HKDL as part of our Honeymoon in 2018 - booking help

[loladelorean]

Hello!

I live in Scotland, and I'm a regular over on the Disneyland Paris forum (as you can see from my signature). I was also lucky enough to visit Tokyo DR when on holiday in Japan last year.
Like many of us here on these boards, I have ambitions of visiting all the Disney parks! This is not a passion that my dearest fiance shares, unfortunately, but he has been to Disneyland Paris with me once and enjoyed himself well enough!

We get married in May next year, and even though we've got almost all the wedding planning still to do, I'm already more interested in the honeymoon. We are both agreed that we want to go to Vietnam - BUT to a Disney nutter like me, this presents an opportunity to visit Hong Kong and spend a couple of days in Disneyland.

I thought it would be really hard to convince my other half, but it turns out he's keen to visit Hong Kong city so he didn't put up a fight. His dad is a retired pilot who has always said Hong Kong is his favourite city. So right now, the potential plan is to spend 3 nights in HK city, 2 nights in Disneyland, then go on to Vietnam for a fortnight. It's a lot, but hey, you only get one honeymoon.

It seems that it's not possible to check hotel prices for May 2018 yet - is that right?

My questions:

• How far in advance can you book resort hotels? Since it's our honeymoon, I want to stay in the Disneyland Hotel.
• Are park tickets included with the hotel package?
• Will 2 days in the park be enough to see and do most things? (to be honest, 2 days will probably reach my fiance's tolerance level.....or my husband, as he'll be by then. Weird.)
• How easy is it to get to and from Hong Kong city centre?

I get the sense that I'm waaaaaaay too early for HKDL planning, but I can't help myself!

 

[Agent 86]

I can only answer the last two questions.

Two days should be plenty. HK Disneyland is relatively small and relatively quiet.

It's very easy to get into HK centre by train, which is very close to Disneyland and probably a 10 minute walk from the hotels.

 

[netimka]

for prices for May 2018, you will have probably wait till December or so, unfortunately HKDL is not good with advance planing... but to give you an idea just have a look at the prices for this May and I would add 10% and you should be fine with this for next year... just try no to be around 1st and 22st of May in 2018 and you will be in low season and if you stay during week, you will do most of the thing few times (unless you will get lots of rain but still park is not so big so you will be fine)

some offers got already park tickets included and if not you can just add them during the booking process

it is very easy to get to city and you will have a chance to ride on Mickey train as well just have a look what you want to do and see in HK and if you got any question we will try to help... also what is worth to know that if you plan on visiting Big Buddha is worth to do it from Disneyland as its on the same island...when we went first time we just went to see Big Buddha on our check out day at Disney, left luggage at the hotel went to see BB and then come back for our suitcases and move to hotel in town in the evening...

hth

 

[zanzibar138]

We went to Vietnam and Hong Kong on our honeymoon! Feel free to check out the link in my sig.

* HK really isn't a destination you need to plan for in advance. You can't book until a couple of months out, but you shouldn't have any trouble getting the room you want at the Disneyland Hotel - they won't book out.
* HK sometimes have package deals on offer including park tickets. You need to work out the maths to see which way of booking will be the best value for you. It's also worth considering getting a silver annual pass if you'll be there for 2 days, as the saving on the room cost alone may cover the extra cost of the pass.
* 2 days is plenty of time in the park. It is only one small park, and you won't have long waits for any attractions.
* It's very easy to get between HKDL and the city centre on the train. I recommend choosing a city hotel very close to a train station for convenience.

Hope that helps!

 

[loladelorean]

I can only answer the last two questions.

Two days should be plenty. HK Disneyland is relatively small and relatively quiet.

It's very easy to get into HK centre by train, which is very close to Disneyland and probably a 10 minute walk from the hotels.

