Phil's Adventures in Hong Kong Disneyland - April 2016 *new June 29th - link to PTR added*

[horse11]

Love your picture of Tarzan's Tree!!
I can not wait to see Lion King on our trip to WDW in a few days. Last time we went the show was temporary closed.
Love the movable animal floats especially the Elephant one!!! Wish they had that at AK!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Jungle Cruise without the puns seems very very wrong. I'm wondering if it has to do with Cantonese being a more popular language there? Or maybe the English speakers in Hong Kong just don't appreciate puns.

Personal space is definitely an issue with other cultures. It takes a lot of getting used to. But that's the price you pay for travelling internationally ... you get the good parts and the bad parts of other cultures.

I have to say ... even though it's sad that you didn't see the regular parade, I think it's pretty cool that they have a special rainy day parade! I wish they did that at the domestic parks ... it would be nice to have a special parade out there for when it rains!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Thank you for including Mystic Manor!!

It was hands down our favorite ride. I wish that they had it state side!!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

That is really odd about the Jungle Cruise. You'd think if the skipper could say that one pun they could teach them a few more.

I appreciate all your updates about characters, even if you didn't meet them all. So far you haven't mentioned anyone that can't be met at WDW or DL. Any rare characters coming up?

Mystic Manor looks so awesome, have you heard about the Explorer's Hotel they are building there for 2017?

 

[rteetz]

I've heard some mixed things on their jungle cruise. I think Deb Wills from allears ended up trying all of the languages for the jungle cruise to see the differences on her trip out there. Some of the effects see, cool though.

I'm a huge festival of the lion king fan. From what I see in your pictures I think I would like this version better than what is at AK. I really like how all of the floats come together in the middle and spin in a circle.

The rainy day parade is kind of cool. At WDW they just put character on Main Street vehicles, at least there they have floats.

I can't wait to hear more.

 

[zanzibar138]

Well, it's lovely to see a nice detailed TR on HKDL - kudos! It's a shame they didn't have the parade on - it's a good one! But the Rainy Day Express looked pretty cute, I especially love the characters in their wet weather gear!

We've had mixed experiences on the Jungle Cruise. I think it depends on the CM you get and how good their grasp is of the English language. Obviously the more 'secondary' the language is, the harder it is for them to add humour into it. We've also had mixed experiences with the behaviour of other guests with line cutting and personal space invasion... SDL will be very interesting lol!

I'm not a huge fan of Toy Story Land. It's a cute concept, and parts of it are well themed, but it just doesn't do it for me. Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point however, are both amazing areas with awesome rides, definitely Disney to perfection! We've never managed to catch the Lion King show - apparently it goes down for maintenance in March every year, and that just happens to be the time of year that we've always visited. One day we'll have to go at a different time of year so we can see it!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

 

[PrincessInOz]

If it weren't for that last section on the HK Jungle Cruise, I would say that this is better experienced in the US. I'm actually one of those that love the corny puns of the JC. It definitely loses a lot in HK.

this was likely people from mainland China

I would say that this is definitely people from mainland China. We went to Macau and it was all very orderly from our ferry with the HK Chinese at customs/immigration. Everyone queued up, it was friendly and quiet. Another ferry came in about 10 minutes after ours from mainland China. No one queued up, everyone was trying to line cut, it was definitely not friendly nor quiet after their ferry came in.

interested to see how this shakes out when Shanghai Disney opens

I believe HKDL had lots of issues with guest behaviour when it opened. It took them a few years to get it under control. I'd love to go to Shanghai Disney....but I'll wait for early reports to come back (*cough* *cough* @zanzibar138 .... eagerly waiting for your TR!!)

Unfortunately the rain was too much so they did the Rainy Day Express instead

I'd say that was a great reason for you to head back to HK. The normal parade is great!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm all over this! Will be back to catch up!

Awesome!

Love your picture of Tarzan's Tree!!
I can not wait to see Lion King on our trip to WDW in a few days. Last time we went the show was temporary closed.
Love the movable animal floats especially the Elephant one!!! Wish they had that at AK!!!

