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[SMCD]

If anyone's interested I got some pictures from my visits to Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort;


HKDLR:
Click here

TDR (unfortunately some are angled the wrong way):
Click here

[MinnieMouse]

Nice pictures, the Night-Shots are great but the weather was not the best in Hong Kong, very cloudy and rainy :-(

Alexandra

[The Butlin Boy]

Thanks for the photos SMCD, they're really good. It was really interesting for me as I haven't been to these parks before. TDS looks stunning And also, HKDL  looks pretty quiet as well :?

[Anthony]

Thanks for the photos! I haven't seen many in-depth photo reports from HKDL like that. The weather reminds me of DLRP. It looks quite nicely themed for the most part, but I can't get over Main Street without the tram tracks... that's not right at all. :?

Did you enjoy the parks? I'm guessing TDS was the favourite? :wink:

[SMCD]

Did I enjoy the parks? Off course I did!  :wink: TDS was beyond belief and a clear favorite. The weather in Hong Kong is very cloudy, but also very warm. Nothing like Paris.

If you want some in-depth information about my view on the parks you can read the following trip reports that I wrote after my visits;


HKDLR

We left our base in the fabulous city of Hong Kong the morning of June 13th to head for the Hollywood Hotel. This was my first ever stay at a Disney hotel, so I was quite psyched. The trip got off to a good start with the easy transportation out to the resort. The Disney Resort Line looked a lot like the Tokyo monorail with Mickey windows and statues of Disney characters inside. Our final station, Sunny Bay, was well done. Disney themed, but not over the top. We jumped on the shuttle bus to our hotel, and got checked in fast. We were upgraded to a park view room, but the distance to the park only allowed us to see Space Mountain. The room was surprisingly large, featuring two double beds, a sitting group, a flat screen TV, lots of hidden Mickey's, and a large artwork of Mickey and Minnie over the beds. The rest of the hotel was also very nice. The garden with a swimming pool, the shops, and the lobby were all great. We also loved the Chef Mickey restaurant.

After checking out the hotel, we went over to the park. The promenade to the gates was real nice, and I loved the large fountain in the end featuring Mickey surfing on a whale. Despite all this I had quite low expectations for the park itself entering it. Visiting the Tokyo Resort in all its glory for the first time only few months earlier, and hearing all the criticism on the HK park, I had down played my expectations long before traveling.

We started of in Main street off course, and it looked real nice. We checked out "The Disneyland Story", before strolling down to the castle. It was quite small, but it looked good and I think it fitted the rest of the park. The Snow White fountain beside the castle was a nice touch. We continued to Tomorrowland, and I got some mixed thoughts about the theming. The entrance sign and Orbitron looked good, and the Starliner diner was quite cool, but the land as a whole gave me a different vibe then the other Tomorrowlands I have visited. The retro future feel was gone, but it's not necessarily a bad thing that they went for something new with the land in this park. However, I have to say the UFO zone seemed too prominent, and gave the land a childish feel in my opinion.

We decided it was time for an attraction, and started of with Buzz. It was the usual deal as far as I can tell, and still quite fun. We were surprised of the fact that we could walk on to the attraction, a treat we soon discovered were usual in this park. The weird thing was that Main Street was usually packed for the parade and fireworks, and we even had to wait a little to get a table at the Corner Café, but people seemed to be avoiding rides. Anyways, we continued with Space Mountain, also a walk on, and we had fun although I would like it to be a little more thrilling (speed, loop). The effects looked good, and the music was brilliant. Stitch Encounter was a new experience, and it seemed like a hit. The sound and animation was smooth, and Stitch was quite funny.

We continued to Fantasyland. This tends to be my least favorite of the lands, but I did like this one for some reason. Fantasia gardens was a nice tribute to the films. Took the Pooh ride, which was okay, and then the 3D show Mickey's Philarmagic. Okay, I watched it a couple of years back at Magic Kingdom, and remembered it as a good show, but it really was outstanding. The animation, music, and effects – all top notch. We did also enjoy The Golden Mickeys show.

After that we entered Pirateland as it's now called. It seamed like the whole pirate thing was a success as the place was clearly the busiest in the park. Pirates were lurking around, and a Jack Sparrow look-a-like was doing some kind of a street show. The land was also the most special in the park in my opinion. The greenery, torches, and attention to detail were great. Jungle cruise was good and featured some nice effects, a lot better then the one at Magic Kingdom. The festival of the Lion King was among the best I have seen of a Disney stage show, with great performers, lighting, and effects. Lastly I loved Tarzans tree house - beautiful, detailed, and with a spectacular view of the park. Standing at the top at night, overlooking Pirateland, our hotel, the castle, and Space Mountain, gave me one of the Disney Magic moments. Generally the park looked beautiful after dark.

At the end of the day we watched the fireworks, and I enjoyed it very much. The castle projections and the fire effects contributed to the experience.

