Just me! A Solo...Hong Kong Disneyland July Trip! COMPLETED 9/25

[mandyyyrose]

Okay! So, after lunch I headed out to explore Fantasyland. At this point I wasn't using a map and decided I would just walk to whatever seemed fun.

The first thing I stumbled upon was the Fairy Tale Forest. This was a neat little break from rushing around. Basically, the entire garden is broken up into sections based upon each princess. Each section had a miniature version of that princess's castle/home/story. It was really cute and provided some shade from the blazing sun.

The only slight annoyance here was that I kept getting held up because people were blocking the walkway to take photos. And these weren't vacation photos, they were like instagram fashion model photos. Literally I saw someone with a very nice canon camera taking pictures of her friend, take the SD card out of the camera, put it in her phone, and upload the photos to instagram. I was sort of speechless, but I guess if that's what you wanna do then that's what you do...

After I finished in the garden I walked to my favorite ride - Small World! Not even kidding - it's legit my favorite. There is something so familiar, safe, and relaxing about it. As soon as I saw the sign in the distance I could feel a smile starting to come across my face. As I approached it, my jaw almost dropped. This thing was HUGE! Okay, maybe it's not much bigger than WDW's, but the fact that it isn't under a roof just makes it seem so much bigger.

Once I got inside the line (another 5 minute wait!) I was blasted with air conditioning! Oh my goodness it felt so nice. At this point the sweat was dripping off of me. If anyone ever tells you that Hong Kong in July isn't miserably hot, they're a total liar. Once I got inside in the air conditioning, I also noticed it was very dark, another nice change of pace.

Waiting in line was a little not fun - I didn't have an international phone plan, so I couldn't text, call, or get on the internet unless I had wifi. And Disney's wifi sucked. I think I got one photo uploaded on facebook the entire trip. So I just sort of tried to soak everything in and looked at the map a little more. I knew after Fantasyland I would head into Tomorrowland and that's where I would probably eat dinner. I also still needed to shop!

As I got on the Small World Boat (with my own row, yay 1 person!) I was really excited. Once the ride started, I was pleased to notice that a lot of things are the same as 'my' small world at WDW. The addition of Disney characters into their respective countries was unexpected and really fun. I made it my goal to try to spot as many characters as I could, and the family in front of me was doing that also.

I didn't time it, but I feel like this ride was longer than it's WDW counterpart.

It also really made me think about the world. You know how the ride shows 1-2 structure(s) that 'represent' a country/culture? What would you say 'represents' America? I'll give you a hint...

It's not much. But now I sort of feel some way about the other countries as well...just trying to imagine everything else that you don't know, and can't even fathom about another culture. If you could pick 2 structures to represent America (or your country), what would you choose?

Okay...off my Small World soapbox now. As I exited the ride, I saw the Small World Ice Cream Shop. I knew I had to go there...but not today. Good thing I bought a 2 day ticket!

I headed to Tomorrowland next, trying to figure out what I would do for the rest of the day. And I finally found the people! As I exited Fantasyland I saw out of the corner of my eye, The Many Adventures of Pooh Bear ride. It had a 60 minute wait! I will also point out, this is one of two rides in the entire park that utilizes Fast Passes. Paper Fast Passes! It was like a walk down memory lane. Now, I wasn't up for waiting 60 minutes to ride Pooh, and I was really hoping to get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain, so I walked over to Tomorrowland.

Everyone that wasn't waiting for Pooh was waiting for Space Mountain (which is currently Hyperspace Mountain, thanks Star Wars Takeover) and the line here was 60 minutes plus as well. Luckily there were still Fast Passes. I grabbed one, and went on my way. I decided that I would kill some time by riding Buzz Lightyear. I think the wait here was the longest of the day, it was about 30-35 minutes. Was it worth it? Yes. Compared to the WDW counterpart, I liked this one a lot better! The fact that you could physically pick up the laser shooter/gun and move it was really helpful compared to the shooters in WDW that are attached to the point they are basically worthless.