We never did get to the Tarzan Treehouse but it looks pretty cool and neat that it was designed to be that and not an overlay like they have in California

The Festival of the Lion King is such a great show - at both parks! It is such a fun and well done show with really no slow parts.

I think there were parts to each that I liked - there was not tumbling monkeys for example in the Hong Kong one, but from a technical standpoint I loved how the floats and the center stage worked

Jungle Cruise without the puns seems very very wrong. I'm wondering if it has to do with Cantonese being a more popular language there? Or maybe the English speakers in Hong Kong just don't appreciate puns.

Personal space is definitely an issue with other cultures. It takes a lot of getting used to. But that's the price you pay for travelling internationally ... you get the good parts and the bad parts of other cultures.

I have to say ... even though it's sad that you didn't see the regular parade, I think it's pretty cool that they have a special rainy day parade! I wish they did that at the domestic parks ... it would be nice to have a special parade out there for when it rains!

The JC was definitely a bit odd ... and it wasn't like they were playing it straight and he had a few puns, just not a lot. Also, people did often stand up so he did have to almost constantly remind people to sit down, so that detracted a bit as well.

Absolutely - positives and negatives everywhere. I think it just threw us off at times - but it never got really bad at least

The last time we were at WDW in Florida was the first time since Festival of Fantasy debuted and it got rained out (so we still haven't seen it) and they put in place the Rainy Day Cavalcade which is cute, but about 37 seconds long and they just use the Main St. vehicles ... I definitely appreciated that they had this separate set-up just for when it rains

Thank you for including Mystic Manor!!

It was hands down our favorite ride. I wish that they had it state side!!

I love that ride! Just so cool and loved the technology. I tend to like when the parks have their own unique attractions but I would love to see a ride like that come to the states. I think if they re-did Journey into Imagination with that technology it would be really cool

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That is really odd about the Jungle Cruise. You'd think if the skipper could say that one pun they could teach them a few more.

I appreciate all your updates about characters, even if you didn't meet them all. So far you haven't mentioned anyone that can't be met at WDW or DL. Any rare characters coming up?

Mystic Manor looks so awesome, have you heard about the Explorer's Hotel they are building there for 2017?

Yeah, the JC was definitely odd. Like he had a few (sort of) puns so it wasn't like they were playing it straight. And given how many people we encountered that spoke great English you'd think they'd have some that could do the job on the JC. Oh well, definitely was different though

So I didn't really notice any rare characters as being out for meets. In Town Square a lot of the regulars were meeting but in unique outfits. The lines were always really long and they stopped meeting at 5pm so just didn't get it in. If I had know from the start that they didn't open up the lands beyond Main St until 10:30 I think I would have hopped in the line for Mickey and Minnie, but just didn't work otu.

I knew they were building a new hotel but didn't realize it is Explorer's themed - that sounds ridiculously cool!

I've heard some mixed things on their jungle cruise. I think Deb Wills from allears ended up trying all of the languages for the jungle cruise to see the differences on her trip out there. Some of the effects see, cool though.

I'm a huge festival of the lion king fan. From what I see in your pictures I think I would like this version better than what is at AK. I really like how all of the floats come together in the middle and spin in a circle.

The rainy day parade is kind of cool. At WDW they just put character on Main Street vehicles, at least there they have floats.

I can't wait to hear more.

The effects at the end are really cool and something unique to the JC there which is nice. I guess I just love the classic puns and that aspect of that attraction so to not have it threw me off a bit. But I can't imagine riding it when you can't understand the skipper at all though. Oh well - was fun to do once though

There were aspects of the FotLK at Hong Kong that I liked better than the one at AK, but some that I liked better at AK ... both are great though. From a technical standpoint I loved what they did with the floats and that center stage area here though

Yeah, our last trip to WDW the Festival of Fantasy parade got rained out (so we still haven't seen it yet) and they did the Rainy Day Cavalcade which was fun but like you said just had the characters ride the Main St vehicles, nothing special. I appreciated that they had something different for when it rains - made it seem not at bad to have missed the regular parade (though I've heard it's a pretty good parade ... have to say, what I've see so far of Shanghai's doesn't have me too impressed)

Well, it's lovely to see a nice detailed TR on HKDL - kudos! It's a shame they didn't have the parade on - it's a good one! But the Rainy Day Express looked pretty cute, I especially love the characters in their wet weather gear!

