Major Protests on Hong Kong Island

Yikes. Glad I am not going till next year. Hope all Dissers are safe!
 
The situation has deteriorated again and many places in Hong Kong are NOT SAFE at night on the weekends. Police have randomly stopped trains at multiple stations then entered to beat up commuters leading to severe injuries such as head bleeding. Medical staff were not allowed in and the injured were not allowed out so they must relied on other commuters for first aid. Many trains were filled with smoke from pepper balls and/or fire extinguisher contents. Some attackers (possible gang members) also randomly beat people. Out on the streets, police (some undercover cops as well) fired all types of non-lethal weapons and fired warning shots using live ammunition. Protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at police.

If you must be in HK on the weekend, stay in the Lantau Island area (where Disneyland is) and absolutely do not be out on the streets or trains at night on the weekends. If you can risk possible flight cancellations and avoid protest areas on the weekend/nighttime, it is still possible to enjoy much of Hong Kong. But if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can get quite dangerous.

As riot police clearing the airport protest on Sept 1, protesters walked to Sunny Bay which caused the Disneyland Resort Line and Tung Chung Lines to close. Due to road obstructions and the number of people leaving, many buses were full or were suspended. Thugs also went around with knives trying to slice up people on the streets. At least one of my friends got trapped in the park.

On Sept 2, there was a general strike which also affected Disneyland. Orbitron, Mystic Manor, Toy Solider Parachute Drop, Tarzan's Treehouse and all of Grizzly Gulch were closed. Lion King and a number of character greetings were also cancelled. Most food carts were closed and restuarants had a reduced menu. Dumbo, Jungle Cruise and the rest of Toy Story Land + Mystic Manor closed early. Mickey did not come out during "We Love Mickey" although it started raining a bit so that could have been due to weather.

The park was so dead that I got entire rides to myself: Hyperspace Mountain, It's a Small World, Mad Hatter Tea Cups and Winnie the Pooh. They wouldn't let me have an entire Jungle Cruise boat to myself so I had to wait like 10 minutes for a couple more families to show up.

The strike continued to a lesser extent on Sept 3: Grizzly Gulch, Slinky Dog Spin, RC Racer and Festival of the Lion King remained closed.
 
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam has delivered an address responding to the five demands of the people and propose a solution to resolve the conflict. Hopefully this unrest will end soon
 
Carrie Lam said that she will withdraw the bill when the Legislative Council next month. If she had announced that in June, the movement may have ended but right now, people really want an independent inquiry into the police and universal suffrage. Since the people no longer trust the government, even the promise make a move a motion to withdraw the bill is not seen as enough until the bill is actually, legally withdrawn.

There have been protests at many schools and nightly protests at multiple MTR stations but those tend to be peaceful (although loud) with people dispersing when riot police charge in. An occasional tear gas canister and a few beanbag rounds get fired in at those crowds. Because the MTR has been closing stations while providing reserved trains to the police, people will damage MTR stations causing further transportation delays. I think the fear of an independent inquiry makes the police less likely to use excessive violence to clear crowds but airport transportation disruption on the weekends should be expected.
 


In random news about the protests, I work for an airline and normally the crew stays in Hong Kong in a hotel in the city. I learned today due to the protests they stay in one of the Disneyland hotels and have to stay on this part of Hong Kong.
 
I am scheduled to arrive Friday November 1 at 4:35 pm then planning on a taxi to DL's Hollywood Hotel. Hopefully by then there will be little issues. I am coming for the 10k that Sunday...
 
These days, many exits to MTR stations close in the late afternoon/early evening. Since MTR company cannot keep up with repairing turnstiles damaged by protesters and sometimes police frisk people in stations, transportation can take longer than usual even when there aren't stations closed. People everywhere are often singing/chanting late into the night with police driving to reinforce well past midnight in many areas with sirens going off. If you stay near any police stations or major roads such as Nathan Road, Harcourt Road or Cheung Sha Wan Road, you may not be able to sleep well due to the noise. Since protesters often spray paint graffiti and the government repaints over that, some areas can have strong paint smells. Be careful if you have young children or elders who may be particularly affected by this.

Since the police are often banning protests on the weekend or violently arresting people even when the protest was approved, clashes on the weekend are to be expected. It's usually not hard to avoid the main conflict area but if the MTR and buses go down, you may need to take an extra couple of hours to walk or find roundabout transportation. The police have been arresting people at random and denying foreigners consular assistance, so be careful to avoid the police.

I recently found another Star Wars themed protest poster that I figure some people may appreciate (Mark Hamill liked the previous Star Wars themed posters on Twitter).
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We'll be arriving on November 5 for a five day stay. We've monitored the ups and downs of the situation and decided to press forward... We sympathize with the locals, but by this point changing or cancelling our flights to and from HK will cost more than the money than the vacation overall. :(

Our Disney day is tentatively set for Thursday, with various other activities being kept purposefully fluid based on whatever protest activities may take place by then. Crossing fingers... On the plus side (such as it is), the plunge in tourism this summer (down 40% by some estimates, including up to a whopping 90% reduction in tourist groups from mainland China) has resulted in a glut of hotel bookings, and corresponding steep discounts. I take some minor solace in the knowledge that my tourist dollars will be helping keep HK afloat in these trying times.

Mark
 
We have a trip scheduled for early to mid October. We aren't changing any of our plans (Disneyland or all of our Hong Kong plans). From what I've read from reliable sources, much of what is happening is overblown in the media. 99% of people in Hong Kong just go about their daily, normal lives. If anything, I see this as an opportunity to see the city without the massive tourist crowds that are usually there, and as the previous poster mentioned, with steep discounts on my lodging.
 