Still, I didn't get a great score, but it was fun and kept me engaged the whole time.

After Buzz I decided to eat again. This time, I was really craving american food. At this point I had been in Asia over two weeks and had not eaten any western food. Side note, Chengdu, the city in China I was in is located in the Sichuan Province,and is known for the spiciest/hottest foods in the world. Not for me. So I ate so much rice and noodles that I thought I might explode. So when I got to the Starliner Diner, I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a sprite. It was amazing, and I feel like I can still taste it.

After dinner I headed to Main Street U.S.A to do some shopping before it was my Fast Pass time. There were so many cute things to buy but my suitcase was so small, I just wanted to buy everything! I browsed for a while, but didn't end up buying anything this time, mainly because I didn't want to have to carry it on the ride with me.

I headed to Guest Services to pick up my "First Visit" button, which I totally forgot about when I arrived. After I got my button, I went to take some more pictures of the castle. The castle is cute, but it is very tiny - that's for sure! I then walked around back to Fantasyland and saw Mickey's Philharmagic. It is 100% the same as WDW's, which was nice and made me feel really at home.

By that point it was time to finally go ride Hyperspace Mountain!

And we'll pick up with my review of Hyperspace Mountain tomorrow

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I didn't do the Fairytale Forest as I thought it was really just the meet & greet area for the princesses - but I guess there is more to it than that!

I loved the It's a Small World There ... it is like the Disneyland California version with the Disney characters but there are even more in Hong Kong and I loved the little touches like how the music changed to sounding like you are under water when near the little mermaid part. I too thought about what they picked as the representation of America

Their Buzz is a lot like the version in Disneyland California as well - with the removable guns, which helps a ton!

Actually, I guess a lot of it is like Disneyland California - especially the castle which is a near copy to the original Sleeping Beauty Castle that Walt built

Definitely seems like the hyperspace mountain overlay has drawn the crowds to Space Mountain. When I was there it was just the regular version and there was never more than a 5 minute wait for it

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. I've never been to Hong Kong and probably never will so it's so nice to be able to see Disneyland through your report. I have to admit I don't think I could be in a foreign country by myself. Kudos to you!

 

[chookie94]

I love the HK It's a Small World, especially at night when the building it all light up.

While the castle is small, it does look pretty magical with the mountains in the background.

 

[mandyyyrose]

While the castle is small, it does look pretty magical with the mountains in the background.

Oh I totally agree! I didn't want to make it seem unimpressive! It is definitely magical!

^^
This is my attempt at an 'artsy' photo. HK is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary!

 

[iheartglaciers]

Thanks for sharing your trip report! I went there solo last year (also stayed at the airport hotel! I took a cab and it was only 15 mins!) and had an awesome time. LOVED Mystic Manor. A bought way too much merch but somehow managed to bring everything on the plane haha.

 

[mandyyyrose]

We're gonna finish up day 1 in this post!

Where we left off, I was in line for Hyperspace Mountain. Can I just say, I so wish this ride would come to Disney World!

Hyperspace Mountain is the Star Wars overlay of Space Mountain. The queue of the line is basically unchanged and the fast pass line is definitely a blessing. I waited in line about 10 minutes and then it was time to get on the ride!



Okay, so, I should also note that I'm really not a Star Wars fan. My dad and sister are super into it, but somehow I have successfully avoided ever seeing any of the movies.

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As I boarded, I noticed that the ride cars seat two people, unlike WDW. Since it was just me, once again, I got my own row! The ride itself felt the same trackwise. My favorite part was the Star Wars overlay. The ride starts off by playing the Star Wars overture while you are going up the first hill in darkness.

Once you go over the hill, you start swirling around turns and going up and down hills. The unique aspect is the sounds/effects. You are prompted at the beginning that you are part of the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' are attacking you. (I told you I know nothing about SW!) So as you are swirling around in space there are lasers being shot at you from the enemy spaceships (which are showing on gigantic projection screens). It was actually really cool! I kept wondering what else would happen that I wasn't expecting. It made an 'old' ride interesting for sure!

