Crowd Calendar??

[dishubby74]

Has anyone found a Crowd Calendar for Disneyland Hong Kong?

Doing research to figure out best time of year to visit, crowd level wise, and see if it will work with making a stop in at another park. I know Saturdays/weekends are typically the busy times for the park but I can't find any info on what the crowds look like for specific months or special events.

If anyone knows a resource or has any info on this I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[zanzibar138]

Unfortunately there's not much info around on HKDL. As far as I know, there is nothing like a crowd calendar or anything.

If you really want to avoid crowds, I would just look up all the holidays in HK and China and avoid going around those times. I know that Chinese New Year is always packed, which is typically mid-late Feb. I don't know specific dates or any other holidays off the top of my head. We've been a couple of times in early March, and have always had great weather and low crowds

 

[tdsbu]

HK public holidays would be one place to start:

http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/holiday/

They will generally align with China PRC public holidays.

Also, take a look at blackout days on the silver (most common) annual pass ... these will generally align with high-traffic days for PRC visitors:

http://secure.cdn1.wdpromedia.com/m...m/images/hkdl-magic-access-block-out-2015.pdf

The park will typically be even more dependent on the school calendars than US parks ... with one caveat: Saturdays and Sundays can sometimes be relatively less busy because most annual passholders are not able to enter the park on most Saturdays and Sundays.

But for the most part, during the week, Tuesday-Thursday are usually the least busy days.

For a good month to visit, try November for the combination of relatively light crowds and decent weather.

 

[amyren]

Looking for opinions on travel dates.
Unfortunately we're tied to DD's school calendar so we don't have many choices.

We're considering either Thanksgiving week (but not sure I can swing the time off since we're planning a DL trip in Sept).
The week between Christmas & New Year which appear to be very busy but would be wonderful because DD could celebrate her 8th birthday in Hong Kong and would allow us a little more travel time since she doesn't have to be back to school until Jan 5.
Or February (2016) which seems like forever away!!
We're eager to go as after Sept we will have seen every other castle
We'd do a week trip including travel days. Ideally 3 nights at Disney and 2-3 nights in Hong Kong.

Thoughts?

 

[tdsbu]

November 2015 would the obvious choice if you can swing it. Weather will be great, crowds will be relatively light, flight and hotel costs should be reasonable.
Last two weeks of December will be very busy. Note the linked annual pass calendar on previous post; the blackout days for annual pass holders generally correspond to a sharp increase in Mainland and other visitors to the park (ie, from outside HK).
Avoid February 2016 at all costs; CNY is near the beginning of the month, and it probably won't ease up until Feb 24th or 25th.

 

[zanzibar138]

I agree with the PP. November would be my choice to get away from the Thanksgiving crowds!

If that can't happen, you'll have a choice between two quite crowded times. Disney is always great for Christmas, especially if your DD's birthday falls during that time. On the other hand, HKDL is currently the only Disney park where you can celebrate Chinese New Year. I would be tempted to go then (if your other option is another busy time, which it is) just to experience something different.

Just putting it out there, if you're trying to visit all the Disney parks worldwide, have you considered waiting until later in 2016 and combining it with a trip to the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland?

 

[amyren]

November 2015 would the obvious choice if you can swing it. Weather will be great, crowds will be relatively light, flight and hotel costs should be reasonable.
Last two weeks of December will be very busy. Note the linked annual pass calendar on previous post; the blackout days for annual pass holders generally correspond to a sharp increase in Mainland and other visitors to the park (ie, from outside HK).
Avoid February 2016 at all costs; CNY is near the beginning of the month, and it probably won't ease up until Feb 24th or 25th.

Yes Nov would be my first choice BUT considering we're doing DL at the end of Sept and 2 weeks in Europe over the summer DH is hesitant. He'd like to space the trips out a bit more. He's self employed so he has a point... Of course he'd take off a few days for Thanksgiving anyway so.... maybe?
Yikes! I didn't realize CNY was like a month long celebration. I believe next year it falls on 2/8 and DD's week off is the following week 2/15-19 but I'm guessing the celebrations will still be going on.
If you had to pick between Dec & Feb which would you choose?

I agree with the PP. November would be my choice to get away from the Thanksgiving crowds!

If that can't happen, you'll have a choice between two quite crowded times. Disney is always great for Christmas, especially if your DD's birthday falls during that time. On the other hand, HKDL is currently the only Disney park where you can celebrate Chinese New Year. I would be tempted to go then (if your other option is another busy time, which it is) just to experience something different.

