Home

[Magic M]

Hi Disneyland fans,

I've just got back from a day trip to Hong Kong Disneyland.  In a couple of days time I'll be posted a report with tons of video footage of the Parade, Jungle River Cruise and the full ride-through of "Its a Small World".

Overall impression - its good, but its just not DLRP!

[dagobert]

I can't wait to read your trip report and to see some pictures. It would be great if you could compare HKDL with DLRP a bit. I know it doesn't offer so many attractions and it isn't as big as DLRP, but from the pictures I have seen until now it is a nice little park.

Did you stay in a Disney hotel?

[Magic M]

Just editting the video now!!  Should be up in a day or two.

Physically it is a very pretty park and I was HUGELY impressed with Adventureland.  But the castle is TINY!!!

[Magic M]

[youtube:2nio7lzn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eChwWP5KXAc[/youtube:2nio7lzn]

Part 1

[The Butlin Boy]

Glad you had a great trip Magic M, and thanks for sharing your fantastic video - I'm looking forward to seeing more

[luke85]

I had no idea their Jungle River Cruise had that amazing bit at the end! It looked so cool!

[Magic M]

It came as a shocker to me too!!

[Magic M]

[youtube:2kiz9pxm]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ZOwLz9Kcg[/youtube:2kiz9pxm]

Disney On Parade

[CentralPlazaPerson]

Sorry it took so long to comment.
This is a great report.
I have never been to HKDL but I would really love to go. How did you arrange a day trip? Where you in Hong Kong for holidays and took a day trip?

[guest3474]

Fantastic Report? Any chance of Fantasyland?

Their Jungle Cruise is amazing. Makes me wonder why we don't have one at DLP

[Magic M]

I'm sorry I never got round to writing my full report - I will do that over the next couple of days!

[Magic M]

*** FINALLY!!!  THE FULL REPORT!!! ***

Sorry about the delay with this report guys - you know how busy life can be!  I hope this proves useful for anyone planning a trip to HKD.


GETTING THERE

Ok guys for those of you who don't know, I work for P&O Cruises and that gives me the wonderful bonus of free trips around the world to places like Hong Kong!  From the moment I found out my day off was falling on Hong Kong I started planning my trip to HKD.  The only problem was that none of my shipmates wanted to join me!  So I was flying solo this time around...

Getting to HKD couldn't be easier and thats thanks to the brilliant Hong Kong Mass Transit Railroad.  After getting some coins I was pointed in the direction of the ticket printer which had a map of the system on it.  The map is nowhere near as complictaed as the London tube map and its pretty easy to find Disneyland Resort on the map.  It has its own line which is PINK and has a Hidden Mickey on it!  I tapped on the Mickey as if to say "Ah! There it is" and the ticket was selected - the map was a touch pad!  The return trip was 36HK$ which less that £3.50.

After taking the train as far as "Sunny Bay" (great name) I switched to the Disneyland Line - and oh my!  The train arrives and its is pure Disney magic.  The train has Hidden Mickeys for windows, it has Fairy Dust sprinkled up the side and the inside is like a Disney museum.  It has bronze statues of Disney characters, large prints of classic Walt images from the first Disneyland and even the handles on the standing rails are also Hidden Mickeys!

Arriving at Disneyland Resort Station and again its full of Hidden Mickeys in all the bronze work - but I didn't hang around long!  I wanted to get into the park!


THE ENTRANCE

You may not know this but almost every building in Hong Kong is built according to the principles of Feng Shui.  By balancing the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water it is believed they can ensuring harmony and more importantly prosperity!  HKD is no different.

The walkway leading up to the main gate has a dog-leg to the right half way because this stops the energy flowing out of the park.  On the corner of this dog leg is a massive tribute to the element of Water - an enormous fountain of Mickey Mouse surfing on the blowhole of a whale!  Its a great illusion and he appears to be floating in mid-air!

The entrance to the park itself is a carbon copy of the original Disneyland in Anaheim.


THE LANDS

HKD currently only has 4 lands - Main Street USA, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland - but this will change soon with the addition of Grizzly Gulch (Frontierland), Mystic Point and Toy Story Land.


MAIN STREET USA

MSUSA is very similar in style and level of detail to DLRP but does feature some nice little attractions.

The best attractions are the Animation Academy.  This is similar to the Art of Disney Animation museum at Disney Studios but much smaller.  It features original artwork from classic and modern Disney films but its centrepiece has to be seen to be believed!  It features and enormous rotating sculpture of the Toy Story characters but as soon as a strobe light kicks in - the whole sculture becomes a ZOETROPE!  The Toy Story figurines dance and bounce in perfect unison - an incredible feat of animation.