After Hyperspace was over, I headed back to Adventureland to see what I could do there.

I found Jungle Cruise - which is also a favorite of mine! The thing I thought that was neat was since JC is such a heavily interactive ride there were individual lines depending on what your native language was.

Photo via themeparkinsider.com
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The worker and I both got a giggle when she was directing people which line to go in and then she looked at me and said really quietly, "English...right?", yep...sorry I only speak English! Haha, all in all it was a nice relaxing ride. Very similar to WDW's, but since some of the jokes were lost in translation it seemed very quiet on my boat, or no one thought the jokes were funny...

After getting off the cruise, I hit the next thing that I found...

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Tarzan's Treehouse! At this point it seemed less busy than it had all day, if that was possible. To get to the treehouse you have to take rafts similar to what you use to get to/from Tom Sawyer Island at WDW. Once I got to the island I started rushing for some reason. Mainly I think because I didn't want to get stuck behind what few people were there. I got some great pics though! This view beats Florida any day in my book. The great mountains were breathtaking.

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And then, it was back to Main Street. I wanted to do some shopping and stake out a spot for the parade. HK currently has the Paint the Night Parade, which I believe is also currently at California. I had never seen it, and I wanted to make sure I had a good spot!

Apparently I can't add more pictures to this post without the internet crashing, so we'll pick up with "the parade, ruined souvenirs, and how the heck do I get to the hotel?!" tomorrow. Goodnight!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Space Mountain at HKDL is so great. It is similar to what Dinseyland in CA has (the 2 person wide sitting, etc.) but the track is a bit different (the tracks are actually different between Disneyland CA and WDW as well but obviously similar. Actually, the WDW version uses the same track layout that the Matterhorn in Disneyland CA has)

Disneyland CA also has the Hyperspace overlay (and they get the Ghost Galaxy overlay at Halloween time). My understanding is that WDW is a "once in a lifetime" trip for a lot of people while Disneyland has ore locals so they want people that are only going once to get the traditional version so that is why they don't do the overlays at WDW (Disneyland CA also gets an annual overlay to their Haunted Mansion that WDW does not get)

Cool pictures from the Tarzan Treehouse

Side note: HKDL had Paint the Night first and then Disneyland got it (along with a few additions) for their 60th anniversary but supposedly it is ending there in September with lots of rumors swirling as to what will happen to it in the future

 

[Crystal824]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this TR. I'm loving it. I have been to WDW and DL and Disneyland Paris. I probably won't make it to the Asian parks although I would love to see them someday. It looks like you had an awesome time.

Also, I'm from Pittsburgh too.

 

[mandyyyrose]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this TR. I'm loving it. I have been to WDW and DL and Disneyland Paris. I probably won't make it to the Asian parks although I would love to see them someday. It looks like you had an awesome time.

Also, I'm from Pittsburgh too.

Yay Pittsburgh! I'm originally from Monroeville althought I don't live there anymore! And thank you for reading.

I'm trying to check DL and Paris off my list in the next year. Then back to Asia in a few years hopefully

 

[Crystal824]

Yay Pittsburgh! I'm originally from Monroeville althought I don't live there anymore! And thank you for reading.

I'm trying to check DL and Paris off my list in the next year. Then back to Asia in a few years hopefully

We actually live in North Huntingdon although I work in Pittsburgh. We are often in Monroeville.

 

[mandyyyrose]

The Parade, Ruined Souvenirs, and how the heck do I get to the hotel?!

I left off where I was looking for a seat for the parade. It took a little bit of walking before I found somewhere that looked good. Before I found a seat, I decided to pick up a few gifts for the people back home. I bought my dad a set of Disney character chopsticks, and a shirt and pin for myself. I would do the rest of my shopping tomorrow.