Thanks, both of these things are really good to hear! Sounds like it will be a more chilled out experience than visiting Tokyo, which was incredible but sooo busy.

for prices for May 2018, you will have probably wait till December or so, unfortunately HKDL is not good with advance planing... but to give you an idea just have a look at the prices for this May and I would add 10% and you should be fine with this for next year... just try no to be around 1st and 22st of May in 2018 and you will be in low season and if you stay during week, you will do most of the thing few times (unless you will get lots of rain but still park is not so big so you will be fine)

some offers got already park tickets included and if not you can just add them during the booking process

it is very easy to get to city and you will have a chance to ride on Mickey train as well just have a look what you want to do and see in HK and if you got any question we will try to help... also what is worth to know that if you plan on visiting Big Buddha is worth to do it from Disneyland as its on the same island...when we went first time we just went to see Big Buddha on our check out day at Disney, left luggage at the hotel went to see BB and then come back for our suitcases and move to hotel in town in the evening...

hth

December is OK, thank you for letting me know this, it's super helpful to have an idea of when we will be able to book. I'll do that with this year's May prices! being Scottish, we are used to rain so we would just carry on - I've had great days at Disneyland Paris in torrential rainstorms!
Thanks, we're excited to visit Hong Kong as well. I have a friend here in Scotland who lived in HK for ten years so she is going to help us a bit too (but she never went to DL - unbelievable to me!!) Definitely want to see Big Buddha!

We went to Vietnam and Hong Kong on our honeymoon! Feel free to check out the link in my sig.

* HK really isn't a destination you need to plan for in advance. You can't book until a couple of months out, but you shouldn't have any trouble getting the room you want at the Disneyland Hotel - they won't book out.
* HK sometimes have package deals on offer including park tickets. You need to work out the maths to see which way of booking will be the best value for you. It's also worth considering getting a silver annual pass if you'll be there for 2 days, as the saving on the room cost alone may cover the extra cost of the pass.
* 2 days is plenty of time in the park. It is only one small park, and you won't have long waits for any attractions.
* It's very easy to get between HKDL and the city centre on the train. I recommend choosing a city hotel very close to a train station for convenience.

Hope that helps!

Oo, I'll definitely check out your TR!
It's a relief to hear from a few of you that we don't need to worry about the hotel being unavailable, and also that two days gives plenty of time. Feeling even more excited now that my plan feels achievable.

Thank you all so much!

 

[victoriabell]

Last time when I was in Hong Kong I fell in love with HK Disneyland. I had been planning my trip for 3 months, before I visited this place. And I suggest to book hotel beforehand, but don't forget to book tickets too. You can do it here https://www.iflyfirstclass.com/city/to-hong-kong-hkg. Also, I want to say that you won't have any problems with transport. Trains depart every few minutes daily, from early in the morning until late at night. And I think that in order to visit HK Disneyland two days will be enough.
Hong Kong is an extraordinary destination for your vacation. The Symphony of Lights laser and music show brilliantly plays on 44 of Hong Kong's most interesting buildings, heralding the start of the evening's dynamic nightlife at dozens of colorful downtown discos and nightclubs. Incredible views of the bustling city and the evening light shows are best seen from Victoria Peak. Take the Peak Tram funicular railway up the steep incline for unbeatable panoramic views of the sprawling city, intensely blue harbor and lush Lamma Island.
Have a good time!

 

[zanzibar138]

Having just got back from HKDL, I feel that I must update my recommendation. HKDL is really increasing its offerings these days, and you may find that 2 days is a little rushed. I was there for 2 days and one night, and I didn't get to do/see everything.

Our visit coincided with the beginning of HKDL's new springtime event. This seemed to be very popular and I would say will definitely be happening again next year. I would expect it to last into May. The park is presented for the season with springtime decorations all over, including the character Easter Egg decorations hidden throughout, which are great fun to hunt for as you go. Other major offerings for this year's springtime season are a special parade (in addition to their regular parades), and characters dressed in special springtime outfits. The characters are very popular - one morning we went straight to Mickey and Minnie at rope drop, and the wait time was already an hour. The other characters aren't quite as time consuming, but you will still generally wait longer for a character than you will for most rides. For some characters, the line was closed off before the they actually came out (special Beauty and the Beast meet, Duffy and Gelatoni). They didn't close the line off for Mickey and Minnie - they were just on constant rotation throughout the day. The parade was very cute and definitely worth catching at least once. We saw it on each of our full days.

With the addition of the springtime parade, there were 2 day time parades and one night time parade on offer. We didn't need to invest much time into staking out a spot for the day time parades - 10-15 minutes seemed to be enough time to get a great spot right on the kerb by the castle. The night time parade needed a little more advanced planning - that was more like 20-30 minutes required for the same spot. To get your choice of viewing location for the fireworks, you really need to go straight there after the night time parade. The park closes with the fireworks, so you're basically through with your park time as soon as you start staking out your spot for the night time parade. The best viewing spots for the fireworks are right in front of the castle. Everyone in that section is required to sit down for the show, so you won't be risking any tall people or kids on shoulders blocking your view, and can see the projections nice and clearly. I recommend taking something soft to sit on!

