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

[Imagineer5]

Hm, I am surprised about the Jungle Cruise and their poor English version, although I guess it's nice they do have English at all? IDK. DLP was REALLY good about English things, but I guess you are in China after all? It really isn't the same with the puns though.

The lion king show looks great, very neat to hear they paid attention to those small details so well! I love that show although it isn't a must do for every trip. I def appreciate the acrobatics the most though - although fire eaters are so neat in Luau's that is neat they incorporated those as well!

Loved the GIFs!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

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

Thank you! I don't think there is as much out there about Hong Kong Disneyland as the other parks, so glad you are finding the TR interesting!

Very cool entrance.

Wow that is a great price!

Love the scene that Baymax is in, very cool.

That is definitely impressive, wow!
Oh my gosh, he looks so cuddly and soft.

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

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.

I liked the entrance and that was basically right as you got off the train which I thought was neat

Yeah - the parks in Asia I think are all cheaper just because of what the market will bear

Yeah, Baymax was definitely squishy and he pretty much insisted I gave him a hug so it was fun!

The Tinker Toys were definitely a neat addition that added to the theming

It was somewhat inconsistent as far as cameras but for a lot of them they wouldn't let me have it out - though on one they said I was ok having my actual camera out but my co-worker could have her camera out

This is awesome!

That is freakin' cool! Holy moly.

Yes, right up my alley for sure!

I really liked a lot of the lines and intro videos - they seemed to theme those well

Yeah, "freakin' cool" is a good way to describe all of Mystic Point

And the food was really good!

I thought you would like that story ... it was just so subtle and with the kid there I didn't want to make a big deal of it - but was kind of annoying too

Geez I bet that got old super quick.

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??

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!

So I didn't really use those moves too much but did start to get used to it a bit and just knew I had to hold my ground a bit more and if I was trying to get there not an issue to fit through a spot ... still got annoying at times though!

I am just hoping it isn't that bad in the park. Supposedly things were a bit rough at Hong Kong Disneyland when it first opened but then they got more used to how to handle things - so hoping that happens at Shanghai as well

Yeah - I appreciated that they had the wet gear on

 

[TheMaxRebo]

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!

Thank you! Mystic Manor really is cool! I'd love to see at least a ride with that type of technology even if not the full ride. I think something "Explorer's Club" related in Animal Kingdom would be great! I like the way you think!

"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.

I know! I might find myself saying that next time on the ride just for fun! I mean, I guess if you don't know what you are missing you don't mind it as much?

FOTLK really was great - different but great in its own way. Looks like Shanghai has a Tarzan show with somewhat of a similar fee to FOTLK

Yeah, I was bummed to miss the parade as I have heard it is actually a pretty good one - but at least they had something unique for the rain alternative

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!

Thank you Elena!! It was funny as it seemed exotic but familiar at the same time. Actually, all of Hong Kong felt like that with the English - was familiar to New York a bit to me while being exotic as well

never thought about it like that but yeah, without context the Jungle Cruise is a bit odd!

Hm, I am surprised about the Jungle Cruise and their poor English version, although I guess it's nice they do have English at all? IDK. DLP was REALLY good about English things, but I guess you are in China after all? It really isn't the same with the puns though.

The lion king show looks great, very neat to hear they paid attention to those small details so well! I love that show although it isn't a must do for every trip. I def appreciate the acrobatics the most though - although fire eaters are so neat in Luau's that is neat they incorporated those as well!

Loved the GIFs!

I think what threw me is how well I found English was spoke elsewhere. For example, in the FOTLK show, the English was great! So seemed odd they couldn't have good English speakers as the skippers for the English sepaking boats

We actually haven't done FOTLK in a few trips so it was nice to see it here - and neat that it was similar but a bit different as well.

Thank you!