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And I decided to grab a snack while I waited. I eat a lot, okay...don't judge.

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This little jello container greatly annoyed me. So, it sounds really weird, but my dad is oddly in to collecting Mickey Mouse/Disney containers. Literally we have dozens around the house. So I figured I would take this home, once I ate the jello. However, genius me did not eat all the jello before putting it in the bag. Needless to say, jello remains got all over everything. Boo. It didn't actually ruin anything, but I had to rinse my shirt out before wearing it.

Anyways, after waiting 30 minutes or so, it was time for the parade! And I finally found the people! It never seemed like there were this many people in the park...

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The parade was actually really cute. This is probably the first new parade I've seen in a long time. Just a note, I also was out of the country for the 4th of July so I didn't get to see the town parade or fireworks or anything. So this parade was really exciting for me!

After the parade was over, I moved over a little to get a spot for the fireworks. At this point I noticed a lot of people leaving, like...a ridiculous amount. Should I stay for the fireworks or leave like seemingly everyone else? I decided to stay. I was entertained by the family arguing in front of me for 20 minutes...

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Also to kill time I decided I should probably look up the train route to get to the hotel. Praise the MTR app! Literally so thankful for this app, I would've been so lost without it.

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And then, it was time for the fireworks! It was a cute fireworks show, but it relied heavily on lights and sound effects. It was nice, but I don't think I would wait again to see it.

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And then it was time to venture back to the hotel. If I was smart, I would've bought my return ticket earlier that day, and that would've kept me from having to wait in line to buy a ticket back to the Tsing Yi station. I bought a roundtrip ticket from the Airport to Tsing Yi but you couldn't buy a straight roundtrip Disneyland to Airport because you have to change train lines. Boo.

Anyways, at roughly 10:30 pm I was back at the airport dragging my feet into my hotel room. It was a long first day!

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End of day 1! Tomorrow we'll venture in to the City before checking in to the Disneyland Hotel!

 

[ariane37]

Really enjoying your report and am loving seeing HKDL So Mystic Manor is less "scary" than HM at WDW? Not that HM is scary lol. Still sounds really cool though. My younger DS10 will ride HM multiple times each trip; older DS14 will ride any roller coaster anywhere, go upside down, fast, backwards, hanging, etc. but WILL NOT ride HM without being bribed!!

I don't feel that I'll ever get to Hong Kong but the Princess Fairytale garden looks just adorable.

I'm not a SW either at all, we're in the minority but nice to know I'm not alone I've always felt I wouldn't like the Hyperspace Mountain overlay but the way you describe it, as a new way to experience an old ride, makes me think it would be cool to try one day.

 

[mandyyyrose]

Really enjoying your report and am loving seeing HKDL So Mystic Manor is less "scary" than HM at WDW? Not that HM is scary lol. Still sounds really cool though. My younger DS10 will ride HM multiple times each trip; older DS14 will ride any roller coaster anywhere, go upside down, fast, backwards, hanging, etc. but WILL NOT ride HM without being bribed!!

Ha, sounds like your 14 y.o. and i have a lot in common!

I usually ride HM once a trip, and I still close my eyes for the stretching room...

Basically instead of the stretching room, in Mystic Manor you go into a similar room, but instead of a dead body and creepy paintings you meet the Professor (through a video) and his trouble-causing monkey, Albert. It's more kid friendly in that aspect I think. The professors video tells you the backstory of the manor and how his collection came to be, and how Albert the monkey loves to play with things!

I'll see if I can find videos of some of these things later.

 

[mandyyyrose]

Day Two: Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho! Into the city we go!

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After my whirlwind first day at Disney, and totally disregarding all other plans, I decided that today I would venture in to the city. Once again, I was not following my plan. I really wanted to visit Victoria Peak and do some other touristy things, but to be honest I was a little scared. You'll see why in a bit...

