Option 1 or 2 and thoughts on itinerary please

[Babysaurs]

We are about to book our flights and would like some thoughts or advice on our proposed itinerary please
This is option 1
Ds will miss last week of term 3 and first 3 days of term 4.
This option gives us about 2 extra days and less connection times re flights.

Sun Sept 20th fly ADL to Hong kong arrive mid arvo
Mon 21 HK Disney (not sure if this will be a overkill on disney?)
Tues 22 big buddah, victoria peek and anything else we can fit in before or 11:45pm flight to LA
Wed 23 LA sightseeing hollywood sign etc
Thurs 24th LA maybe universal studios or Santa monica for the day depends how we feel.
Fri 25th Head to Annaheim hotel (BWPPI hopefully) and a stop at target for supplies (thinking of only getting a 5 day park hopper ticket so wont got to park today and assuming there will be halloween party in disney that night?) rest will be lazy day settling into hotel maybe pool time.
Sat 26th disney
Sun 27th disney
mon 28th disney
tues 29th morning off and hopefully tickets to halloween party that night at disney
wed 30th disney
thurs 1st disney
fri 2nd head to san diego (1 way hire car maybe) staying a bw bayside
sat 3rd SD maybe the zoo or seaworld
sun 4th board disney cruise wonder
mon 5th cruise
tues 6th cruise
wed 7th cruise
thurs 8th cruise
fri 9th disembark cruise hire car and head to legoland
Sat 10th lego land and Halloween party that night there
Sun 11th lego land water park then head back to la
Mon flight home at 9:40 4.5 hr connection in HK on way home arrive early wed morning.
Option 2
Ds will miss last 3 days or term 3 and first week of term 4.
Wed fly to HK arrive mid arvo
Thurs HK disney
Fri HK sight see before flight to la at 11:45 arrive la 10:40 pm head straight to annaheim
Sat disney
Sun disney
Mon disney
Tuesday rest and Halloween party at disney that night
Wed disney
Thurs disney
Fri San Diego
Sat San Diego
Sun to fri disney cruise
Fri arvo head to lego land
Sat lego land and Halloween party
Sun lego land water park
Mon head to la sightsee
Tuesday la whatever we feel light doing until our flight at 1am wed morning. Then have a 12 hr connection time in HK on wat home. Arrive back In aus early Friday Morning.
Which itinerary is better do you think? I'm leaning toward option 1.
And is HK disney, Disneyland and a disney cruise too much for first timers?
Kids will be 5 and 8 then.
Any other advice for us appreciated

 

[Agent 86]

I don't think that HK Disneyland, LA Disneyland and a cruise is too much.

But, I would only try and do the truly unique attractions in HK Disneyland as you may be tired from the flight and it seems like you want to fit in a lot on your last day in Hong Kong.

If possible, I would try and do Legoland before LA Disneyland as I think it will potentially be a disappointment for the kids after the sheer awesomeness of LA Disneyland and the Disney cruise.

I would recommend Option 1 as it gives you a longer holiday, but we don't have any kids yet so we don't have to manage school holidays and missing school!

 

[KiwiMouseGirl]

Itinerary's look great! I would definitely recommend Universal Hollywood! I absolutely love it and have been/will go on every trip! The only thing i've noticed is that you stated you were going to buy 5 day park hoppers but have 5 scheduled park days + the Halloween party. Im pretty sure you need park admission for the halloween party, meaning you would need 6 day tickets

 

[losfp]

Agree that if you can put legoland first, that'd be better. It is pretty much smack bang in the middle between San Diego and anaheim so it's easy.

Halloween party includes park entry from about 3pm (that's how we got 6 days' entry with a 5 day pass last time). It feels like it's a very rushed start with HK. If you get smashed by jet lag it could be a struggle.

Otherwise it looks good! Good luck!

 

[Meemoo]

Not a Disney overdose, you will enjoy it. I think HK Disney is a great place to see first. If you get a chance wander around the HK Disneyland Hotel grounds its beautiful and you wont see anything like it in the US, it has a really cool garden Mickey maze, and the buffet at Enchanted Garden is fantastic as is Chef Mickeys at Hollywood Hotel, again you wont get any thing like it (with great food) in the US!

 

[AussieNSW]

Alot of people would disagree with me but I didnot like HK Disneyland there was only one ride that we really enjoyed compared to the other Disney parks mystic manor. To give you some background my family including two children have been to all of the Disney Parks apart from the one in Japan. I actually felt that it was a waste of money. The food was terrible and the other park guests rude. My children rated it the worst of the Disney parks they have visited by a huge distance. We visited HK last year about the same time you are and found the air to be very polluted and many of the sights were hazed in by pollution. We went to Victoria Peak and the view was poor due to pollution. If it was me and it was possible I would fly via Hawaii rather than HK.
In regards to other parts of your plan we loved San Diego zoo and enjoyed Sea World but preferred the zoo.