We are going to HK Disneyland as part of a trip to Shangahi and Tokyo Disney Resorts.
Our HK Disney stay is right in the middle of our trip in 2 weeks time.

We are still going ahead with our stay.
It's difficult to rearrange our trip since HK is the 2nd of the 3 Disney resorts we are going to.

Not really worried about the protests.
Since the resort is so close to the airport...feel like we can get in/out with no issues.

The only thing is airport delays or cancellations that could affect our trip.
However, past few weeks has shown really no impact to the airport.
 
Everybody who is coming to Hong Kong, please come with the reasonable expectations and a respectful attitude. If you stay at a Disney hotel, it is unlikely that your trip will be too affected but the park will be emptier than usual. This is wonderful because of the short lines but can also be a bit eerie to people who are not used to walking on to attractions with zero wait in the middle of the afternoon.

If you venture out into the main parts of Hong Kong, note that you may have to make adjustments due to transportation disruptions, especially in the evening or weekends. I do not know of anyone living in Hong Kong who has not either been delayed or had to cancel plans due to transportation disruptions in the past couple of months. While you may not encounter transportation issues during a short stay, if the MTR goes down and you suddenly have to make an hour or more detour, please be patient. Seeing graffiti and damaged public property is the new "normal" despite it being very rare before the protests.

It is usually not too difficult to avoid areas where police or gangs are clashing with protesters but you should come with the expectation that you may need to rearrange plans due to transportation disruptions.

As a note: Tourists think that they're supporting the Hong Kong by spending money but many people would rather tourists NOT come to spend money. This is because the local shops are the ones hurting but tourists usually spend in MTR malls or other places that feed back into the government. God forbid you fly Cathay who has been firing people for attending protests or posting pro-democracy messages on their social media. People here are desperate for a government that responds to demands and want to have peaceful protests. There are dozens of peaceful gatherings each day but it has been impossible to have large peaceful marches on the weekend because the recently, the police have been declaring all of them illegal and violently cracking down while paid gangs beat people up but aren't getting arrested.
 
We are heading to HK in November, 5 days in Shanghai and then a week in HK, (4 nights in the city, 3 nights at HKDL) I made the decision on Sunday after the last riots to book a further 4 nights at HKDL and use that as our base for the whole week, its cost more, but since the flights/hotels were all non-refundable, i'd rather carry on with the trip but feel safe within the Disney bubble in HK, since our city hotel was right in the middle of it. I'm not booking any of the day trips we had planned (Macau, Island, City) in advance and will make the decision when we are there... we will still just have 2 days in the park as planned, but will probably have an extra lazy day chilling by the pool/park. So now its a full Disney trip with every night in a disney hotel :-)
 
We're heading to HK at the start of November (booked well before the protests started!)... Getting a bit worried, but the money we'd lose by cancelling is more than we can afford to just write-off. We're staying in the city, then moving to HKDL for the last few days (with a DL hotel).
We've booked to fly with British Airways...who are threatening strike action (having already had strikes this month), so worried about getting out there...then worried about protests at the airport on the way back.
 
Starting the past few days, customs has been extremely strict with searching bags so you could get into trouble for bringing items such as gas masks and helmets into HK. Before protests, police may make arbitrary arrests in the area and after protests, officers may stop buses and make more arbitrary arrests. If any major protest has happened, you should expect police searches and transportation being stopped in some areas. There's all sorts of minor protests such as singing, chanting, human chains, burning of incense, etc near police stations, subway stations, Lennon walls and inside malls. If there's no police or thugs, it's still safe (although it can be loud). Because the police refuse to arrest gang members, support for lynching has been increasing so don't stir up trouble or take pictures of protesters. It's more important than ever to be respectful, pay attention to the news and don't let your curiosity get the best of you. There's still a chance that you could be on a bus or train that suddenly gets stopped but if you avoid the major protest areas and don't hang around the minor protest areas too long, you should be fine.
 
LIVE AMMUNITION HAS HIT A PERSON IN THE CHEST. He is currently in critical condition.

We are now entering a phase when police are firing lethal rather than solely "less lethal" weapons at protesters (live rounds are still uncommon though). Given the large amounts of mall and transportation closures on major protest days, you will need to adjust accordingly. At least today, I think it would be pretty difficult to be anywhere in the main parts of Hong Kong and feel "normal". Disneyland, being out of the main part of the city has not been affected yet.

Edit: A second person was hit by live ammunition - this time in the hand.
 
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Thanks for the update, @gelatoni fan! I was planning on taking a taxi to the resort when I arrive on November 1st anyway. I believe today is an anniversary over in China?
 
Yes. It's the 70th anniversary of the CCP and people wanted to protest rather than allow have a celebration. The police banned the protest and the subway closed a number of stations which obviously didn't stop the protests.
 
Thank you for this thread. I had been considering a trip to HK at the end of November for Disney and to see my favorite band at Clockenflap, but have been worried a lot about the situation. I think I'll continue to wait and see what happens.
 
The Chief Executive has used the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to ban masks and other face coverings.

I will update as things progress but universities and public transit has shut down while malls and shops are closing early. People are in a panic to get home or a frenzy to protest. It seems like some CMs may go on strike tomorrow. The willingness to use the emergency ordinance shows that the chief executive is taking control and legislative controls are now completely gone. I do not recommend coming to Hong Kong at this time because the chief executive can suddenly enact laws that would shut down transportation, communication and access to legal/consular support. While the chances of something bad happening while you are high are not high, the bad can be very bad: the Emergency Regulations Ordinance has only been used once prior to this in 1967 which allowed the then British police to enter and search premises without warrants and to detain people up to one year without reason or trial.
 

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