We've had mixed experiences on the Jungle Cruise. I think it depends on the CM you get and how good their grasp is of the English language. Obviously the more 'secondary' the language is, the harder it is for them to add humour into it. We've also had mixed experiences with the behaviour of other guests with line cutting and personal space invasion... SDL will be very interesting lol!

I'm not a huge fan of Toy Story Land. It's a cute concept, and parts of it are well themed, but it just doesn't do it for me. Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point however, are both amazing areas with awesome rides, definitely Disney to perfection! We've never managed to catch the Lion King show - apparently it goes down for maintenance in March every year, and that just happens to be the time of year that we've always visited. One day we'll have to go at a different time of year so we can see it!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

and thanks for joining! I was a little bummed to not see the day time parade but did appreciate they had something ready to go that was unique for when it rains.

I was just a little surprised given how much English is spoken in Hong Kong that they wouldn't have a few skippers that can speak English very well. It was still something different to experience and I liked the effects at the end - I just missed the puns!

Toy Story Land definitely isn't as neat or immersive as Mystic Point or Grizzly Gulch. I have higher expectations for what they bring to Hollywood Studios for their Toy Story Land. I really enjoyed the Festival of the Lion King so hopefully you are able to see it one day!

If it weren't for that last section on the HK Jungle Cruise, I would say that this is better experienced in the US. I'm actually one of those that love the corny puns of the JC. It definitely loses a lot in HK.

I would say that this is definitely people from mainland China. We went to Macau and it was all very orderly from our ferry with the HK Chinese at customs/immigration. Everyone queued up, it was friendly and quiet. Another ferry came in about 10 minutes after ours from mainland China. No one queued up, everyone was trying to line cut, it was definitely not friendly nor quiet after their ferry came in.

I believe HKDL had lots of issues with guest behaviour when it opened. It took them a few years to get it under control. I'd love to go to Shanghai Disney....but I'll wait for early reports to come back (*cough* *cough* @zanzibar138 .... eagerly waiting for your TR!!)

I'd say that was a great reason for you to head back to HK. The normal parade is great!

Overall I did really like Hong Kong Disneyland and in some ways enjoyed it more than the US parks (though definitely doesn't have the history of the US parks). The JC was just a weird experience, though the effects at the end were cool

It was interesting to see how the different cultures were and will be interesting to follow how things go at Shanghai after it fully opens. From coming from a different place it is hard to see how behavior that we would consider "rude" to be acceptable - but they probably look at us in a similar light

I am bummed I missed the regular parade (seems to be a trend for us as we still haven't seen Festival of Fantasy as it got rained out as well) but I did appreciate that they had the separate, and unique, rainy-day parade

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like an interesting Jungle Cruise experience haha

I too am curious to see how things at Shangai play out. The personal space stuff would definitely irk me :-/

Cool pictutes of FOTLK! I'm glad it was just as impressive as AK's but also different enough to keep it interesting!

Bummer about the rain. The characters look really cute in their rain gear though.

 

[afwdwfan]

"Sit down! Thank you!"

Well, at least he could say that well. Sorry the English version was a disappointment. You didn't by any chance get back and try the other did you? I'd be interested to see how it compared even if you don't understand the language.

But really, for Hong Kong being a place where English is almost a second language, you'd think that they could find better English speaking skippers.

The one thing that was cool was at the end a wall of water shoots up and redirects the boat and there is this outcropping you get stopped and get to see it fire and water spray out - almost like it was coming to life:

That's pretty awesome!

Well, it's not even open yet and some of those stories of people vandalizing lamp posts and traipsing through planters and stuff in the area out front of the park clearly seems to show this will be an issue.

