China Trip Report 2014

[Cousin Orville]

There must be a party in It’s a Small World

Talk about some lesser known references - Clopin. I was impressed Gavin knew what movie this was from.

Their version of Push

The Jungle Cruise with Trazan’s treehouse behind it. One of the few rides we didn’t do. Too hot for that.

Another lesser known reference

 

[Cousin Orville]

Day 12 continued

Russia

Morocco

Egypt

Sadly the Paddy Wagon was out of service

 

[Cousin Orville]

Gavin unsure about the amuse bouche - ended up liking it

view from our table

Tempura Shrimp

Ravioli

Sorry I ate the John Dory too fast…. no pic

On Avenue of the Stars

 

[DisFan10]

Great photos, Cousin Orville!

I know that condition you described well. The "AbD post-trip depression" followed by the "AbD post-trip withdrawal". It's an addiction, really... The only known remedy is to book another AbD as soon as possible! Which I see you've done already. Just what the doctor ordered.

I'm surprised that none of your fellow Adventurers stayed any extra days in Hong Kong. There's so much to see and do and eat!

It looks like you enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at HKDL. You can't tell from the pics that it was that hot and humid...

That Disneyland train is awewome! I think WDW should do something similar with their WDW buses.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Did you go to Toy Storyland?

Jungle Cruise is unique there ... there are 3 lines ... one for Catonese, one for Mandarin and the other one for English. The English one is usually the shortest and unfortunately, the untrained Chinese Disney fan, hops into it without realizing you really need to understand the language in this ride. LOL I remember being on it and seeing a few blank stares at the really bad jokes.

 

[Cousin Orville]

It looks like you enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at HKDL. You can't tell from the pics that it was that hot and humid...

On the train going back to the hotel. That's the sweaty and tired thumbs up

 

[Cousin Orville]

I'm surprised that none of your fellow Adventurers stayed any extra days in Hong Kong. There's so much to see and do and eat!

One other family stayed as well for 5 days. This was the first ABD that we stayed for post days. Because it ended in Hong Kong, I think it was a good idea. It gave us some more time in HK Disneyland which we both enjoyed and more time walking around the city.

This was the first ABD we had stayed for post days after the trip, but I think it's helpful here in Hong Kong due to the limited ABD touring time in the trip. ABD excels at taking you to the small towns or more out of the way cities and coordinating transportation and activities. It's not quite as good at the big cities at the beginning or end of a trip. For example, we didn't see much of Paris where the France ABD ends. Also, we didn't see much of Saigon where the SE Asia ABD begins. That's fine with me though, because you have the option of making the total trip longer if you want by adding the pre or post days.

For my trip next year, they only stop in Sydney for a couple of days, but it's in the middle of the trip. So I'm trying to decide if it's worth flying to Sydney before or after the trip and for how long. Logistically that's not quite as easy as say just staying at the same hotel in Hong Kong.

 

[DisFan10]

On the train going back to the hotel. That's the sweaty and tired thumbs up

Very cute... LOL

 

[DisFan10]

One other family stayed as well for 5 days. This was the first ABD that we stayed for post days. Because it ended in Hong Kong, I think it was a good idea. It gave us some more time in HK Disneyland which we both enjoyed and more time walking around the city.

This was the first ABD we had stayed for post days after the trip, but I think it's helpful here in Hong Kong due to the limited ABD touring time in the trip. ABD excels at taking you to the small towns or more out of the way cities and coordinating transportation and activities. It's not quite as good at the big cities at the beginning or end of a trip. For example, we didn't see much of Paris where the France ABD ends. Also, we didn't see much of Saigon where the SE Asia ABD begins. That's fine with me though, because you have the option of making the total trip longer if you want by adding the pre or post days.

For my trip next year, they only stop in Sydney for a couple of days, but it's in the middle of the trip. So I'm trying to decide if it's worth flying to Sydney before or after the trip and for how long. Logistically that's not quite as easy as say just staying at the same hotel in Hong Kong.

I totally agree with your reasoning. We've always done pre-days and I think we've done post-days on about half of our trips.

Are you planning to fit Melbourne in somewhere during the trip?

 

[Cousin Orville]

Are you planning to fit Melbourne in somewhere during the trip?

Haven't really thought about it. Should I?

 

[pixiepirate]

Cousin Orville, really enjoying your trip report. I'm looking forward to hearing about your Australia trip as we have just booked the Oct 2015 tour. How did you go about booking your private tour in Beijing?

 

[Cousin Orville]

Cousin Orville, really enjoying your trip report. I'm looking forward to hearing about your Australia trip as we have just booked the Oct 2015 tour. How did you go about booking your private tour in Beijing?

I found her on trip advisor. Her name is Jessie. She was great.

 

[DisFan10]

Haven't really thought about it. Should I?