 

[TGM]

I think what threw me is how well I found English was spoke elsewhere. For example, in the FOTLK show, the English was great! So seemed odd they couldn't have good English speakers as the skippers for the English sepaking boats

It can't be worse than the skipper with the thick Australian accent in WDW. No one on the boat could understand a single thing he was saying, and there was zero laughter the whole cruise.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chapter 7 - Meeting Mickey and taking a friendly cruise​

After the parade we decided to head to one meet & greet we both wanted to do - which was to meet the Big Cheese himself - Mickey!

We decided to head through the castle, so first, a picture with the Castle!

​

In the back of Fantasyland they have two areas that are largely for Character meets - one for princesses and one for the Fab 5 group ... while we were there, Mickey was meeting in one gazebo like structure and Minnie in the other. We wound up waiting probably about 20 mins or so and that including Mickey taking a break. It was still raining a little so he needed an umbrella on the way out and back:

​

When it was my turn I handed my camera to my co-worker and it started spazzing out - making Mickey wait is never idea, so quickly switched to the back-up which was my phone. We did get pictures together with Mickey as well, but just posting the one with just me. It was a fun meet and neat to say that I met Mickey in Hong Kong

​

After this meet we decided to head to It's a Small World. The set up here is similar to how Toon Town is in Disneyland in that you go under the Train Tracks - I thought it made for a neat view as you headed there with the mountains and clouds in the background and the cool facade on the building - though the ride does load inside:

​

My understanding is that Hong Kong Disneyland was the first to get the Disney Characters added to their It's a Small World ride - and it felt like there were twice as many as the one at Disneyland in California - so I went a little nuts taking pictures. One thing I like was it felt like they switch the song up more adding effects or bits of other songs that fit the area or the movie the characters were. For example you would hear a lit bit of "A whole new world" while near the Aladdin character mixed in with the Small World song. My favorite though was that when they went past Ariel they muffled the song so it sounded like you were listening underwater - I thought it was a neat touch.

One character that caught me off guard, so this is the best picture I got, was that Bambi and Thumper are playing on the ice in Antarctica (why they are in Antarctica, not sure) - you can see Bambi up on top of the mountain in the back:

​

Most of the rest of the characters were about where you'd expect them - below is a sample. Some of my favorites were Peter Pan circling the moon with Wendy on it and that they added Abu to the Aladdin scene:

​

Maybe it is just because they aren't in the version at Walt Disney World but between here and in California I really liked the addition of the character to this ride.

After this we decided to head towards Tomorrowland. I have to say that I loved Tomorrowland as a whole in this park! There was a good amount of rides and it felt very compact - reminded me of Fantasyland in Disneyland in California with entrances to rides all right next to each other. And they are even adding more with the coming new Ironman attraction. There are also two sizeable food locations here (though one was closed due to lower crowds/season).

Anyway, we went to check out Space Mountain to either get a fastpass or ride if the wait wasn't too high ... well, it was only posted as a 5 minute wait so we just went for it! (BTW - there are only two rides that have fastpass in this park - Space Mountain (which I never saw have more than a 5 minute wait) and Winnie the Pooh (which I saw the wait time vary between 5 minutes and 40 minutes) - I never did get on Pooh, my understanding is that it is basically the same as what the U.S. parks have)

They had another cute video for explaining how the ride worked and how it goes, etc. - it was also the "warning" video that it is a "high speed roller coaster type attraction" (not sure why they can't just call it a roller coaster" ) and pretty quickly we were in the loading area which looked pretty cool I thought.

​

All I can say is that I loved this ride! I've now ridden the version here, in Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World and this is my favorite! You sit 2 x 2 like in California but it has more of the ups and downs and little hills like in Walt Disney World. It also plays cool music through speakers behind your head and has same projection mapping on the ceiling and some glowing asteroids and stuff ... just a really fun ride!

There were twin girls that looked to be about 7 or so and let's just say they did not enjoy it at all based on their reactions when getting off.

After this we had a some issues as we wanted to try and sneak in a ride before heading towards another show, Mickey and the Wondorous Book. We first checked Autopia but that had a 45 min wait (that ride basically had the most consistent long line) and then we tried to ride their equivalent of the astro orbiter but decided we didn't have time based on how the line was moving. Well, we could have waited as when we got to where the show was we realized they weren't having the later two shows that day despite what the printed times guide said. That was a bit of a bummer ... and now we had to think about what to do next!