After that we went back to Main St. to get ready for the parade. Unfortunately the rain was too much so they did the Rainy Day Express instead - which was short, but cute and I appreciated they had something unique with the train just used for this alternate parade:

I know I've already said this, but I really do appreciate the effort to put something out there despite the rain.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sounds like an interesting Jungle Cruise experience haha

I too am curious to see how things at Shangai play out. The personal space stuff would definitely irk me :-/

Cool pictutes of FOTLK! I'm glad it was just as impressive as AK's but also different enough to keep it interesting!

Bummer about the rain. The characters look really cute in their rain gear though.

Interesting is definitely a good word for the Jungle Cruise ride - at least it made for an entertaining story (well, hopefully it was viewed as entertaining)

I think that is a good way to put FotLK - impressive in it's own way - different but not a lesser show to what they have at AK

I thought the rain gear was a nice touch (though, kinda funny the main characters had it (Mickey, Minnie, etc.) but not on the other floats which included Princesses in their fancy dresses (you'd think if anyone would want to stay dry it would be them)

Well, at least he could say that well. Sorry the English version was a disappointment. You didn't by any chance get back and try the other did you? I'd be interested to see how it compared even if you don't understand the language.

But really, for Hong Kong being a place where English is almost a second language, you'd think that they could find better English speaking skippers.

That's pretty awesome!



I know I've already said this, but I really do appreciate the effort to put something out there despite the rain.

With the lines being a bit long we didn't have time to ride the Jungle Cruise again - would have been interesting to compare experiences. I think that is what got me - English as a whole is spoken very well by so many in Hong Kong that I was surprised they couldn't get more natural speakers for the Jungle Cruise if they are going to the effort of having different lines for different languages

I definitely appreciated the fact they had a special rainy day parade rather than just throwing the characters into existing cars or whatever. I mean, I guess it makes sense given how much rain they have there, but still, made it less of a bummer that the regular parade was cancelled.

 

[chillitsanne]

Interesting that Jungle Cruise is offered in different languages....Do they have a split off by line? Like one way for one language and so forth?

Gotta love line cutters, I am always to impressed to say anything either. I just like to believe that everyone is looking for their families lol

I love your Lion King photos, looks like a fun show (& similar to WDW). It would be cool to see the flame thrower guys!

 

[hkkatie]

They have lines for Mandarin, Cantonese and English for the Jungle Cruise. We've had good and not so good skippers, like a previous poster said, it really depends on how good their English is and how comfortable they are adding in the humor. I do have to say, though, that in the last year or so, the jokes have gotten much worse. But maybe that's because I've ridden it about 100x and have heard them all 100x. Lol. I've been going to this park since it opened 10-11 years ago. And yes, mainlanders are notorious for line cutting. You have to not be afraid to tell them to go to the back of the line. And I have to say, maybe it's because I'm a sap, but in the Lion King show, I ALWAYS tear up when the white "bird" lady comes out and does the arial/silks routine. It's so beautiful!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Interesting that Jungle Cruise is offered in different languages....Do they have a split off by line? Like one way for one language and so forth?

Gotta love line cutters, I am always to impressed to say anything either. I just like to believe that everyone is looking for their families lol

I love your Lion King photos, looks like a fun show (& similar to WDW). It would be cool to see the flame thrower guys!

Well, @hkkatie beat me to the punch a bit, but was going to say that they had 3 lines and it is right as you enter the queue - so 3 entrances and then they load from the line that matches the language that will be spoke on the boat

Yeah, I tend to not want to speak up unless it was blatant or impacting my kids or something. One trip to WDW on the line for the Little Mermaid ride these kids were like out of control and running back and forth and physically made contact with me or my family mutliple times that I finally spoke up ... and of course their parent just looked back and shrugged at me so - so clear why they felt ok to behave the way they did

The flame thrower guys were pretty cool! If you are ever in WDW each evening (I think at 5pm) they have the torch ceremony at the entrance to the Poly which is similar and pretty cool as you are up close (plus it is free!)