The shows in the park are very popular, especially Mickey and the Wondrous Book. People were being turned away up to 45 minutes before the show started. I recommend allowing an hour to line up for this one. It is well worth it. The Lion King show is less intense, but I would still recommend getting there 20-30 prior to show time. For this reason, it is difficult to do all the parades and shows in one day.

Most of the rides had fairly short wait times during our visit, so were relatively easy to fit around the shows, parades and characters, which honestly ate up the majority of our time. I'd say I spent less than a quarter of my time on rides. The rides you want to prioritise are Grizzly Mountain, Mystic Manor and Hyperspace Mountain. All three are walk ons at many points in the day. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed Iron Man, not being a Marvel fan. This has the longest wait time at the moment, but it may have died down by the time you visit. As a hotel guest, you will receive a priority pass for one of several rides in the park. We chose to use this on Iron Man. Although it's not a ride, the Fairytale Forest was very cute and well worth exploring. We spent probably 20 minutes in there on two separate occasions. In my opinion, the other attractions are nice to do if you have time. In our time there, I also managed It's a Small World, the teacups, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I rode my three favourites several times each though.

The other thing that took up a fair chunk of my time was a Pin Trading event that happened to coincide with our visit. For me it was worth it as I got a couple of very nice exclusive pins out of it. I'm guessing it will be on at a similar time next year so probably won't be an issue for you. If you're into pins though, keep in mind that plenty of the CMs have a good selection. I got quite a few great pins by trading with CMs.

In summary, things that will take up the majority of your time are shows/parades, characters, and photography. If you're not so much into those things, then two days should still give you plenty of time. If you are into any/all of those things, just be aware that you may be a little rushed and will need to prioritise and plan your show schedule carefully.

I hope that helps with your planning!

 

[loladelorean]

Having just got back from HKDL, I feel that I must update my recommendation. HKDL is really increasing its offerings these days, and you may find that 2 days is a little rushed. I was there for 2 days and one night, and I didn't get to do/see everything.

Our visit coincided with the beginning of HKDL's new springtime event. This seemed to be very popular and I would say will definitely be happening again next year. I would expect it to last into May. The park is presented for the season with springtime decorations all over, including the character Easter Egg decorations hidden throughout, which are great fun to hunt for as you go. Other major offerings for this year's springtime season are a special parade (in addition to their regular parades), and characters dressed in special springtime outfits. The characters are very popular - one morning we went straight to Mickey and Minnie at rope drop, and the wait time was already an hour. The other characters aren't quite as time consuming, but you will still generally wait longer for a character than you will for most rides. For some characters, the line was closed off before the they actually came out (special Beauty and the Beast meet, Duffy and Gelatoni). They didn't close the line off for Mickey and Minnie - they were just on constant rotation throughout the day. The parade was very cute and definitely worth catching at least once. We saw it on each of our full days.

With the addition of the springtime parade, there were 2 day time parades and one night time parade on offer. We didn't need to invest much time into staking out a spot for the day time parades - 10-15 minutes seemed to be enough time to get a great spot right on the kerb by the castle. The night time parade needed a little more advanced planning - that was more like 20-30 minutes required for the same spot. To get your choice of viewing location for the fireworks, you really need to go straight there after the night time parade. The park closes with the fireworks, so you're basically through with your park time as soon as you start staking out your spot for the night time parade. The best viewing spots for the fireworks are right in front of the castle. Everyone in that section is required to sit down for the show, so you won't be risking any tall people or kids on shoulders blocking your view, and can see the projections nice and clearly. I recommend taking something soft to sit on!

The shows in the park are very popular, especially Mickey and the Wondrous Book. People were being turned away up to 45 minutes before the show started. I recommend allowing an hour to line up for this one. It is well worth it. The Lion King show is less intense, but I would still recommend getting there 20-30 prior to show time. For this reason, it is difficult to do all the parades and shows in one day.