So, I remember waking up at 8:30 a.m., annoyed. When I rolled over in bed the alarm clock said 9:00. I decided that meant I should get up. However, when I grabbed my phone to look at it, the time clearly said 8:30. After thinking and saying some not nice words I dug out my watch, which also said 8:30. Ugh.

So I got dressed, and decided to wander around the hotel/airport and be lazy for a little bit...

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After getting breakfast at one of the three hotel restaurants I was full and ready to go. But where was I going exactly? That's a great question...one I didn't have an answer to.

I knew I was going to the city center, but I had no idea what I was doing there. I had planned on going to Victoria Peak, and to this really nice bar that I had read about on tripadvisor. I figured I would just wing it. So I walked to the MTR kiosk, and bought a roundtrip ticket to the city center, and within 25 minutes I was there.

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Once I arrived at the MTR station, I was overwhelmed to say the least. I'm gonna sound like an overdramatic little kid for a minute, but for the first time I was somewhere alone, confused, and scared. Not that anything had happened, I assure you that I'm 100% fine. All of my pent up fears and panic just sort of exploded. I stared at signs that made no sense, I tried connecting to wifi to pull up tripadvisor or send an email to my mom, just nothing seemed to be making sense or working. I walked around the MTR station outside probably 3 times. I felt like if I walked another block I would be lost forever. (Yes, I'm overdramatic, I know).

So, after my little freakout, I didn't do much. However, when I was in the Apple Store trying to use their free wifi, I caught a view of the ferris wheel out of my eye...

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And after that, my only goal was to make it to the Ferris Wheel. I was going to ride it. I should say, I wasn't too concerned about the cost. Shortly before my adventure to Asia, Forbes posted an article declaring Hong Kong one of the most expensive cities in the world. That definitely didn't excite me. However, thanks to my job, my family, and a scholarship from my university, I would say I pulled off this entire trip for under $1000 USD. I was carrying with me probably the equivalent of $300 USD at all times, which was probably not the best idea, but I didn't want money to be a reason I didn't do something. Sorry for the rant, back to the Ferris Wheel.

I took a couple deep breaths, and started walking toward the Ferris Wheel, or at least that general direction. I had to cross the pedestrian bridge (the blue thing in the photo) and the hardest part was finding the entrance to it. I passed it three times...

After a little stroll, I made it over and bought my ticket. I was feeling a lot better at this point, but I was also pretty sure I was not going to adventure around the city very much. Not only was a greatly overwhelmed by the sheer size of...everything, but it was also approximately as hot as the face of the sun with ridiculous humidity.

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Since it was not even 11 am, there was one family in front of me, and no one else in sight. I got a car/cabin to myself, which made for some really nice pictures, great air conditioning, and some time to truly soak everything in.

^^
Apparently there was some type of carnival/fair going on, that's why all the inflatable things are there.

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Once I got off the Ferris Wheel I walked back to the MTR station. I figured out that the station was actually the bottom story of a shopping mall, so I decided to check that out as well. Not very adventurous, but it was refreshing in the air conditioning.

And there was this...thing...

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This was actually really cool and sorta weird all at once. At first, I thought it was just an art piece. Which it is, but it's more! Apparently if you sign up on the website you can reserve one of the circles to sit in? It's like a gigantic share-able hammock!

I also discovered a roof garden which I spent a little bit of time in before heading back to the hotel. I wanted to take a nap before I headed to check in to my other hotel for the night!

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And then it was naptime.

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Sorry I don't have any cool stories from the city to tell you about! I promise the excitement of the Disneyland Hotel is coming in the next installment!

 

[mandyyyrose]

After my nap I woke up to have a quick lunch at the hotel before heading back to Disneyland. However, this time I'm not going to the park...I'm checking in to the Disneyland Hotel!

So after getting a few things packed up, it was time to head to the MTR again!

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There were a few people, but still nothing like I was expecting. To get to the DL Hotel, I took the MTR to Disneyland, walked past the front of the park, and followed the paved path to the hotel. It was probably a 20-30 minute slow walk, and it was really nice to be in the shade.