TTFN

 

[Leshaface]

Will be back to read your last update, but saw this and thought you should get this if you ever go back to visit Hong Kong Disneyland again

 

[Leshaface]

For example you would hear a lit bit of "A whole new world" while near the Aladdin character mixed in with the Small World song. My favorite though was that when they went past Ariel they muffled the song so it sounded like you were listening underwater - I thought it was a neat touch.

They should totally add this at DLR! Very cool.

was that Bambi and Thumper are playing on the ice in Antarctica (why they are in Antarctica, not sure)

Yeah what the heck?!?

Aw Marie!

There was a good amount of rides and it felt very compact - reminded me of Fantasyland in Disneyland in California with entrances to rides all right next to each other.

Never thought about it, but you're right, all the rides in Tomorrowland at DLR are all spread far apart.

There were twin girls that looked to be about 7 or so and let's just say they did not enjoy it at all based on their reactions when getting off

Aw man no pic!? Do they even take your picture on Space there?

 

[SarahDisney]

I love the Mickey Mouse picture!

Okay ... I have no idea why Bambi and Thumper are in Antarctica. That makes no sense to me.
Then again, I'm not a fan of the characters in IASW (I've seen it in DL ... it bugged me), so I'm not really looking for it to make sense.
It does look like they mostly made them fit in well, which is great.

Space Mountain in DL is amazing ... if you're saying this one is better, then I definitely want to experience it some time!

 

[Volunteer]

After this we had a some issues as we wanted to try and sneak in a ride before heading towards another show, Mickey and the Wondorous Book.

I really wanted to see this, but the day I was there was the Monday on a holiday weekend there. People were queuing up 1hour+ to get in the show, and I wasn't feeling that haha.

You may have already addressed this, but did you enjoy Hong Kong the city? It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

 

[rteetz]

Is it just me or does that Mickey look weird? I don't know maybe it's the way his head is tilted. Great photos though!

I love the small world facade in HK! The colors and everything are much better than the white at DL in my opinion. I don't mind having the characters in there but for some reason stitch doesn't seem to fit in there.

I've only ever experienced WDW space mountain. I wish they would refurb that version already. The HK one sounds great though!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pics of IaSW. The character overlays are wonderful in there.
I love the green mountains/hills in the background of HKDL. It really makes it feel like a totally different and special park.
What an awesome picture of you and Mickey!
Space Mountain at HK is probably the smoothest of the 3 SM rides I've been on.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great pic with Mickey!!

The facade of IASW is really pretty. And wow, I just love all the different characters that are hidden in there!

Space Mountain sounds like fun! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Will be back to read your last update, but saw this and thought you should get this if you ever go back to visit Hong Kong Disneyland again

View attachment 168381

haha, I saw that on Facebook ... made me thing that it could be an added benefit of having umbrellas - gives you a bit of a radius that people need to avoid or get pocked in the eye

They should totally add this at DLR! Very cool.

Yeah what the heck?!?

Aw Marie!

Never thought about it, but you're right, all the rides in Tomorrowland at DLR are all spread far apart.

Aw man no pic!? Do they even take your picture on Space there?

I thought just mixing things up a bit in the song helped a lot.

Just really hit me there how close all the entrances to the attractions are there - I haven't been to Paris or Tokyo - but this was definitely my favorite Tomorrowland

They do take pictures on Space but ours didn't come out great and there was such a heavy watermark on it I didn't even bother with a Redneck Ride Photo

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I love the Mickey Mouse picture!

Okay ... I have no idea why Bambi and Thumper are in Antarctica. That makes no sense to me.
Then again, I'm not a fan of the characters in IASW (I've seen it in DL ... it bugged me), so I'm not really looking for it to make sense.
It does look like they mostly made them fit in well, which is great.

Space Mountain in DL is amazing ... if you're saying this one is better, then I definitely want to experience it some time!

