Hong Kong no Phooey TR (Apr 2012)! The Yee's have it....TR finish #1101, 07/09

Ahh....The limping kangaroo living up to its reputation.....
I would be more concerned about cracks in the wings ;) than the plumber...
 
I hate long flights, this last one to Amsterdam I took two benadryls so I could sleep most of the way, that was the only way I could make it that long on a flight.

Glad you are all home now...
 


Sorry you were sick two of the days, but I am glad you had a good time. 4000-5000 pictures! How many gigs did you end up using. Inquiring minds want to know. That sandwich just made me hungry. Sounds like an interesting flight. You could have written a sitcom around it, lol. $18 is cheap for a taxi. Off to a good start. Yay.
 
Hmm....interesting and entertaining flight. I would of said something about something being near me like that. No tv on the flight? Long flight give me something to knock me out.

Sounds so expensive dollars wise with a taxi. But 18 dollars is very doable. but yeah you made it!!! Its gonna get entertaining with you!:lmao:

There was in-flight entertainment on board. I ended up watching 4 movies during the way but it was just as interesting watching people in 3D.


I enjoyed the entertainment details, very interesting flight.

:goodvibes


Well it sounds like you had plenty to keep you "entertained" on the flight over. Can't wait to hear about Disney.

Thankfully Disney was at the "phirst" part of the trip and not on day "phat", like we all wanted it to be.


Glad you made it, was that $18 total or $18 per person?

When I think about flights, I remember when our College Concert Band flew to Europe. The Conductor flew over several days before so that he was not on the same flight with us. I remember that cocktails were complimentary. At some point the stewardess came over to our group (who had essentially turned the plane into a "bus tour") and handed over all the little bottles of alchohol saying, "This is what is left in the bar!"

I'm not sure anything could have been worse than that barring terrorist takeover!

$18 total for the entire taxi trip.


Ooh can't wait to hear all about it! Sorry to hear you got sick, hope you're feeling better now.

Thanks. Antibiotics seem to be doing the trick....and lots of bed rest. ;)


Green= go, to Disney. Check!

Go directly to Disney? Does this mean I pass go and collect $200? :teeth:



Welcome Home PIO

Initial adventure sounds good. Had a chuckle about your plumbers crack view on the plane and imagining 5 people and their luggage squashing into that tiny taxi :rotfl2:

So looking forward to the rest of your TP :goodvibes

Thanks! 5 people in the taxi on the way to Disney wasn't as bad as 5 people with more luggage on the way BACK! :faint:


Ahh....The limping kangaroo living up to its reputation.....
I would be more concerned about cracks in the wings ;) than the plumber...

That little kangaroo exceeded expectations.....the in-flight entertainment worked (DS was happy), the flight took off on time and arrived ahead of schedule. Two meals were served; and snacks....no sign of maggots.


I came to ignore you in person. popcorn::

Excellent. Go right ahead. I'll assume you're not sharing popcorn either!


Joining in. Can't wait to see your pictures!


:wave: Nice to see you here! :yay:


I hate long flights, this last one to Amsterdam I took two benadryls so I could sleep most of the way, that was the only way I could make it that long on a flight.

Glad you are all home now...

Thanks. I'm glad to be home too.


Sorry you were sick two of the days, but I am glad you had a good time. 4000-5000 pictures! How many gigs did you end up using. Inquiring minds want to know. That sandwich just made me hungry. Sounds like an interesting flight. You could have written a sitcom around it, lol. $18 is cheap for a taxi. Off to a good start. Yay.

Nearly 32 GB.
 
Disneyland Resort – Style, Confucion and Elegance

We have arrived at the Disneyland Hotel. This hotel was the second hotel to be built on the HK Disney premise in 2005. It was modelled after the Grand Floridian in WDW and the Disneyland Hotel in Paris; which means that the Hotel del Coronado was the inspiration for the exterior styling of red turrets and Victorian grace.