I could actually only afford one night at this hotel, and I booked it through travelocity. The rack-rate of the DL Hotel is approximately $350-$400ish USD per night. My poor credit card took the brunt of this trip, and I'll be working my part time minimum wage job for the next year to pay it off.

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Checking in was really easy! I walked right up to check in and the woman helping me was so friendly and willing to explain things to me. The thing that threw me off was "Would you like to make reservations for a character breakfast?" I stood there thinking...um, what? For tomorrow? I was blown away by the fact that I could make dining reservations not even 24 hours in advance! She explained that tomorrow the park would open at 10, so she recommended the 9 am breakfast thought there was also a 7 am option.
She then explained I should keep my room key handy when I go to the park because I would get to use the hotel guest bag check/security line. There is no extra magic hours here, so that was good enough for me.

I walked up to my room, which was on the 5th floor and wanted to freshen up before having dinner. I got stuck with a double room for just me, but since I booked through a third-party I'm not complaining.

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The room was still gorgeous, and perfectly Disney. I explored a little around the hotel, and found it very familiar looking, especially the lobby...

I must say, I loved the artwork!

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And yes, I did get lost in the hedge maze. I tried really hard to get through without getting stuck...and it didn't work.

Then, it was time for dinner! I was having dinner at Walt's Cafe right off of the hotel lobby. It was a cute little restaurant that had a lot of western food. I actually got a burger and fries with a really good adult-beverage that tasted like bananas. Just to be clear, I am 21 and absolutely can get adult beverages at home, but it is so nice to not be asked for my id every time I order one.​

And the cutest dessert ever!

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Since I get lots of questions about this picture...the pooh bear is a mango sorbet, Mickey Mouse is a chocolate puddingy/cake with rasberries, and Stitch is a blueberry cheesecake. Sooo good! Almost too cute to eat though. This meal cost around $40 USD, which is honestly what I expected considering it's Disney...so...

After that, I went back to the room and watched some TV and laid down. As I was laying in bed, I noticed the extreme detail in the room, right down to the Mickey Mouse heads in the carpet.

And we'll pick up next time with breakfast with the characters, and the start to my last day!

 

[ariane37]

It's so funny you mention the hotel looking familiar, because my computer started scrolling when I clicked on your report and before I got to your newest post it stopped on the picture of the front of the resort where you can see a little bit of the hedge maze and I thought, "why does she have a picture of the Grand Floridan?" lol! Seriously though all the lobby pictures also resemble the GF. Haven't looked it up but I'm seriously guessing that's what they modeled it after??

The room looks so nice, love the carpet and also the toiletries with the dwarves on them And that dessert! So many neat things over there. But I am sorry you were so nervous on your city venture; as a 45 year old woman I'm not embarrassed to tell you I would be, too! I've said it earlier in your TR and I'll say it again, I applaud you for going so far away on your own. I think you did splendidly

 

[mandyyyrose]

We're nearing the end!

I feel like I don't know how to survive without planning another trip, so in the midst of typing this trip report I'm trying to convince the boyfriend that we *need* do go to Disneyland for spring break...we'll see

Anyways, back to Hong Kong!

I woke up in the Disneyland Hotel at around 8 a.m.. Today the plan was to go to breakfast, do some shopping, and head to the park to see the shows. I'll admit I'm totally a theatre nerd - so seeing any disney productions is a must-do!

I headed down to the Enchanted Garden restaurant shortly before 9 to find a 'crowd' of people. And by crowd I mean there was 3 people in front of me. I still have no idea where everyone is! Spoiler: We'll find them later on.

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My first thought were that this looked very similar style-wise to the Crystal Palace. The difference is that here you have Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy as the characters. These were the only character interactions I had during the trip.

Before we get to the characters, let's talk about the food. I apologize that I can't take artsy food pictures, I put food on my plate to eat it, not for it to look pretty.

