The HKDL Source

Trip Report for Period 16 May to 21 May 2008.

 

Having already visited the other Disney Parks and Resorts, it was only a matter of time before I made the trip out to Hong Kong to visit the newest Disney Park on the planet. I had done a bit of research online and the overall impression of the place was that it was at best a half day attraction that wasn’t worth seeing unless you had to. However not everyone looked at this park in a negative way and many overlooked the parks lack of attractions and size and instead commented on the quality of this little park. With reading both sides of the coin, I was very keen to visit for myself to see what I would make of the Park.

 

 

I had booked accommodation at the Metropark Hotel in Causeway Bay. The hotel was situated in a good location overlooking Victoria Park and was across the street from the Tin Hau MTR Station. While it wasn’t a ideal location to stay for access to Hong Kong Disneyland it was a great spot for sightseeing in Hong Kong, with Causeway Bay only being one stop on the MTR. The staff at the Hotel were all excellent and spoke very good English, and were more than willing to help in anyway there could. A tip for anyone deciding to stay at this hotel is to visit the swimming pool on the top floor which offered some stunning views of Hong Kong and its Harbour. The hotel is also located next to the Tin Hau Temple.

 

Transportation on the MTR was very easy and convenient to do, especially using an Octopus Card, and I would consider it the best train service I have ever been on for a major city - and I have in the past used the subway’s in Tokyo, Paris, New York and London. From Tin Hau take the Island line to Central Station and follow the signs for Hong Kong Disneyland, from here you need to transfer to the Disneyland Resort Line once you reach Sunny Bay. It takes about 50-60 minutes to get to the Park from the Tin Hau Station, including transfers. When you arrive at Sunny Bay and transfer over to the Disneyland Resort Line the Disney magic begins as the trains all come decorated with the Disney touches like Character statues, Mickey shaped hand bars, Mickey shaped windows and pictures of Walt with his trains. The seating on the trains is also different replacing the steal seating on others trains with cushioned seating. The trains designed is very similar for those who have ever been on the Tokyo Disney Resort monorail‘s in the past.

 

 

Arriving at the Disneyland MTR station you notice a more Victorian design compared to the other MTR Stations, really demonstrating that you are now at Disney. Leaving the station you pass under a sign that reads Hong Kong Disneyland and you enter the Park Promenade where a huge Fountain can be found. I’ve seen pictures of this fountain but none of them illustrate just how impressive this fountain is until seeing it in person. At the centre is Mickey riding a Whale and all the other characters can be found along the edge in various water related posses. Continuing you come to the Parks entrance where tickets can be purchased. I was wishing to visit the park on more than one day so it worked out a good deal for me to buy a Vaule Annual Passport which would give me full access to the Park on most Weekdays. A tip if you are wishing to buy an Annual Passport is to bring along some form of Photo ID like a Passport. Once you enter the gates you will be given an option of using your finger print as proof of who you are! While passing through the gates your bags will also be searched by security which has become normal routine at Disney. Usually security will take a quick look and move you on your way, only the guards at Hong Kong Disneyland seem to be a lot more accurate with the checks than what I’ve experienced in recent years at the other Parks and Resorts. I guess with the Olympic Games soon approaching its best to be careful, as Hong Kong is co hosting some of the events.

 

Entering the park a lot of guest ran straight for the Train Station and floral Mickey for photo ops. I opted instead to grab an English Park Map and guide and enter through the tunnel into Main Street. The Park Map had a few images of the Disney characters drawn in Small World images advertising the brand new attraction. This was the first bit of advertisement I had seen anywhere in Hong Kong advertising the new attraction. I spotted the Muppet Mobile Lab with Dr Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker out and about entertaining guests, before noticing the characters out doing meet & greets. Apart from the main 8 characters you will find very few other characters out doing meet & greets in this park. Although I was impressed with the fact you had to queue up to meet the characters here instead of the free for all you usually get at the other parks. Also characters on Main Street were available in pairs like Mickey & Minnie, Donald & Daisy and Pluto & Goofy. Creating some unique character opportunity’s here.

 

 

The first stop for the day was Tomorrowland and first ride was on Space Mountain. Line was a walk on and after being made to watch the safety video in three different languages we walked straight on to the attraction with no wait. I’ve never been a big fan of this attraction and always felt it was overrated but I think this is probarely my favourite version out of the lot. Like many things at this park it was almost identical to its cousin Disneyland, except I think the effects were a bit more crisp. Since its many years of bad neglect and recent changes I don’t really rate Disneyland Resort Paris Space Mountain anymore, so I think this is the Hong Kong version is the best in my opinion. Leaving Space Mountain I made my way over to Autopia and was told by the Cast Member it would be a 30 minute wait, which turned out to be more like 10 minutes. Autopia is one of the most lame Disney attractions but I do think this version had some nice landscaping.

 

 

With 2 attractions down already I made my way further around Tomorrowland and met Buzz Lightyear who was out signing autographs. Next was the Buzz Lightyear attraction Astro Blasters. At the other parks this would usually have a 1hr - 2hr wait but in Hong Kong it was a walk on. My points only resulted me having a level 3 score, so I do have room for improvement. A quick spin on Orbition and I was ready to leave Tomorrowland as I had already done all the attractions except Stitch Encounter and he wasn’t presenting an English showing until 14.15. Tomorrowland was a bit of a mixed bag for me, as it was really small with only a handful of attractions all compacted into a small area.