Despite the lateness of the hour, there were ample cast members on duty. Bellhops hopped to help us with our bags and to open doors for us. The service was exemplary and what you would expect of Disney. We would eventually hand over a $40 tip (nearly $6) to the bellhop that brought our bags to the room. DH was later advised by my mother that it was the custom but a single $20 note was the going rate. I think we felt better about the $40 because it felt more aligned with what we were used to paying bellhops in the US. For the Aussies reading this, yes…..I know there are varied viewpoints about tipping. What can I say other than we do tend to spend a great deal to time in the US?

The first time I walk into a Disney hotel foyer always brings tears to my eyes. In the case of the Disneyland Hotel, I was gobsmacked by the elegance. It may have been a tad smaller in size to the deluxe hotels in Orlando; but it certainly rivals them in the expected Disney details.

From the floor as you walk in….

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…to the cavern space we all expect from a Disney hotel lobby.

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In case anyone mistakes this for anything else, the Big Cheese stood to remind us where we were.

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It was late at night (near 11 pm Hong Kong time but 1 am Melbourne time) and I really couldn’t see much beyond my nose.

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I attempted one of my artsy fartsy shots and it wasn’t till I unpacked the pictures at home that I realised that I had fluked a Hidden Mickey.


I swiped this shot from DH. It shows registration.

0331GlennDLRarrival013.jpg





Confucius say “Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more”

The Asian features of the Cast Members and the language were the things that struck me straight away. The first CM that helped me noticed that I was Asian and asked if I spoke Cantonese. I responded “ngo saik teng; em saik kong” which roughly translates to “I understand but can’t speak”. It brought a different reaction than I expected. Turns out I was the perfect guinea pig for another one of the Cast Members. In his case…he understood English but didn’t speak it well. Don’t tell any of my fellow travellers and definitely not DS; but with that simple innocuous reply, our check-in took double the time it needed to.

The second CM would speak Cantonese to me. I then repeated in English to make sure that I understood correctly and he would either agree with me or provide more verbage in Cantonese depending on whether I understood correctly or not.

My fellow travellers still think that check-in took a long time because I told them I had to complete the two Magic Access Passes for the seniors with me. But really the truth was because I had wanted to practise my long forgotten Cantonese.

This action set the trend for the rest of the Disney section of the trip. At least 3 other CM at the resort were more than happy for me to practise my kitchen Cantonese on them. All the CM spoke English well enough and we always had the safety net of being able to revert back to English (or Cantonese) at any point. And I got to improve my Cantonese a little.



One thing to be aware of with registration…. The room key at Hong Kong is just a room key, it isn’t a KTTW; but as with any Disney resort, you can set up room charge. There is a pre-validation swipe of the credit card required and for the two rooms, my CC validation total came to $5000. I think this equated to about $600 - $700 in our money. However, unlike other hotels and stories I’ve been reading recently, when you check-out and pay for your room charges, HKDL will ONLY claim the room charges. You will not see the pre-validation amount on your credit card.


And with registration complete, we headed to our rooms. We were allocated rooms 5021 and 5019…side by side.

I swiped this picture from DH…our rooms were in this direction.

0331GlennDLRarrival014.jpg




Disney touches were everywhere! This table was where our lift well was.

0401HKDLDay1077.jpg




Don’t you just adore the fan?

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Inside of the lift…and heading towards our floor.

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(Continued in Next Post)
 


(Continued from Previous Post)


The Lobby - at night

Before I head to the floor and our room, I had to post a couple more shots of the lobby. After we got to the rooms and unpacked, I snuck down to take these shots at night.

Looking towards the end of the lobby. If the entry is 12 o’clock, this end is 6 o’clock.

0401HKDLDay1040.jpg




12 o’clock - Looking towards the entry of the hotel.

0401HKDLDay1042.jpg




3 o’clock - An iron lift graced the centre of the lobby.

0401HKDLDay1038.jpg





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The passageway for our set of lifts was located directly behind the iron lift. Between 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock was registration.

It did feel like a well-loved and elegantly decorated living room.

0401HKDLDay1045.jpg




The gift shop was located to the other side of registration, roughly at about 9 o’clock.

0401HKDLDay1048.jpg




I walked down the corridor at this end of the complex and window shopped.