They have lines for Mandarin, Cantonese and English for the Jungle Cruise. We've had good and not so good skippers, like a previous poster said, it really depends on how good their English is and how comfortable they are adding in the humor. I do have to say, though, that in the last year or so, the jokes have gotten much worse. But maybe that's because I've ridden it about 100x and have heard them all 100x. Lol. I've been going to this park since it opened 10-11 years ago. And yes, mainlanders are notorious for line cutting. You have to not be afraid to tell them to go to the back of the line. And I have to say, maybe it's because I'm a sap, but in the Lion King show, I ALWAYS tear up when the white "bird" lady comes out and does the arial/silks routine. It's so beautiful!

Thanks for chiming in! Interesting to hear the jokes have gone down. I know I've heard the ones at WDW a bunch but I still love them (though usually there are a couple new ones thrown in which I think helps)

The "bird lady" really was pretty and quite dramatic as well. Definitely was a high quality show!

 

[dlavender]

Thanks for the TR! I've not researched or had any exposure to the HK park. Really interesting to see. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Leshaface]

Very cool entrance.

USD 65 depending on exchange rate that day - so definitely cheaper that for the U.S. parks.

Wow that is a great price!

Love the scene that Baymax is in, very cool.

I was impressed that even though he only worked for Disney for 3 years he was inducted as a Disney Legend

That is definitely impressive, wow!

Oh my gosh, he looks so cuddly and soft.

Agh that's amazing! And love seeing the Tinker Toys

I was planning to film the ride but they wouldn't let me have the camera out

That's a bummer. Just for that particular ride or for all rides? Glad that WDW or DLR isn't that strict on filming while on attractions.

This is awesome!

That is freakin' cool! Holy moly.

Yes, right up my alley for sure!

This was one of the longer lines we encountered (took about ~25 mins) and also where we encountered some expert line cutters. This father and son behind us were just so skilled and casual and friendly about it that we didn't really comprehend that they had cut us in line until they were fully past us. It was almost like we were too impressed by their skills to be upset by it.

He then told us to "see those people on line? Raise you hand ... now wave good bye, you never see them again" ... we then rode past the dock for the rafts to Tarzan's Treehouse and he said "see those people on the dock? Raise your hand ... now wave good bye, you never see them again" .... we then rode past Tarzan's Treehouse and he said "see those people by the treehouse? Raise your hand ... now wave, you never see them again"

Geez I bet that got old super quick.

There is a sizable outside waiting area beyond the above entrance and we definitely got to experience the difference in views on personal space. Saw lots of people angling between people, pushing a little to get ahead. Also had these 3 fairly elderly ladies squeeze into a very small spot right in front of us and then started backing up into us and then gave us dirty looks like we did something wrong.

DM and DH have a huge issue with personal space in lines and it bugs me! I'm always telling them to not get so close and leave some room. So this would totally annoy me! Now I want to know if you tried any of these maneuvers yourself since everyone else was doing them??

Well, it's not even open yet and some of those stories of people vandalizing lamp posts and traipsing through planters and stuff in the area out front of the park clearly seems to show this will be an issue.

Ugh I saw that on a DIS update! And that lady just having her kid squat in the bushes?! What is wrong with them?

How cute, in their ponchos!

 

[TGM]

Wow, I'm loving this TR and the pics! Mystic Manor looks amazing! I wish we had one over here, maybe in Animal Kingdom? Poacher who keeps his mansion hidden away in a forest? If any Imagineers are reading, you can take credit for that idea!

 

[khertz]

"Sit down! Thank you!" may very well be my new favorite JC pun. lol How weird & random! Why even offer it in English if there's no spiel??

FOTLK looks really amazing!! I really love that show in AK and didn't even consider it something they would have in the overseas parks.

Aww, the Chips are so cute in their raincoats! Bummer you missed out on the full parade experience though.

 

[ElenaJane]

This is so fun!! I love reading a TR on a Disney park that I have never been to. It just seems so exotic, like the gorgeous mountain behind the castle. Your lunch looked amazing and I am glad to know there was a vegetarian option. Your friend must have been confused as to why people would get on a crowded boat to see fake animals and be yelled at!

Thanks for sharing your Hong Kong adventure!