Most of the rides had fairly short wait times during our visit, so were relatively easy to fit around the shows, parades and characters, which honestly ate up the majority of our time. I'd say I spent less than a quarter of my time on rides. The rides you want to prioritise are Grizzly Mountain, Mystic Manor and Hyperspace Mountain. All three are walk ons at many points in the day. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed Iron Man, not being a Marvel fan. This has the longest wait time at the moment, but it may have died down by the time you visit. As a hotel guest, you will receive a priority pass for one of several rides in the park. We chose to use this on Iron Man. Although it's not a ride, the Fairytale Forest was very cute and well worth exploring. We spent probably 20 minutes in there on two separate occasions. In my opinion, the other attractions are nice to do if you have time. In our time there, I also managed It's a Small World, the teacups, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I rode my three favourites several times each though.

The other thing that took up a fair chunk of my time was a Pin Trading event that happened to coincide with our visit. For me it was worth it as I got a couple of very nice exclusive pins out of it. I'm guessing it will be on at a similar time next year so probably won't be an issue for you. If you're into pins though, keep in mind that plenty of the CMs have a good selection. I got quite a few great pins by trading with CMs.

In summary, things that will take up the majority of your time are shows/parades, characters, and photography. If you're not so much into those things, then two days should still give you plenty of time. If you are into any/all of those things, just be aware that you may be a little rushed and will need to prioritise and plan your show schedule carefully.

I hope that helps with your planning!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this detailed and really helpful response. It has been very useful in getting me thinking about what our priorities will be on this trip - being there with my DH will be very different from my usual Disneyland Paris trips which tend to be with female family members (sister, mum, cousin) who are all as intense about the Disney experience as I am.
My fiance is NOT a big Disney fan! We have so far spent just one day in Disneyland Paris together, which was wonderful, but he was very clear that he wasn't into the characters or parades, and didn't understand the appeal. He loves thrill rides and I'm sure would also enjoy good shows especially the Lion King.
For my part, I always love to see parades so I will definitely make sure to catch these but I am happy to compromise when it comes to meeting characters, and just leave this out of the equation altogether. We will be prioritising doing as many rides as possible, pretty much! So it sounds like 2 days should be OK after all. There may be points when I am left to watch a parade alone while my DH goes off to find a rollercoaster....I'm ok with that! I'm just glad he's agreed to include Disneyland in our Honeymoon.
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip and managed to fit lots of things in. We're still working out exact dates and the order of things for our Honeymoon, it's possible we'll be there in early June rather than May which will probably mean the Springtime stuff has finished. Sounds lovely though.

 

[zanzibar138]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this detailed and really helpful response. It has been very useful in getting me thinking about what our priorities will be on this trip - being there with my DH will be very different from my usual Disneyland Paris trips which tend to be with female family members (sister, mum, cousin) who are all as intense about the Disney experience as I am.
My fiance is NOT a big Disney fan! We have so far spent just one day in Disneyland Paris together, which was wonderful, but he was very clear that he wasn't into the characters or parades, and didn't understand the appeal. He loves thrill rides and I'm sure would also enjoy good shows especially the Lion King.
For my part, I always love to see parades so I will definitely make sure to catch these but I am happy to compromise when it comes to meeting characters, and just leave this out of the equation altogether. We will be prioritising doing as many rides as possible, pretty much! So it sounds like 2 days should be OK after all. There may be points when I am left to watch a parade alone while my DH goes off to find a rollercoaster....I'm ok with that! I'm just glad he's agreed to include Disneyland in our Honeymoon.
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip and managed to fit lots of things in. We're still working out exact dates and the order of things for our Honeymoon, it's possible we'll be there in early June rather than May which will probably mean the Springtime stuff has finished. Sounds lovely though.

No problem at all. Sounds like 2 days should be a good amount of time for you then.

I just want to point out that HKDL is pretty lacking in thrill rides, so your DH may be disappointed there. In my opinion, their Space Mountain is the best of that version (nice and dark, smooth, and now has the Star Wars overlay), but is still pretty tame compared to Paris's version. The Grizzly Mountain rollercoaster is similar to Big Thunder - fun, but not really 'thrilling'. The only other coaster style ride they have is the RC coaster, which I think you have in Paris too. All the other rides are gentle family rides - some are pretty good (Mystic Manor for example), but not thrilling.

 

[loladelorean]

Thanks everybody for your help. An update - we changed our plans because my soon-to-be in-laws decided they're going to move out to Singapore for a while in 2019. This provides a great opportunity to visit Asia (including HK and Disneyland) whilst they're out there, and we've booked a honeymoon in Jamaica instead. We're now looking at a couple of days in Disneyland HK in February 2019 so I'm sure I'll be back soon for planning....once the wedding and honeymoon are out of the way!