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And here you will see that I eat from the kids section, even in other countries! Mickey waffles are for everyone, not just kids. On top of the waffles is something unique I thought, it's Mickey Mouse Banana Bread and it was too die for. I don't know that you can find this in WDW...if someone knows please tell me ASAP! I also had yogurt and dragonfruit, which is the white looking fruit. It's sort of like a sweet watermelony texture. I love it, even though I hate watermelon. And the circular things are french toast bites, from the kids table.

And now...the characters! These guys look familiar.

Pluto had fun messing up my hair, so that's why I'm super red faced and embarrassed.
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It took about an hour for all the characters to come around, which was the perfect amount of time in my opinion. After getting all my pictures, I was ready to go shopping! I actually did a lot of shopping in the hotel giftshop, which had so many adorable things! Tsum Tsums are HUGE in Asia (and America) right now, and I wanted to buy them all. My bank account would not have been happy.

I knew I had to buy my mom a present since I was out of the country for her birthday, and I was really stressing about what a good gift would be! After spending an hour in the giftshop I settled on HKDL magnets for my parents and grandma, and one of these...

Photo via: disneyfashonista.com
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Which actually turned into two. You see, there was one of these small ones (this is the size of a large wrislet) on display for 50% off, which made it about $30 USD. For a Dooney & Bourke bag! I've seen wallets at WDW that retail over $100 USD! Well, when a cashier saw that I had one, she got very excited and told me she had more and that I should pick a pattern! She pulled out four, so I picked out one for me, and one for my mother. I also bought mom a silk scarf, but not here.

After my shopping trip, I decided I would head back to the airport hotel and drop off my stuff since I didn't want to carry it to the park, so off to the MTR I went. And since I was going the opposite of everyone, there was no one on the train but me!

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Just a quick update tonight, and tomorrow we'll talk about the shows!

 

[mandyyyrose]

Wow I'm an awful liar.

We're gonna wrap up the end of this trip right now!

I headed back to the park at around 12-1pm. I stopped at the hotel giftshop to buy a scarf for my mom and a few little souvenirs for people.

I headed back to the park, and it was much busier today than it was over the weekend!

I knew I wanted to see the shows, so I headed to the Festival of the Lion King first...

I must say, I enjoyed it here more than in AK! It follows the actual story of the lion king, but still included the four 'parade float' characters in the corners.

One of the other nice things...they actually enforce the no flash photography rule!
There were cast members that would literally walk up and hold their hand in front of your phone if you tried to use flash.

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After the Lion King show was over, I hurried over to wait for Mickey and the Magical Book. I had no idea what to expect, but it was really good! I'll admit, I didn't realize that there was English subtitles above my head, so I watched a show in Cantonese 3/4 of the way through having no idea what they were saying. I guess I can't really share the plotline then! The songs were in English, so the show was enjoyable. I was also right in the front row!

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After the show, I stopped by Small World Ice Cream, to savor my last moments at HKDL. I snapped a few castle pictures, and then it was back to the hotel. I didn't stay for the fireworks because I was so exhausted and hot, and ready to go home honestly.

Last time at the Disneyland MTR station...

And then at 6 a.m. the next day, it was time to head back to America!

And that's all folks!

I met my mom at the Pittsburgh Airport, and had a long drive home.

So, to wrap up...

Yes, I'm bummed I didn't take a shot at going to Disneyland Shanghai. I majorly regret it.
I am so glad that I went to Hong Kong Disneyland. I wish I had explored Hong Kong more.
Something in my heart tells me I'll go back...someday.
For now, finishing my senior year of college is my priority (sorry for sucking at this report)
Thank you for reading!
You can see more of my HKDL throwback pictures on Instagram by following me @mandyyyrose
Toodles!​

 

[disneylove16]

I loved reading your TR! You are so brave to do that trip alone, but I'm sure you'll remember it forever! It's so interesting to see how Disney is done in other countries. Thanks so much for sharing.