HK Castle Completion

[wendyt_ca]

We are planning on going to Asia next year to cross the final 3 Disney parks there off our list.
We are between April and October. But I would prefer April because I would love to try to see the cherry blossoms in Japan!
I was excited when I saw that the new Beauty and the Beast ride will be open and for some reason I thought the castle transformation was almost complete. However when looking for information on this it seems to be summer(however those are all older updates).Has there been any word on a sooner time frame on this?
I am a little nervous going with everything going on over there but I think we are still going to go and just only spend 2 days in Hong Kong.

 

[doombuggy]

It's the last one I haven't been to and I am headed there November 1. It was my understanding that the castle isn't going to be done until sometime later next year.

 

[wendyt_ca]

It was saying summer. But I saw pictures on Facebook and it looks like it’s almost done.

 

[pogo791]

We are planning on going to Asia next year to cross the final 3 Disney parks there off our list.
We are between April and October. But I would prefer April because I would love to try to see the cherry blossoms in Japan!
I was excited when I saw that the new Beauty and the Beast ride will be open and for some reason I thought the castle transformation was almost complete. However when looking for information on this it seems to be summer(however those are all older updates).Has there been any word on a sooner time frame on this?
I am a little nervous going with everything going on over there but I think we are still going to go and just only spend 2 days in Hong Kong.

You will love all three Asian Disney parks! You need one, perhaps two days for Shanghai, one day for Hong Kong, but at least two, preferably more days for the two parks in Tokyo.
There are two reasons for penciling in more days for Tokyo.
First, while the Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneylands tend to have the same attractions as elsewhere (although both parks have stellar upgrades of some of the old reliables, and both have a few unique attractions), especially Tokyo DisneySea has a number of great attractions not found anywhere else.
The second reason is the crowd pattern. The crowds are manageable at Shanghai and Hong Kong, but can be overwhelming in Tokyo. Yes, the Japanese are extremely polite and will not push or try to cut in line (never!), but there will be many of them, and they come well prepared. Especially during cherry blossom time, there will be hundreds lined up at the gates to the two parks at opening, and each and everyone of them will know exactly where they want to go, and will make a bee-line to (1) the FastPass stations and then (2) the stand-by line of the popular attraction that they are most interested in. Through the day, thousands more will be streaming in, leading to stand-by waits of up to two hours, if not more.
Sorry I don't have an update on the completion of the Castle upgrade at HK Disneyland. Like Wendyt_ca, I also remember reading that the target date is summer 2020. And yes, when I was there at the end of September it looked fairly advanced, so keep your fingers crossed.
As for seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan, the peak in Tokyo would be about the end of March through to the second week of April. However, please bear in mind that next year, especially with the upcoming Olympics, Japan is expecting a record number of visitors. The cherry blossom season is especially popular, and some hotels are already fully booked! Since you say you are thinking of a time between April and October, you might have to consider times other than cherry blossom season. (Personally, I love the way the maple trees look in the autumn in Japan.) However, the Olympics themselves are the last week of July and the first week of August, and those weeks will really be horrendous when it comes to tourist crunches.

 

[wendyt_ca]

You will love all three Asian Disney parks! You need one, perhaps two days for Shanghai, one day for Hong Kong, but at least two, preferably more days for the two parks in Tokyo.
There are two reasons for penciling in more days for Tokyo.
First, while the Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneylands tend to have the same attractions as elsewhere (although both parks have stellar upgrades of some of the old reliables, and both have a few unique attractions), especially Tokyo DisneySea has a number of great attractions not found anywhere else.
The second reason is the crowd pattern. The crowds are manageable at Shanghai and Hong Kong, but can be overwhelming in Tokyo. Yes, the Japanese are extremely polite and will not push or try to cut in line (never!), but there will be many of them, and they come well prepared. Especially during cherry blossom time, there will be hundreds lined up at the gates to the two parks at opening, and each and everyone of them will know exactly where they want to go, and will make a bee-line to (1) the FastPass stations and then (2) the stand-by line of the popular attraction that they are most interested in. Through the day, thousands more will be streaming in, leading to stand-by waits of up to two hours, if not more.
Sorry I don't have an update on the completion of the Castle upgrade at HK Disneyland. Like Wendyt_ca, I also remember reading that the target date is summer 2020. And yes, when I was there at the end of September it looked fairly advanced, so keep your fingers crossed.
As for seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan, the peak in Tokyo would be about the end of March through to the second week of April. However, please bear in mind that next year, especially with the upcoming Olympics, Japan is expecting a record number of visitors. The cherry blossom season is especially popular, and some hotels are already fully booked! Since you say you are thinking of a time between April and October, you might have to consider times other than cherry blossom season. (Personally, I love the way the maple trees look in the autumn in Japan.) However, the Olympics themselves are the last week of July and the first week of August, and those weeks will really be horrendous when it comes to tourist crunches.

I'm super excited to finally cross them off the list!!!! I just need to decide if I should do late April or the fall around Oct...The castle construction is what's giving me the debate on when.
We plan on going for about 2 weeks. My current plan mirrors what you just said. Arrival day in Hong Kong basically a write off to adjust. 1 dayat HK DL and one day in HK. Then fly 2 Shanghai. Do a day and a half at the park then a day in Shanghai. Fly to Tokyo. Then have 3-4 days at Tokyo Disney and 3-4 days around Japan .
That's ok I appreciate the tips! I am going to try to keep the park days away from the weekend when possible as well. Other than Hong Kong would likely be a Sunday to try to help with crowds. I have to decide soon as probably next month or early December is when my husband needs to book his vacation time. And once that is done I have to go on and book! I read parts of Japan have cherry blossoms until about May so I would travel to see them as I know they likely won't be in Tokyo anymore. We definitely won't be doing the summer. It would be either late April or mid October. I just can't decide which!

 

[Karin1984]

Just to mention, I did a similar trip in about 2, 2,5 weeks. All the flying around is exhausting! Take time to relax!
I would go April, cherry blossoms, better weather and with Halloween the parks in Japan are busy. Oh, and stay away from Golden Week in Japan.

 

[wendyt_ca]

Just to mention, I did a similar trip in about 2, 2,5 weeks. All the flying around is exhausting! Take time to relax!
I would go April, cherry blossoms, better weather and with Halloween the parks in Japan are busy. Oh, and stay away from Golden Week in Japan.

Oh yes I have read to avoid that week so we absolutely will!!
I don't mind the flying around. We like to be on the go lol. Last year we did 2.5 weeks in Paris, London and Italy plus a Mediterranean cruise. So we had lots of flights and trains around and we didn't mind. I plan to have our travel days fairly open though so we can just do what we feel like on those days.