Brief Recap of HKDL Visit Today

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I had a 10 hour layover in HK and decided to make the most of it with a quick visit to HKDL. Because my time was limited and I wanted to maximize it, I bought early entry and also premier access. Never even bothered to figure out how to use my premier access passes because all the lines were 5m or less. As someone who usually visits DLR and WDW this was totally mind blowing. I did the Sliding Sleighs coaster 4x and the Frozen boat ride once during the magic morning and I probably could have fit an extra pass on each in, if I hadn’t stopped to shop and face time my family. I’m a moderate Frozen fan, and the land was so charming and exceeded my expectations. Two thumbs up to the Olaf ice cream cone (but it melted super fast and quickly became a mess).

I wasn’t too interested in doing anything in Fantasyland, so I decided to head to Jungle Cruise for park open. Adventureland was roped off until park open, and then I was able to quickly get to JC—but they held the first boat while waiting for more passengers, so maybe not ideal for rope dropping. I love HKDL’s Jungle Cruise, I like the multilingual aspect and I especially love the unique ending. Our skipper was great.

From there, I planned to head to the Grizzly Mine coaster but was informed that the Grizzly Gulch area was closed until 11 (it was about 10:50, the park opened at 10:30)— a bit frustrating because I specifically checked to see what opened when a couple days earlier trying to maximize my time. I shopped a little nearby and went back to wait for my 3rd rope drop of the day. Made it to the first car of the day on Grizzly Gulch (adorable coaster and the whole land is adorable) did it a 2nd time and headed to Mystic Manor. Mystic Manor, same story, no real wait other than waiting to enter the pre-show while the prior pre-show completed. It was adorable but honestly was intense enough for me (I hate having weapons, even fake ones, pointed straight at me), so I only did it once. Then as I left I saw a cast member doing trick or treating and jumped in a short line and got a few free candies for my trouble. Side note— they have a lot of Halloween merch and some great villain decor around Adventureland— unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay late enough in the day to enjoy villains activities and I regret it.

Then I meandered over to Tomorrowland where I did the Ant-Man reskin of Buzz, the Iron Man Experience, and Hyperspace Mountain, all with less than 5m waits. Unfortunately, I got really motion sick on the Iron Man Experience (I can do all DLR and WDW rides, even mission space) so I’m baffled that Iron Man wrecked me, especially since it appears to just be star tours, which I do fine at home. Absolute tragedy to not be able to reride Hyperspace Mountain (see my handle ) when it was less than 5 min, but had to connect on another flight this evening and didn’t want to test my limits. I spent an hour shopping my way through fantasyland and Main Street and now I’m heading out again.

Oh, couple of last notes: the Halloween Parade was cute but it’s basically a cavalcade (I think the whole parade was less than 5m), a lot of the dining venues didn’t open until after 11:30, and at least one of them didn’t open at all.

I’ll try to answer questions if I can, but I’m not going to be back there anytime soon, so it will just be random luck if I remember or not.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Since most people on non-holidays have the equivalent of annual passes, rides rarely have significant waits on weekdays so the main Priority Access people buy is for Duffy and Friends Playhouse. Most visitors who buy the morning pass also use it to line up for Mickey or Minnie on Main Street before park open and Jungle Cruise would be one of the last picks of places to start.

The switch to mixing all three languages at once on Jungle Cruise actually caused huge backlash among guests because most people aren't tri-lingual so the entire atmosphere of the ride kinda died. It was basically done so they could sell Premier Access for the ride without making Premier Access guests wait specifically for a Cantonese, Mandarin or English boat.

It's quite common for Grizzly Gulch, Toy Story Land, Mystic Point and even It's a Small World to open later which is why Tomorrowland and Fantsyland are more popular places to start.

Due to the hot weather this year, the Halloween Parade has been cut short a lot. Not sure what happened on your visit but there's supposed to be a parade stop on Main Street with a dance along section. I actually didn't see the parade stop at all for the 4 days I was at HKDL this season and of the parades I did see, the costumed characters other than Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were all cut. Normally, there's also Vampirina, Sophia as well as Duffy + friends.

The fact that you're visiting during the Halloween event meant that more restaurants are actually open than usual. I wouldn't expect River View Cafe and Tahitian Terrace to be open on most weekdays outside of Halloween season.

 

[buzlite]

Was it easy to do it all in 1 day?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Was it easy to do it all in 1 day?

I would say it’s easy to do all the rides in one day (especially if you are willing to spring for priority access/ fast pass), but if you actually want to take in all the themed lands, enjoy relaxed meals, catch all the shows, and do a lot of shopping, it would require a lot of strategy, especially if you are going at a busy time.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Since most people on non-holidays have the equivalent of annual passes, rides rarely have significant waits on weekdays so the main Priority Access people buy is for Duffy and Friends Playhouse. Most visitors who buy the morning pass also use it to line up for Mickey or Minnie on Main Street before park open and Jungle Cruise would be one of the last picks of places to start.

The switch to mixing all three languages at once on Jungle Cruise actually caused huge backlash among guests because most people aren't tri-lingual so the entire atmosphere of the ride kinda died. It was basically done so they could sell Premier Access for the ride without making Premier Access guests wait specifically for a Cantonese, Mandarin or English boat.

It's quite common for Grizzly Gulch, Toy Story Land, Mystic Point and even It's a Small World to open later which is why Tomorrowland and Fantsyland are more popular places to start.

Due to the hot weather this year, the Halloween Parade has been cut short a lot. Not sure what happened on your visit but there's supposed to be a parade stop on Main Street with a dance along section. I actually didn't see the parade stop at all for the 4 days I was at HKDL this season and of the parades I did see, the costumed characters other than Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were all cut. Normally, there's also Vampirina, Sophia as well as Duffy + friends.

The fact that you're visiting during the Halloween event meant that more restaurants are actually open than usual. I wouldn't expect River View Cafe and Tahitian Terrace to be open on most weekdays outside of Halloween season.

This is all great information and possibly I should have posted here asking for morning strategies before I visited. I mostly wanted to share my experience for people who are familiar with the U.S. parks and considering visiting.

Incidentally, I speak English and a little Mandarin (my animal vocabulary is particularly strong because I learned along with my young children) but I was super frustrated that there is only one language melange option now. I actually struggled trying to get in the correct line and due to a language barrier (which I take responsibility for as a tourist to HK) I thought they were telling me there was one line for all three language options and then I tried not to get in the boat assuming they sorted me English and wanted to try mandarin and they again told me only one option. I would say it’s predominantly English with some Mandarin and Cantonese sprinkled in…but maybe they change it up based on guest demographics?

 

[gelatoni fan]

This is all great information and possibly I should have posted here asking for morning strategies before I visited. I mostly wanted to share my experience for people who are familiar with the U.S. parks and considering visiting.

Incidentally, I speak English and a little Mandarin (my animal vocabulary is particularly strong because I learned along with my young children) but I was super frustrated that there is only one language melange option now. I actually struggled trying to get in the correct line and due to a language barrier (which I take responsibility for as a tourist to HK) I thought they were telling me there was one line for all three language options and then I tried not to get in the boat assuming they sorted me English and wanted to try mandarin and they again told me only one option. I would say it’s predominantly English with some Mandarin and Cantonese sprinkled in…but maybe they change it up based on guest demographics?

I think it's more luck than intentional changing to fit demographics. They're now required to mix up all three languages at once even if the entire boat clearly would prefer it to be one specific language. A lot of people remember when it was still separated by language or see the remnants of when it had three separate lines so the cast members are quite used to people getting confused.