Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report

Started by martin disney dad, August 24, 2011, 05:18:02 PM

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martin disney dad

We visited Hong Kong Disneyland on Thursday 18th August 2011 on our way back from Australia.
It is a great park, small yes, but still a great Disney experience.
It was at least 31 degrees so that dictated what we did.
The most memorable moment of the day  was when the Disney train pulled into the station with it's Mickey windows, Mickey shaped grab handles and statues in glass domes.

Getting in was easy and we headed for the Jungle cruise. A short wait for the English trip, although it was difficult to follow what she was saying, a combination of accent and poor sound quality. It is a great cruise with an added bonus of some good special effects, fire and water which is different from America.

From here we went to the air conditioned Mickey's Philharmagic. Really enjoyed this and the smell of the food in the 'Be our Guest' sequence was brilliant. On to the Golden Mickey's show. - well produced with good staging - only problem was when belle was singing behind the backdrop I didn't spot her so thought their had been a technical hitch.

We also rode Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. We weren't looking forward to Space Mountain as it wasn't the Paris version, but we all really enjoyed it. It was fast, a decent length and the opening effects with the whole roof star lit was great. We used fast pass as it was busy but it was too hot to queue again. It's a small world - we are still singing it now.

The Lion King show was another great event. There was a distinct lack of clapping and applause all day so we did our best to put that right.

The parade was very good, we watched it over a sea of parasols and umbrellas so that made it difficult to see anywhere apart from in front, but we made sure the cast knew we were there and were rewarded with lots of interaction!


We rode Jungle cruise again with a better commentary and then did some shopping. The prices were good and much cheaper than Paris. We were flagging so we had a quick look at the art of animation and its impressive stroboscope and decided to head home stopping to watch the Mickey Fountain and music just outside the park.

So a great park - the extra attractions arriving in the next few years will make it even better. But in the heat it was good to have short distances to travel, air conditioning and fans everywhere. The staff were all helpful, welcoming and full of smiles. It was beautifully clean and although the castle was small, the mountains behind it gave it an extra special difference. It felt that they had taken existing attractions and improved them. We didn't get to see everything, so it is definitely a good day's worth of attractions.
Highly recommended!!

mattboywonder

#1
Thanks for sharing.  I also loved the train connected you to the resort - the grab handles are brilliant.  I also noticed the in Lion King the Chinese are fairly reserved - its no wonder they ask for audience anticipation like the verion at Animal Kingdom!
Disneyland - 1991, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2012
Walt Disney World - 1998, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012
Tokyo Disneyland - 2008, 2011, 2012
Disneyland Paris - 1997, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009 (March, May, Halloween & Dec), 2010 (Feb, July, Oct & Dec), 2011 (April, July & September), 2012 (March, April & July & New Years Eve) 2013 March
Hong Kong Disneyland - 2007, 2008

davewasbaloo

#2
Fab report, thanks for sharing. We are looking forward to going as soon as Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch open.
since 2001 (many before that)

nicoledlrp

#3
a friend went a few years back just before small world opened and absolutely loved the park and hotels.

martin disney dad

#4
They had a great model of the Mystic Point, Grizzly Gulch and Toystory Land. If I can work out how to post photos I will. The Grizzly Gulch coaster looks more like the WDW (Anaheim) coaster than Thunder mountain.