0401HKDLDay1046.jpg




0401HKDLDay1047.jpg




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This end of the resort was the convention side. There was another ornate chandelier hanging here.

0401HKDLDay1052.jpg




…and yet more artwork, very European in nature.

0401HKDLDay1053.jpg





(Continued in Next Post)
 
(Continued from Previous Post)


Room service? Like Goldilocks, I think this room is just right!

I think I left off with us getting into the lift. I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!

0401HKDLDay1258.jpg




But our rooms were on level 5, which is where we got out…

0401HKDLDay1083.jpg




..turned the corner…

0401HKDLDay1085.jpg




…looked down the right side…

0401HKDLDay1086.jpg





…but it’s like I always say….if you get lost, always take the LEFT fork!

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Anyone else spot the Hidden Mickey in the carpet?

It didn’t just have Mickey….check out the rest of the Fab 5.

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0401HKDLDay1094.jpg






Time to show you our room for the next 3 nights. The Disneyland Hotel offers a variety of room types – garden view, sea view, sea view with balcony and the fantasia rooms with Jacuzzis. They also offer Kingdom Club (the equivalent to the Club Lounges in the US) and there are KC rooms and suites as well. We had decided on the sea view rooms. For those with enquiring minds, we ended up paying $280 - $300 (our money) per night for the rooms and that was after the 20% discount we were given for taking up Magic Access Gold level. Because of the seniors in my travel party, it actually worked out to be about $50 cheaper buying the two MAP Gold level and getting the 20% discount on both rooms. The cards also provided us with 15% discount on food and merchandise purchases.


Our room looked like this on entry…

0401HKDLDay1017.jpg



The beds looked and were really comfortable.

0401HKDLDay1024.jpg




It was really late by our Melbourne time, so I only took a passing glance at this table in the entryway.

0401HKDLDay1020.jpg




I did notice something else on the other table in the room…

0401HKDLDay1012.jpg




My mother had a birthday in the later part of March and I had negotiated birthday privileges as part of the MAP we bought. As I had to leave the room to deliver it to her, I stayed out a little longer and you all got to see the lobby night shots as a consequence.

The other furniture in the room and DS was pleased to see the TV.

0401HKDLDay1016.jpg




I pulled back the curtains to take a look at the sea view….

0401HKDLDay1032.jpg




…which I couldn’t see at night! But DS was certainly happy with what he could see.

The bathroom was well appointed.

0401HKDLDay1029.jpg




More importantly, it was clean!

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After my little walk, I came back to grab a shower and hit the bed. Sleep was in order and tomorrow….tomorrow I would still be in Disney.



princess::upsidedow
 
PIO welcome home! I'm all in for the details. The more the better! I'm sorry to hear that you were unwell.

The Disneyland hotel is just beautiful. How I wished I stayed there when we went... Sigh. Will just have to enjoy it through your photos. I always love all the details that are in the Disney Hotels. Looking forward to hearing more
 
That is one beautiful hotel. They really paid attention to details, including the carpet. I love the bathroom and view of the room. Well you brushed up on your cantoneese , there is always time to learn so much more. Hope you had a good night sleep in the comfy looking bed.
 
Welcome home, weary traveller!! So glad you had a great time, even though you got sick! Don't you just hate it when you get sick when you're away. Hope that you are feeling better soon.
The photos look great so far - the hotel looks beautiful. Disney details are just the best! And the rooms look surprisingly large for HK hotels - or is that just a camera trick??!! :confused3
I only ever remember match box sized rooms in Hong Kong!!! ;)
Question - do you shoot RAW or JPEG? Just wondering about the storage on your cards (research for when I go!!) and how much I might need to take. Still working on all that!!
Looking forward to hearing and seeing more. :surfweb:
 
Wow, that is probably the most beautiful of all the Disney hotels I have seen. It does remind me of the GF, only even nicer. Looking forward to eading more! :goodvibes
 
That looks like a 'normal' hong kong room to me...typical in that price bracket...

Remember they are just double beds and not queens...