 

[bswift]

I can't see it on the website but when I was at HKDL in April 2014, they had some sort of discounted ticket for people flying out of HK that same day. Not sure if that would work for your 12 hour connection time in HK in option 2. HKDL isn't that far from the airport and being a small park, you don't really need that much time there. You could do Mystic Manor and Grizzly Gulch, snap a few photos in front of the castle and maybe have some Mickey waffles before heading back to the airport. I agree that the food there is not great but I think it's a unique park with it's own version of Disney magic. You just can't go there expecting it to be the same as WDW.

Is there a particular reason you're flying through HK rather than straight to LAX?

 

[Agent 86]

Personally, I wouldn't skip HK Disneyland. I've been to all of the Disney theme parks and while I wouldn't rank HK Disney near the top, it was still a wonderful experience.

From memory, the fast food/counter service food was a little disappointing, but so was the equivalent food in Paris and in Orlando. I don't remember the other guests being particularly rude. I think I've experienced the rudest guests in LA where people seemed to be continually pushing and shoving while in line and frequently jumping queues.

We had some great and completely unique cast/character experiences in Toy Story land and in Tomorrowland in HK Disney. It was also pouring raining the two days we spent there, so ride wait times were not an issue. Unfortunately, it did mean that some of the parades were cancelled though. And the fireworks on one night from memory.

 

[Babysaurs]

Thanks for your replies
We are flying via HK because for our dates they are the cheapest flights and none direct from Adelaide. More direct ones are so much more $ we would rather spend on holiday not getting there. Flights via Hawaii are even more expensive. Plus dh and I have been to Hawaii and we would like to get a taste of HK see if its worth a trip back later
We figure if we are not up to it in HK then quite happy to just laze around the pool and see what we can. Wouldn't be upset if disney there didn't happen. Hoping jet lag won't be much of an issue dh and I have never had it before and kids were fine on last flights too.
Not sure if we can put lego land first due to when they are open and the Halloween nights are only on a Saturday and according to last year the first date was the 10th oct, but will look into it.
We have fine lego land in Malaysia so do have an idea of what it's like and ds LOVES lego so I think they will be ok. Dh and I may be underwhelmed though lol
Any advice on best character meals in Disneyland?

 

[Meemoo]

I have only tried 2 of the character meals at Disneyland - Goofy's Kitchen (DL Hotel, I had dinner) and Minnie's Breakfast in the Park. I have heard Goofy's has changed, less characters only about 4-5 now where they use to have heaps including princesses. The food is average, but fun. I loved Minnie's breakfast, it had a magical feel sitting there in DL. Quite a lot of characters unless that has changed too, and nice choice in breakfast food. I plan to go back to both on our next trip.

 

[zanzibar138]

I seem to be in the minority with HKDL. I LOVE it! It's my second favourite park, not far behind DLR. We found the CMs and other guests to be happy and friendly, generally pleased to be there. The worst guest grumpiness we have encountered was at DLP. The park is small, but beautiful with some of the best theming I have seen in Grizzly Gulch (haven't seen Mystic Manor yet), and the beautiful mountains in the background framing the castle. Also if they still have the Flights of Fantasy parade it's the best one I have seen by a long shot. It's true though, if you go in expecting WDW you'd be disappointed. You need to just take it for what it is.

We've only done two character breakfasts at DLR. We did Minnie's way back in 2011. It was great! Heaps of characters, plenty of interaction, we were there for nearly 2 hours and hardly had time to eat with the constant stream of characters coming through. I did Storyteller's with my parents on our last trip. I enjoyed it, but I really like the 'woodsy' atmosphere and characters. Some of the characters there can be quite obscure and your kids might not recognise them. We had Kenai, Koda, Chip and Meeko. The characters did play some games and have a little dance with the kids though, which could be fun. It worked out well for us going on a non early entry day. We could use the GCH entrance to DCA with our breakfast receipt, and were one of the first parties in the park.

 

[Kristin5]

I'd go with option 1. When we go in September/October, we always leave one week before the start of holidays and arrive back a few days into term 4.

I think it's ok going to Legoland at the end too. We took DS when he was 4 (turning 5) and we did it in between DL days (we had a 14 day DL ticket) and he still loved it (even though he is not a Lego fan). Your itinerary looks good.

We have done the Minnie breakfast and Surf's Up, both for DS's birthday. At Minnie's he turned 5, and he had a ball. He still talks about it to this day because there was such great character interaction. At Surf's Up he turned 7, and he enjoyed that too, but didn't seem to join in with the dancing as much. Maybe because he was older and "cooler"?! It probably depends on who your kids fave characters are?

 

[aussie shaz]

Option 1 sounds better. I think a 12 hour stopover on th way home would be hideous!
Regarding character meals, we have done Minnie's twice, and Goofys once. We did Goofys for dinner and we were pretty disappointed. We had about 4 or 5 characters. A couple I didn't even know who they were! Minnie's was wonderful both times. There are so many characters, and I feel they really put on a show, rather than just come and visit each table (which they also do).

 

[jevs]

We have done both Goofy's kitchen and Surfs up and enjoyed both.
I would avoid any lengthy stop overs on the way home as well.