's Lodge hotel. I loved the themeing as it was my favorite kind of theme. Sequoia Lodge and Wilderness Lodge are my favorite hotels in Paris and WDW respectively. Unfortunately the rest of my family don't like the secluded nature type of hotel so if I am to stay there, it has to be a solo trip. Maybe someday.


but we started the day at the Enchanted Garden character breakfast. I was hoping to see the Fab 5 but only Mickey, Minnie and Pluto were there. Better than nothing I guess. DS was a bit scared of the characters so we were rather quick with the characters. The food was great. I really liked the fresh scrambled egg (made to order). The chef made it flaky instead of fluffy which was my preference. After breakfast, we played in the Maze behind the hotel while waiting for our transport to the airport. It was hard keeping up with an active 2 year old boy but the maze was fun and the rest of the garden has plenty of space for kids to run around in. At 12.30 pm, our car arrived and our Hong Kong Disneyland adventure came to an end!

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Overall, I feel HKDL is very underrated. It may be the smallest and has the fewest ride but it was very compact and non-tiring, which is good for families with small kids. My biggest negative is the princess meet and greet schedule at the Royal Princess Garden is not consistent and they're only posted on the day so it's hard to schedule your day if you want to meet a specific princess. No fireworks is not a big deal to me because Paint the Night made up for it. Mickey and the Wondrous Book and Mystic Point are the main selling point of the park and I love that they replaced Star Tours and Buzz with Iron Man and Wasp. It gives Tomorrowland a good anchor with the Stark Expo. The crowd level is the biggest plus, especially during the holiday season. Very manageable with nothing went above 40 minute queue during Christmas Holiday. Definitely will visit again once Arendelle and the new castle open.
 
Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip report! We'll be in HKDL for the first time in 6 weeks, and your report is so helpful. Especially your comparisons with Paris, which is my "home" park. We're staying in the Explorers Lodge, so thank you for going to see it and sharing the awesome video - it looks like Sequoia Lodge but even better...
 



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