Thank you!

The Bambi one was the only one that really seemed odd. I like the addition of the characters - but mostly because they tended to look natural and similar stylistically. If they had just stuck a regular looking Mickey in each scene or whatever I think I would feel differently.

I thought it was better - it made me think it was the best of the two versions in it had more dips and ups and downs like the WDW version but was smoother and had the music, etc. like the DL version.

I really wanted to see this, but the day I was there was the Monday on a holiday weekend there. People were queuing up 1hour+ to get in the show, and I wasn't feeling that haha.

You may have already addressed this, but did you enjoy Hong Kong the city? It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

That was definitely one thing I did wrong - I didn't realize the wait that would be there for that show ... I thought on a weekday it wouldn't be too bad, but I was wrong. Oh well.

I am thinking I will hit on some of the other highlights I did in Hong Kong in a future post, but overall I really liked it. It had a bit of a similar vibe to New York but also felt different at the same time. And it was so easy to navigate and the train was great, etc. Really good food too. I liked the elevated covered walkways as well. Thought some of the buildings went a bit over the top with the electronic advertisement on them, but was neat from a technology standpoint

Is it just me or does that Mickey look weird? I don't know maybe it's the way his head is tilted. Great photos though!

I love the small world facade in HK! The colors and everything are much better than the white at DL in my opinion. I don't mind having the characters in there but for some reason stitch doesn't seem to fit in there.

I've only ever experienced WDW space mountain. I wish they would refurb that version already. The HK one sounds great though!

I didn't notice anything different about the Mickey (not compared to what they have at Shanghai at least) - I think it might just be that his head is tilted a bit towards the camera, but maybe it is a little different

The Small World facade is really neat ... later I'll have some pictures from at night when it is lit up and it looks even cooler!

Yeah, would be nice if they redid Space at WDW - I am sure that would be a lengthy refurbishment and they are probably not wanting to take down rides with the crowd levels they are getting. Plus I am sure redoing a ride that is still popular doesn't fit so well in the current budget environment. But someday will be nice - maybe after Star Wars Land is done and taking some of the crowds.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great pics of IaSW. The character overlays are wonderful in there.
I love the green mountains/hills in the background of HKDL. It really makes it feel like a totally different and special park.
What an awesome picture of you and Mickey!
Space Mountain at HK is probably the smoothest of the 3 SM rides I've been on.

Full agree with you about the hills - it did make it look a lot different than either WDW or DLR in California.

Thank you! Glad I got to meet Mickey there!

I really liked Space Mountain there ... I may have hit it up again later on

Great pic with Mickey!!

The facade of IASW is really pretty. And wow, I just love all the different characters that are hidden in there!

Space Mountain sounds like fun! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you!

The facade was really nice for It's a Small World - felt like they took what was at DLR and made it a bit better or at least different. DLR still is unique as far as having the outside loading for it though.

definitely loved Space Mountain there!

 

[MarbleBob]

Getting caught up.... again…

It's strange to me that the English speaking skippers for the Jungle Cruise were somewhat lame. For better or worse, it seems that the corny jokes are one of the main schticks of that attraction. Weird that they'd let that aspect slip here.

It's interesting to read about the cultural differences that you experienced too. I'm not sure what I would have done if those old ladies squeezed in front of me, pushed me back, and then gave me dirty looks. I hope that I would have been gracious and just let it slide , but the little devil on my other shoulder would have been telling me to mess with them.

That Rainy Day Express parade was interesting. I've never heard of anything like that before, pretty cool! Sure seems like there were still a lot of people lined up on the sides of the street to watch it.

I love the photos with the big cheese. Cool to see Mickey carrying an umbrella!

Nice batch of photos for the It's a small world ride too!

5 minute wait for Space Mountain is super awesome!!! And it sounds like their version is a nice blend between WDW and DL versions. I would have probably rode it over and over for a while.

Looking at all your fun photos makes me jones for a Disney trip. And then I realize that I'll be in WDW this time next week.