It's nice seeing more shots of the Hotel as I only looked around the Lobby, shop, and around the convention area (the bit under the chandeliers) which leads back down to the bus stop.
It is all in proportion but still has a small feeling compared to the US hotels. Which isn't bad. Just something I find interesting.

The other hotel to compare it to is Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (opened in late 2008). It's all the same 'idea' but the execution really is quite different with a different feeling. And yes the oriental influences are always present which is a nice touch.

popcorn::
 
PIO welcome home! I'm all in for the details. The more the better! I'm sorry to hear that you were unwell.

The Disneyland hotel is just beautiful. How I wished I stayed there when we went... Sigh. Will just have to enjoy it through your photos. I always love all the details that are in the Disney Hotels. Looking forward to hearing more

Thanks shushh. Maybe next time you go to HK, you'll stay there. :thumbsup2


That is one beautiful hotel. They really paid attention to details, including the carpet. I love the bathroom and view of the room. Well you brushed up on your cantoneese , there is always time to learn so much more. Hope you had a good night sleep in the comfy looking bed.

I was so pleased by the attention to detail. It was what made the stay so remarkable.


That hotel is absolutely gorgeous!

:thumbsup2


Beautiful pictures and thank you so much for sharing.

Your welcome. There's more to come....:rotfl:


Welcome home, weary traveller!! So glad you had a great time, even though you got sick! Don't you just hate it when you get sick when you're away. Hope that you are feeling better soon.
The photos look great so far - the hotel looks beautiful. Disney details are just the best! And the rooms look surprisingly large for HK hotels - or is that just a camera trick??!! :confused3
I only ever remember match box sized rooms in Hong Kong!!! ;)
Question - do you shoot RAW or JPEG? Just wondering about the storage on your cards (research for when I go!!) and how much I might need to take. Still working on all that!!
Looking forward to hearing and seeing more. :surfweb:

I still shoot in jpeg and will need to invest in a photoprocessing program soon.
On average, I seem to be taking about 500+ photos per day at Disney. That's a lot of storage. It just depends on whether you bring a laptop or not. Otherwise, lots of cards is best.

That room is larger than most in Hong Kong. I did research a few hotels and very few of them offer two double beds in the same room; much less two queens. Most of the hotels I looked at offered two single beds in the same room.

And you will have noticed that there was actual real estate between the bed and the television cabinet. Wait till you see my other room!


Wow, that is probably the most beautiful of all the Disney hotels I have seen. It does remind me of the GF, only even nicer. Looking forward to eading more! :goodvibes

It is smaller than the Disney hotels; but otherwise I thought that it exceeded the WDW hotels in so many more ways.


That looks like a 'normal' hong kong room to me...typical in that price bracket...

Remember they are just double beds and not queens...

It's nice seeing more shots of the Hotel as I only looked around the Lobby, shop, and around the convention area (the bit under the chandeliers) which leads back down to the bus stop.
It is all in proportion but still has a small feeling compared to the US hotels. Which isn't bad. Just something I find interesting.

The other hotel to compare it to is Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (opened in late 2008). It's all the same 'idea' but the execution really is quite different with a different feeling. And yes the oriental influences are always present which is a nice touch.

popcorn::

If I recall correctly, you stayed at the Marco Polo in Tsim Sha Tsui. By all accounts the room space there was a little bit bigger than the normal Hong Kong rooms. Two double beds in a room was a rarity in the Hong Kong hotels I was looking at; and only available in rooms in the $350+ per night bracket.

I still have a few more pictures to share on the hotel. Remember the "yee's have it!"....;)
 
When I first saw the $5000, I nearly fainted, thinking they expected guests to spend that. The conversion was like smelling salt.
 
When you mention the prices of the hotel, what would that equal to US dollars?

'Our money' is to encompass AUD/USD equivalent.
The exchange rate is about $7.5 hong kong dollars for every $1 Australian or US dollar.

When I first saw the $5000, I nearly fainted, thinking they expected guests to spend that. The conversion was like smelling salt.

They do expect guests to spend $5000.....hong kong dollars, that is. :rotfl:

I had to ask for the calculator when he told me what the pre-val amount was.
 

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