 

 

Fantasyland was next on the agenda and I was thirsty so purchased a drink from one of the outside kiosk. I noticed there were also selling small Mickey shaped Chicken Pies. I decided to try one which was ok, but had very sweet pastry for such a savoury filling. I walked around soaking up the atmosphere and made my way over to Fantasy Gardens which is a great little hang out for anyone wishing to meet characters. Here you could meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pooh and Chip n Dale in some nice surroundings without having to queue up too long.

 

A quick spin of the Tea Cups and it was time for the first performance of the day for the Character Stage Show, The Golden Mickey’s. It was actually nice to escape the humidity for a while. Now I have seen all the current Character stage shows and the Golden Mickey’s is by far the best out the bunch. Some really good musical numbers and scenes. Thumbs up to the cast and crew who put this show together, as this was outstanding and despite being a character show it was actually rather "character lite" with the Fab Five only having minor roles to play.

 

 

It was time for lunch and I had heard a few complaints that this park only caters towards Chinese food and has hardly any western food available. I decided to eat at the Royal Banquet Hall which had four food courts available. For lunch I enjoyed a Mushroom soup, followed by Fish & Chips and a Chocolate Fudge cake for desert. Other options included steak, and burger and fries, so it doesn’t get more western than that. The theming for this Restaurant was fantastic with the same tapestries that are used in the Sleeping Beauty walk-through in Paris. Sculptures of the Disney princesses and princes were set up in each room, as was some unique artwork. This is by far the best Disney themed Restaurant I have ever set foot in. Lots of detail to look at, and the food was good quality too, and portions quite large.

 

Finishing lunch I decided to head over to the theatre show Mickey’s PhillarMagic, which unlike the Magic Kingdom has its own purpose-built theatre here. The show, like all attractions at this park, is shown in English and it was great fun to watch guests jumping out and trying to touch objects. Not wanting to miss the parade I took the train from Fantasyland over to Main Street and camped out a spot. One thing I noticed was how the crowds didn’t start to fill up the parade route until about 5 minutes before show time. Also Mickey & Minnie were still posing for pictures almost up until the start of the parade and you could see the Cast Members having to rush people through in order to get the characters backstage. I think a lesson to learn here to stop the line in plenty of time before the parade, so you're not having to rush guests through. Disneyland Paris will usually have the characters backstage 30 minutes before the parade.

 

The Parade was nothing great, and I think its about time Hong Kong Disneyland got a new regular day time parade, instead of using the old Tokyo floats. The music was catchy and the performers all put in a good effort, but after seeing the recent new parades in Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, plus reading some good things about Jubilation I feel the Hong Kong Parade is now a bit outdated.

 

 

After the parade, I took a look around Adventureland which is large but only has three attractions. It is the exact opposite of the set up in Tomorrowland. The first attraction was the Jungle Cruise, which seems to be lacking something from the other versions but I’m not sure what it is. The scenery is beautiful and it does feature some cool features like the ending with a battle between the fire and water gods.

 

Tarzan’s Treehouse was alright but it was a bit of a pain having to cross the river by boat and back again. Also I would of liked it to have a bit more eye candy and more trails and caves to explore. Sadly it doesn’t but does offer some nice views from the top.

 

The Lion King was amazing as I’m sure anyone who’s seen the Animal Kingdom show will know.

 

Leaving Adventureland I decided to finish of some of the Fantasyland attractions including Pooh which is was another walk on. No way near as good as Pooh’s Hunny Hunt in Tokyo but I think its slightly better than the versions in California and Florida. Also a unique addition is that you can buy a photograph of your adventure in the One Hundred Acre Wood at the gift shop on the way out.

 

 

It was starting to get dark by this time and I realised I hadn’t done it’s a Small World, so I walked over to that next. The clock at the front of the building seemed to be broken for some reason. This version is the first to feature Disney characters and has received huge criticism online by some, as they have heard the changes will be coming to the Disneyland version. Personally after riding this attraction I fail to see what all the fuss is about. The characters are not very noticeable and really do not take away from the enjoyment of the attraction. The Hong Kong version also had many tricks up its sleeve like an extended Asian scene and a scene where it features the Hong Kong skyline. I enjoyed this version very much, except I prefer the flooded scenes to what Hong Kong has due to the attraction being in my opinion too close up. I felt all the scenes were to over-powering due to them being so near your boat.

 

To end the night I made my way over to Main Street to get a spot for the fireworks. It was a good way to finish what had been a very enjoyable day. And I knew I would have to visit again later in the trip to do some of the things I had missed like High School Musical and Stitch Encounter. So for all the people that refer to this park as a half day destination I strongly disagree with that assessment and feel while the park isn’t yet a multiple day destination, it does offer a great family day out for people visiting Hong Kong.

 

On a return visit not only was I able to catch all the things I had missed but also was able to preview the parks newest attraction Turtle Talk with Crush. Hong Kong Disneyland has one bright future ahead of it, I only hope if your in Hong Kong you will not overlook a visit here due to what you’ve heard. I personally can not wait for the day I return back here in a few years time to see how the park has progressed.

 

 

Complete photos from James Malin's Trip can be found in James Malin's May 2008 Holiday Gallery, a subset of the brand new Fan Submitted Galleries. If you have pictured you'd like to see here on this site, be sure to let me know. Thanks again to James for submitted this trip report and photos to us, and we encourage everyone to do the same!

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