Booked for December 2018!

[Shiella]

I emailed Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and just received a disappointing reply. There is no lugggage transfer service between the hotels. The review probably meant the luggage was being taken care of by the Bell Service while they were at the park. The email reply recommended me to bring my luggage over to Explorers Lodge early in the morning and store them at Bell Service before going to the park. In this case, I will store my luggage at HK Disneyland Hotel instead after I check out. Then go back later to retrieve the luggage before checking into Explorers Lodge after lunch hoping a room will be ready by then.

Sorry for giving you false hope!
Have fun planning!

Awww...hope it's free to keep it at Bell Service....

 

[AngelDisney]

Awww...hope it's free to keep it at Bell Service....

Yes, Bell Service is always free unless you want to tip them. For this I am sure and the email also mentioned that it’s free of charge. No worries for sure!

 

[AngelDisney]

I read another blog about a visit to Explorers Lodge and it clearly states the difference between luggage storage outside at the entrance and Bell Services inside. Bell Services provides free luggage transfer to other HKDL hotels. I finally decided to call the hotel for verification. I was told that they would transfer the luggage to the other hotels for free. Just go to their counter after checked out and let them know which hotel to send the luggage. They would write all the info on the tags for the luggage. Luggage would arrive at the other hotel after 3 pm (the CM was a bit hesitant about this). I would let front desk know about luggage to be transferred from another hotel at check-in. They may then do the transfer after check-in rather than before. I asked if the same service was available at HK Disneyland hotel and he said yes.

Twice I have experienced different responses between emails from HKDL Reservations and replies from actual Hotel CMs. It’s better to call than writing emails.

Yay! No worries about the luggage now unless the hotels change their policies.

 

[redboxcar]

The 2-Day ticket special offer is on now till the end of this year. Though it’s $10 more, you do get a free popcorn ($35) voucher. Don’t forget to register as a MyDisney Fan to get the extra $50 eVoucher. I have set up an account for both DD21 and myself to buy the tickets separately for the $50 eVoucher which is one offer per ticket purchase transaction. I know that we would have lots of souvenirs to purchase. I regret not getting the Tsum Tsum umbrella last time and hope it is still available this time.

https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/offers-discounts/2-day-fun-special-package-2018/

Edited:
Replaced previous link with the correct link to the new 2-Day ticket offer.

Thank you so much for this tip!! I didn't think of setting up separate accounts to each get the merchandise vouchers. I almost pulled the trigger, but happy I didn't do it just yet. Gonna bring back way too much Duffy merchandise, so every dollar helps. LOL.

 

[Is This Real]

We are coming in December, just for 1 day. Either Monday 17th or Wednesday 19th.

1st time at a Disney park around Christmas time, so we are looking forward to seeing the Christmas theme.

A couple of questions:
What sort of crowds should we expect?

Other than the castle, do you know of any other rides/attractions that will be closed?

Can you buy Dole Whip anywhere?

What parades/night shows will be on?

We have been to Florida, Anaheim and Paris and are looking forward to our 1st Asian park.

 

[indoshakespeare]

We are coming in December, just for 1 day. Either Monday 17th or Wednesday 19th.

1st time at a Disney park around Christmas time, so we are looking forward to seeing the Christmas theme.

A couple of questions:
What sort of crowds should we expect?

Other than the castle, do you know of any other rides/attractions that will be closed?

Can you buy Dole Whip anywhere?

What parades/night shows will be on?

We have been to Florida, Anaheim and Paris and are looking forward to our 1st Asian park.

Crowd should be low as school is still in session.

Buzz Lightyear had been closed and to be replaced by Ant-Man but I think it's been postponed to 2019. Everything else should be open.

There is no Pineapple Dole Whip, but there is a Mango one! (Mango based desserts are very popular in Hong Kong)

Parades will be on (including the night parade) but fireworks will not. There's

 

[gelatoni fan]

Crowds should be low. Maintenance related closures are unlikely during the Christmas season but private event related closures are possible. Private events are most likely to occur on Saturdays and unfortunately it is often not possible to know about these closures unless you pick up a times guide in the park during the week the event is happening.

Dole Whip is a US park exclusive food item. Contrary to some information on the internet, there is no mango whip at HKDL. There is sometimes a seasonal soft serve flavor in Toy Story Land which has been mango, apple, green tea and other flavors in the past.