I think you should. You're already Down Under and it's a great city for foodies. When Anthony Bourdain was there, he famously declared, "I'd rather eat in Melbourne than Paris".

http://www.visitmelbourne.com/

 

[Cousin Orville]

I think you should. You're already Down Under and it's a great city for foodies. When Anthony Bourdain was there, he famously declared, "I'd rather eat in Melbourne than Paris".

http://www.visitmelbourne.com/

Thanks! I'll look at that.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Postday 1 Hong Kong

We had a very similar routine today. We slept in again, went down for breakfast, and talked about what we wanted to do today. Gavin wanted to go back to Disneyland again. I figured he would which is why I gambled on the 2 day tickets yesterday. So now that we’re subway pros in Hong Kong we headed down with no problem and arrived shortly after 10am opening. I know I’ve posted a ridiculous number of pictures of the parks already so I’ll throw in just a few selected pictures this time.

We went straight to Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point and spent about 2 hours going back and forth between our favorite rides and lands. For lunch we went over to the Disneyland Hotel and ate at Walt’s cafe. It was ok. Nothing life changing. Gavin didn’t like his meal and the manager noticed and offered to make him anything. Gavin asked for spaghetti and the manager very nicely obliged. The spaghetti was a hit. We walked around the inside of the resort a bit and went back to the shuttle bus to go back to the park. There was a teenage boy in a wheelchair in front of us in line to the bus. Dad had to help him out of the wheel chair and onto the bus. The bus was not an easy entry style like in WDW. It’s a coach with one narrow entrance and stairs. I felt bad for them. After they struggled up into the bus, dad had to come back down to fold up the wheelchair and place it under the bus. I wonder why Disney doesn't have anything more accommodating for it’s shuttle bus. Hong Kong itself has more busses than you can believe. They’re all over the place and many are easy entry/no stairs. I don’t know why Disney can’t fix this obvious problem.

We returned to the park entrance but went straight to the train and headed back to Kowloon. We went back to our normal subway station, but instead of going to our hotel we went to the Hong Kong History Museum. A nice indoor air conditioned activity. It had high ratings on trip advisor, and it turned out to be a great museum. It went through the entire history of HK from the ancient dynasties to the British occupation through WWII and the return to China. There were lots of recreated scenes you could walk through such as a fishing village, a pre WWII city street in HK, a 1930’s home, 1950s shops, and many many more. It was really cool.

After the museum we rested at resort. Then for dinner we went over to Nathan Road to walk around. Nathan road is known for its big neon signs advertising businesses and restaurants. They're everywhere. Gavin found a spaghetti restaurant he wanted to go to. It was upstairs and you couldn’t see inside from the street. I was very skeptical, but decided to give it a try. It was packed inside. Lots of locals.. Or at least I think they were locals. The food was very good. Gavin and I shared a large pizza.

We walked around a bit more. We went into the Peninsula which is very close to the Shangri La. The Peninsula is a beautiful hotel. Prettier than even the Shanghai version. I’m very jealous of those taking next years tour! You're in for a treat.

We headed back to the hotel. Gavin wanted to make sure we got to bed early so we’d wake up on time for the flight home tomorrow. He went to bed while I worked on my trip reports and packed up everything. Our suitcases are now packed full of dirty clothes and souvenirs. The sign of a wonderful trip

 

[Cousin Orville]

A reconstructed 1950’s tea house. Looks like a 1950’s American soda fountain… except for the tea

Lots of couples getting their pictures taken by the harbor

Valet at the Peninsula

 

[tgeorge]

Cousin Orville....I agree with DisFan10. You should definitely think about Melbourne. My graduate school PI is from Melbourne and we have friends from Melbourne. It sounds like a great location and a place you guys would probably really enjoy

 

[DisFan10]

Another great installment and photos, Cousin Orville!

It looks like you had a full day of fun activities. Did you miss having the Adventure Guides around to handle all the logistics?

The Hong Kong History Museum looks like a very interesting place to visit. Where was that display of Transformers Pandas located?

I like that pic of Gavin duplicating the Bayon Temple face-to-face. Was that near the Jungle Cruise?

The Peninsula Hong Kong looks beautiful. Were those the hotel's Rolls Royces?

 

[sayhello]

Kevin, thanks *so* much for an amazing trip report! You can never post too many pictures, especially of a Disney Park I haven't been to! It looks like you two really had a fabulous adventure, and I have seriously placed this on the top of my list for 2016.

Please, when you get the chance, put a link to this fabulous report on the Trip Report Sticky!

Sayhello

 

[distravel]

Cousin Orville....I agree with DisFan10. You should definitely think about Melbourne. My graduate school PI is from Melbourne and we have friends from Melbourne. It sounds like a great location and a place you guys would probably really enjoy

Cousin Orville,

We went on the Australia ABD in 2011 before the change in itinerary that includes Tasmania. The trip was fantastic!! We went to Melbourne and Kangaroo Island on our own after the ABD ended. The highlight of the Melbourne leg of our trip was a tour to Phillips Island to watch the penguins return from the ocean at dusk and scurry across the beach to their nests. If you do decide to go to Melbourne this would be a great side trip.

Kangaroo Island is a great place to see kangaroos, koalas, seal lions & seals in the "wild". The scenery there is beautiful. Tasmania probably includes a lot of nature and local animals similar to Kangaroo Island.

Thanks for the wonderful trip report on China.

Kathy