As we got a two-day ticket for the price of one, we spent the better part of our second day at the resort at the park too, and it was too much for the park's own good. In my opinion you can quite easily fill a day a HKDL and have fun if you take it in slowly, but two days was show casing the flaw of the park – it's lacking attractions (as you all know), and it needs at least one spectacular E-ticket in my opinion. Apart from the Lion King show and Philarmagic, I missed a top notch Disney attraction to show my friend (who visited a Disney park for the first time) what the Imagineers can cook together when given the money. Anyways, we did have fun, and I did occasionally get that special Disney feeling that I cant get anywhere else (but at DisneySea I felt it constantly . Okay, guest behavior - I saw one mother letting her son pee in a plastic bag in the Jungle Cruise queue line, and another one letting her sons pee in the Lion King queue (they got stopped half way by a CM). Some also seemed to think it was natural to walk through a queue for no apparent reason. Other than that people were nice, including CM´s.


TDR:

The first day we went to Tokyo Disneyland. I found the park to be a little to wide and open for my taste, but it still was a fine, clean park with a lot of attractions to offer. Roof over Main Street looked good. We started the day with the Peter Pan-ride and Haunted Mansion, and followed up with Buzz – fun as always. A very good band was playing music from the Lion King in Tomorrowland. Went to Toon Town, and tried the Roger Rabbit-ride for the first time. A fun ride, with a brilliant queue-line. Then we headed over to Splash Mountain, one of my all time favorite Disney-rides. It didn't disappoint, and we decided to eat at the greatly themed restaurant next to it. Good food and surroundings for fans of Splash Mountain and Song of the South. Checked out Star Tours, before we headed to Big Thunder Mountain and a huge queue. We watched The Mickey Mouse Revue, but found that show a little weird. Pirates and Space Mountain were unfortunately closed for refurbishments, so we continued with Pinocchio's Daring Journey,
a dark ride not living up to it's potential. Crowds lining up for the Pooh-ride were huge, and we decided to skip it. A stupid move I understand, as it apparently is pretty special.

Anyway, watched an original evening show with light effects and music in the park in front of the castle, before a very short fireworks show.


The second day we went to DisneySea, and I'm still in awe. This has become my favorite theme park. I was shocked how beautiful the view was when we entered the park. Usually there are some parts of the parks I have visited that I don't care too much for, but at this park I loved every themed area. At night the park was just surreal. Never seen anything like it. Unfortunately Indiana Jones and Sinbad were down for refurbishments, but there was still a lot to do. The park was crowded, but with fastpass it was not a problem.

Journey to the center of the earth was terrific, and has now become one of my favorite Disney-rides. 20.000 leagues under the sea was fun, with a great underwater effect. Still in Mysterious Island we ate Gyros at the restaurant at water level, which were a memorable time with geysers going off just meters away, and the thundering sound of the mountain with occasional screams from riders of the Journey-ride. Arabian coast was beautiful, and took me back to the Aladdin-cartoons I used to watch as a kid. The level of detail this park offered struck us, and as an example we incidentally took a look inside a little oven in a back alley, and found an image of Jafar appearing. A little animation followed, before he disappeared again – just a little thing that participates to makes a good park great for me.

We also watched the 3d-show at the Magic Lamp Theatre. Entertaining, but not very memorable. The roller coaster Raging spirits was fun at nighttime, but not very special. Reminded me of Indy at Disneyland Paris. Fortress explorations were a lot of fun, greatly designed building. Stormrider was okay, reminded me very much of an attraction I tried at Port Aventura in Spain. I found the Aquatopia-ride to be an entertaining little ride. I loved the American Waterfront, with a store dedicated to one of my favorite Disney characters, Scrooge McDuck, and the most beautiful Tower of Terror. The Tower was extremely popular, and when we got fast passes in the morning, we could first try it in the evening. It was a great ride, although I would like it to be a little more intense.

Mermaid Lagoon. The place was just magic. We watched the fabulous show, climbed around the playground, got a good laugh about the magic mirror, and ate at Sebastian´s – just soaking in the atmosphere. The designers of this place really did an outstanding job.

We also watched The Legend of Mythica. Entertaining show, with lots of energy. BraviSeaMo was a fitting end to a day at DisneySea. Not as good as Fantasmic, but the dragon was impressive, the eruption mighty, and the fountain woman a beauty (although struggling with her shape in the wind).

The last day we went to both parks and experienced our favorites again. All in all fantastic days, and the resort are terrific. The service from the Cast Members were perfect, and visitors were polite and into Disney (never seen so many people wearing mouse ear hats).

[Dlrpfan]

cool stuff SMCD 1 day  would dream of doing both asia parks great pics too loved the HKDL ones

[mickeysimzac]

Your pictures are fantastic. I only hope I get to see these parks in person someday.

[penfold12]

SeaDisney!  Never been, but I actually ache to go. I really cant get over the level of theming and detail. To think that it is actually man made, it is simply fantastic... One day!