For night shows, last year they had "A Magical Twilight Snowfall", the Tree Lighting Ceremony and a "secret" Christmas carols with Goofy show. There's the daytime Flights of Fantasy Parade, nighttime Paint the Night Parade and We Love Mickey nighttime projection show. Seems like a lot but most of these are mini-shows rather than nighttime spectaculars.

 

[Is This Real]

Thanks to everyone for your advice.

I booked the flights last night, so now it feels real.

 

[indoshakespeare]

Dole Whip is a US park exclusive food item. Contrary to some information on the internet, there is no mango whip at HKDL. There is sometimes a seasonal soft serve flavor in Toy Story Land which has been mango, apple, green tea and other flavors in the past.

Ah, it must be seasonal then..(or they took it out)

 

[taylor3297]

We are going to Hong Kong next April. We already booked our flights. Now I am waiting on dates to be released to book our room. My family wants to stay at the Explorers Lodge due that the hotel has queen beds. I wanted to do a Kingdom Club room at Disneyland Hotel. Anyone know when they will open up booking for next April?

 

[indoshakespeare]

We are going to Hong Kong next April. We already booked our flights. Now I am waiting on dates to be released to book our room. My family wants to stay at the Explorers Lodge due that the hotel has queen beds. I wanted to do a Kingdom Club room at Disneyland Hotel. Anyone know when they will open up booking for next April?

Should be open 1 November

 

[indoshakespeare]

I just emailed them. the mango dole whip has been discontinued

 

[indoshakespeare]

2 months away!

 

[constanze]

We just got back from Hong Kong---we did visit Disneyland for one of the days---have fun y'all!

 

[Is This Real]

2 weeks to go. Getting very excited

 

[indoshakespeare]

HK Disney website is a bit wacked. I wanted to modify my reservation. Originally I booked a room for 2 nights with a Bibbidi Bobbidi castle package and 2 day tickets. My daughter decided not to do the princess makeover so I wanted to remove the castle package from my reservation. When I booked it in June, the room price per night is 3600 HKD. If you book it now, it's 4110 HKD. I knew this but when I removed the castle package from the reservation, the page says the room price per night is stilll 3600. I thought cool, I could remove the castle package while still keeping the 3600 rate.

The screen says "Do you want to confirm this reservation?" WHILE STILL SHOWING THE ROOM RATE AS 3600. I clicked CONFIRM. At the confirmation page, suddenly the room rate on my newly confirmed reservation shows 4110 . I know the 3600 rate is not available now if you want to book a new reservation but I only modified my existing reservation and it even asked if I want to confirm the modification while still showing the 3600 rate. Unfortunately I didn't take a screen shot of that screen. I emailed them this problem and now awaiting reply.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Their communications and responsiveness leave much to be desired. We emailed them twice (once about transferring luggage between hotels, and once about how long we could have kingdom club lounge access on checkout day with a late flight). Both times we received an auto-replay: "Your request has been received and forwarded to a Specialist who will be contacting you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a magical day!"

They never replied to either one.

 

[indoshakespeare]

It's been taken care of. 13 days before we leave! only 2 more weeks (10 days) of work this year!

 

[MouseOfCards]

It's been taken care of. 13 days before we leave! only 2 more weeks (10 days) of work this year!

We just ended our trip. Most of the cast members at DL Hotel were very friendly (very well trained to smile)! Even though there were quite a lot of people in the park (though not extremely crowded), we were able to get great views of the parades just a few minutes before the starts. It was a little frustrating with food because several restaurants were closed, so had to walk further to other areas of the park.

For the Moana show, if you have small kids, make sure they volunteer for the drums. It allows child and parent to sit in the front row and they do not need to get up or go onstage. (There were lots of tired people standing in the back.)

We tried purchasing tickets and meal packages several times from the official HK Disneyland website but it never accepted our credit cards (VISA or AMEX), always giving us an error message. We ended up purchasing through Klook, which had no problems processing our payments. The person at the gate scanned our phone and gave us our park tickets and meal coupons right there.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[gelatoni fan]

It was a little frustrating with food because several restaurants were closed, so had to walk further to other areas of the park.

Yeah. There's effectively only 3 quick service and 2 table service restaurants at HKDL because the others are closed so often (Explorer's Club, Royal Banquet Hall, Starliner Diner, Corner Cafe, Plaza Inn). The other restaurants are more likely to be open for lunch on the weekends and in the summer. River View Cafe is open so little that the website just keeps it marked as closed/under refurbishment so people don't ask about it even though they completely revamped the menu in May.