Just putting it out there, if you're trying to visit all the Disney parks worldwide, have you considered waiting until later in 2016 and combining it with a trip to the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland?

It would be really cool to experience CNY in Hong Kong!
I've definitely thought about combining the Hong Kong & Shanghai but we'd probably have to stretch it into at least a 2 week trip which means we could only do it in the summer... plus for some reason I feel like I want my youngest to be older before we go to mainland China. I think my hubby would prefer to combine the two as he's talked about traveling to China several times.

Lots to consider!! Thanks for the advice

 

[phkc070408]

We're going to be in Hong Kong in mid September and we have a choice of going to Disney on Wednesday/Thursday, Thursday/Friday, or Friday/Saturday. We want to make two days of it. We prefer to do Disney at the end of our vacations (we leave on a Sunday), but I'm wondering how busy it gets on a Friday and Saturday compared to the middle of the week for this time of year.

I see that most Saturdays in September are a Silver Blackout day. While I assume this is due to weekends having more traffic, would the lack of silvers offset the weekend travelers?

Also, are dedicated silver weekends days to avoid? Is this a day reserved for silver members, or is this for everyone including silver members?

Thank's all!!!

 

[tdsbu]

We're going to be in Hong Kong in mid September and we have a choice of going to Disney on Wednesday/Thursday, Thursday/Friday, or Friday/Saturday. We want to make two days of it. We prefer to do Disney at the end of our vacations (we leave on a Sunday), but I'm wondering how busy it gets on a Friday and Saturday compared to the middle of the week for this time of year.

I see that most Saturdays in September are a Silver Blackout day. While I assume this is due to weekends having more traffic, would the lack of silvers offset the weekend travelers?

Also, are dedicated silver weekends days to avoid? Is this a day reserved for silver members, or is this for everyone including silver members?

Thank's all!!!

It's nice you have the choice; Wed-Thurs would almost certainly be the best bet. Also, you may benefit from the fact that HK has seen a slight relief in the growth of tourists from the Mainland, so this is easing congestion at Disney, especially during non-holiday periods.

That said, because roughly three-quarters of tourists to HK are from the Mainland, the general rule for staying sane and trying to avoid lines and crowds at HKDL is to avoid days when Mainland visitors will be most likely to visit. Presuming you're referring to Sep 16-20, there may be slightly more visitors the longer you wait as the mid-autumn festival approaches (Sep 27-28) and some PRCers take the week before off of work and travel; the week of Sep 14 is a good week to visit, since a lot of people from the Mainland visiting Disney in September will come during the holiday instead of the week before. So it would be best to visit further away from Sep 26-28. Also, during the week, there are generally more Mainland visitors on Saturday/Sunday; in addition, Monday and Friday have holdovers (going into the weekend and coming out of the weekend).

The lack of silvers generally does not fully offset the naturally heavier crowds on Saturday/Sunday; those days are still busy. We have experienced some Mondays that are more busy than a typical Saturday, but that's generally during the summer.

Silver weekends are busy because of the influx of local residents visiting the same days as the Mainland visitors. To answer your question, those weekends allow access to all magic access cardholders (not dedicated exclusively to silver holders).

Enjoy your trip to HK!

 

[automaticsoap]

Another question about crowds -- I might be in Hong Kong from September 3-7 this year. I'd like to visit HKDL for one day, but I don't want it to be my first day (which is a Thursday). Which of the remaining days (Friday through Monday) would be best for low crowds?

Thanks!

 

[BagOLaughs]

I've got a question too, if you don't mind.

Would the 1st two weeks of October be OK do you think? Tuesday & Wednesday park tickets?

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

The first week of October is a holiday here in China- I live in Beijing - the 1st-3rd being National Holiday - with most people taking off the whole week.

That said I have never really experienced huge crowds at HKDL though I thought the summer was busy. I chose to go to Paris for Chinese New Year - just wanted a break from the crowds but I am sure it is very festive at HKDL. I went the beginning of December once and loved it - very low crowds.

 

[phkc070408]

the week of Sep 14 is a good week to visit, since a lot of people from the Mainland visiting Disney in September will come during the holiday instead of the week before.

I think we'll be there on Friday and Saturday, the 11th and 12th. That is our target date anyway. We won't know for sure for another month or so.

 

[SSOASS]

Any thoughts on April 23rd (Saturday) .. it is the only day I can possibly go, so I am stuck with whatever the crowds are. Trying to get an idea what to expect. I do not see a holiday around then.