 

[KathyM2]

Joining in here! Loving reading about HKDL...I was in HK about 20 years ago but I think it was before HKDL? Would love to go back with my kids now and take them there...

to see the main attraction there: Mystic Manor:

That is the coolest thing!! Totally want to see that. I love HM and even anything remotely similar...looks pretty awesome.

It was definitely nice and well themed - much better than a typical quick service location!

It looks empty in there!!! And I can't believe the ride times...why isn't it busier? I would expect it to be crazy crowded there all the time?

Wow, I understand cultures being different but I don't know how well I'd handle people not respecting my personal space.

In mainland China there is really no such thing as personal space. HK is pretty crowded too in most places...there is just no hope of getting anywhere without disrespecting others' personal space in a lot of cases....

 

[Dugette]

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.

Well, at least they weren't jerks about it and everyone came away feeling okay about things.

So I don't think my co-worker got the true Jungle Cruise experience.

I am truly surprised that you didn't step in and narrate for her from memory.

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.

I discussed this with some people in my company's office afterward and they said this was likely people from mainland China and just the views on personal space and cutting lines is very different there than in other cultures,

Wow, interesting about the cultural differences!

And the characters on the last train were looking cute in their rain gear (unfortunately Mickey and Minnie were facing the other way):

​

That train and the raincoats are adorable!

My understanding is that Hong Kong Disneyland was the first to get the Disney Characters added to their It's a Small World ride - and it felt like there were twice as many as the one at Disneyland in California - so I went a little nuts taking pictures. One thing I like was it felt like they switch the song up more adding effects or bits of other songs that fit the area or the movie the characters were. For example you would hear a lit bit of "A whole new world" while near the Aladdin character mixed in with the Small World song. My favorite though was that when they went past Ariel they muffled the song so it sounded like you were listening underwater - I thought it was a neat touch.

Very cool - sounds like I'd enjoy that version.

All I can say is that I loved this ride! I've now ridden the version here, in Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World and this is my favorite! You sit 2 x 2 like in California but it has more of the ups and downs and little hills like in Walt Disney World. It also plays cool music through speakers behind your head and has same projection mapping on the ceiling and some glowing asteroids and stuff ... just a really fun ride!

Okay, this one sounds great too. Love the little hills and the 2x2 and music sounds great.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Catching up also. It is so fun to see how much alike HKDL is to DL, and yet just enough different to feel exotic.
Mystic Manor looks so cool! It does look worth a trip to see it! The ticket price is pretty good. How are hotel prices there?
Toy Story land looks so fun! Looks like they did a great job with this park.

 

[afwdwfan]

It was still raining a little so he needed an umbrella on the way out and back:

Cool! I can't say that I've ever seen Mickey carry an umbrella before!

My understanding is that Hong Kong Disneyland was the first to get the Disney Characters added to their It's a Small World ride - and it felt like there were twice as many as the one at Disneyland in California - so I went a little nuts taking pictures. One thing I like was it felt like they switch the song up more adding effects or bits of other songs that fit the area or the movie the characters were. For example you would hear a lit bit of "A whole new world" while near the Aladdin character mixed in with the Small World song. My favorite though was that when they went past Ariel they muffled the song so it sounded like you were listening underwater - I thought it was a neat touch.

I really like that. When we were in Disneyland, it was during the tail end of their Christmas season for the ride and I liked hearing the song broken up by jingle bells. I appreciate the song for what it is and what it means. It is classic Disney. But on a loop for 15 minutes it just gets to be a bit much. I think breaking it up a little bit is a welcome change of pace.

Maybe it is just because they aren't in the version at Walt Disney World but between here and in California I really liked the addition of the character to this ride.

All I can say is that I loved this ride! I've now ridden the version here, in Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World and this is my favorite! You sit 2 x 2 like in California but it has more of the ups and downs and little hills like in Walt Disney World. It also plays cool music through speakers behind your head and has same projection mapping on the ceiling and some glowing asteroids and stuff ... just a really fun ride!

Cool! I'm glad you enjoyed it!