FANTASYLAND

Before I talk about the land I will talk about the castle.  IT IS TINY!!  I live in Southampton which is famous for its olk city walls and these are bigger than the micro-castle at HKD!  There is actually nothing in the castle - not like the two shops and gallery at DLRP - its purely an entrance-way.

This is by far the largest land in the park but it is also the land I spent the LEAST time in!  Most of the rides and attractions are the same as DLRP - Dumbo, Teacups, its a small world etc - but it does feature one of the best rides I have seen in a Disney Park!

The many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is easily the best "cartoon" dark ride I have been on.  The level of storytelling, special effects and animatronic characters are astounding!  On the ride you sit in rotating omnimover honeypots and follow a track around several major Pooh Bear stories - "The Blustery Day", "The Honey Tree" etc etc.  Various characters will spring up and Tigger bounces around all with brilliant energy and not as "clanky" as on some dark rides.

I am suprised that this ride hasn't been copied in DLRP - it would be a great addition to the park.

Fantasyland is also where I had my lunch.  There are oodles of places to eat in Fantasyland but I opted for the traditional chinese food of "Mozart's Symphony of Foods" where I had rice, BBQ pork and miso soup.  The prices for food all over the park are very reasonable - indeed far cheaper than DLRP.


TOMORROWLAND

The land of tomorrow features many of the classic Disney rides - Space Mountain, Orbitron, Autopia - as well as modern favourites like Buzz Lightyear and Stitch Live.

Firstly I didn't bother to ride on Autopia because (much like at DLRP) the queue was horrendous.  Major rides lkie Space Mountain and Buzz do have a FastPass system but luckily it was quite a nice quiet day when I went.

Space Mountain was a very different experience to what I'm used to.  It has no inversions of any kind!  Its just a straight forward rollercoaster - its just in the dark with a few stars projected around.  It does feature onboard sound but it isn't the same audio-cisual treat you get from SM:M2 - it does however feature the same "supernova" effect but doesn't have the same impact.  The ride starts with THREE chain lifts before a not terribly impressive drop.  Then the usual twists and turns into what is actually a very impressive "light speed" tunnel at the end. It is currently the only rollercoaster in the park and it'll do.  One of the bonusses of travelling alone was I could take the "Single Rider" line and skip straight to the front of the queue!

Other nice touches include a parked space shuttle with a cool smoke effect that you have to walk through to get to the Starliner Diner and a strange little "water fight" playground called UFO Zone.  Oh yeah and Push The Talking Trashcan was making a few rounds...


ADVENTURELAND

By far the most impressive land in the park is Adventureland.  From the sound of Jungle Drums as you enter the bamboo lines walkways lit with flaming torches - you know you are in for a treat!  Since HKD has no "Rivers of the Old West" like other Disneyland parks, the river here has been combined with the classic Jungle Cruise to make "Jungle River Cruise".  

The motorised boats circuit an island which is home to Tarzan's Tree House.  To get to the Tree House for a spot of exploring you must first cross the river on small motor pontoons - a nice little addition in itself.  You can then climb up the high peaks seeing Tarzan statues, special effects and a nice hands-on "Jungle Music" area.

So on to the "Jungle River Cruise" itself!  The queues are nicely divided into three lines - Mandrin, Cantonese and English and each wind through an explorer's outpost with lots of artefacts to examine.  Once you are called you boad the small boats that seat around 20 people - managed to get a seat right up the front by the driver - I'm such a big kid!  The ride features animatronic animals - elephants, hippos, rhinos etc - but its the grand finale that is the big suprise.

Remember Feng Shui?  Elements in balance?  Well have about elements in BATTLE?!!  That's what we get at the end, an eerily calm stretch of water ERUPTS with a 20 foot plume of water - the boat sharply turns to avoid it and heads towards two carved gods in the cliff-face.  They are the gods of Fire and Water and bring on the pyro!  Flames, tidal waves and a huge cloud of thick smoke finishing things off nicely.

I have put a potted highlights of the cruise at the end of my video above ^^^^


IN CONCLUSION

I had a fantasic day at Hong Kong Disneyland and yes it is a small park (the smallest Disneyland in the world) but I only a had a short day to visit the park.  This meant there were actually at least ten or 15 attractions that I didn't see - Philarmagic, The Golden Mickeys, Stitch Encounter, High School Musical live etc..

I look forward to returning to this park - but I will defitiely leave it until the new lands are built.

If you have any questions about the park then please ask.

[Magic M]

[youtube:g7rw10ph]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1KnvSgx_U[/youtube:g7rw10ph]

[Magic M]

More SHAMELESS publicity - I thought I'd bring this back up to the top of pile!  

Magic M xx