Here is an update on what we are doing.
Our plan is to fly into Hong Kong Wednesday before thanksgiving. Our flight lands early on Wednesday and we will go straight to our Disney hotel, leaning towards Explores Lodge, and then to the parks. Spend the night in the Disney hotel, check out Thursday and leave our bags at the hotel and spend the day in the park. Thursday evening, head to Kowloon to see the harbor light show. My son has found an Ibis hotel he wants to stay at in north point on Hong Kong Island.
Friday morning, check out Victoria Peak. Our flight leaves for Tokyo at 2 ish, so we would head to the airport in plenty of time.
Does that sound like a do-able time line? I'm hoping that we will miss the protests since we wont be there over the weekend.
I also have a few general questions.... do most places in Hong Kong take regular US Visa or MasterCard? We had one issue on our trip to Paris where we didn't have a credit card that had a pin....we were trying to purchase train tickets from a kiosk machine and we did not have a pin that was required.
Also, I'm not sure how much HK dollars to bring...if we are able to use our cards most places.
Any advise is most welcome.
Beckysc,
I would say your Disney end sound manageable, but you may have to think about switching Victoria Peak to Thursday - which would mean a very crowded schedule.
Let's work backwards on your Friday. You said your Tokyo flight leaves at 2ish (pm). Because of the "civic activity" (the powers that be have a lot of puzzling ways of referring to at times violent demonstrations, this was one I heard a month ago while in Hong Kong), airlines recommend that you try to get to the airport three hours before your flight, which in your case would mean 11 am. That, in turn, would mean leaving downtown Hong Kong about 10 am. Taking the tram up to (and down from) The Peak, including buying the ticket, hiking a block up to where the tram leaves, riding the tram, then climbing several flights up from the tram terminal at The Peak to the lookout level, taking a few photos, and then the whole thing in reverse, would probably require two hours in all - meaning that you will be running yourself ragged, even with a very early start.
I would strongly recommend visiting The Peak on Thursday afternoon. (You can do Hong Kong
Disneyland Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning; crowds have been fairly thin recently, and most rides have been walk-ons.) You might even think of trading your anticipated harbor light show for watching the sun set over Hong Kong from the vantage point of The Peak, and admiring the view at evening time. It is quite a sight.
As for arriving in Hong Kong Wednesday morning and heading out for the park, you are the best judge on how well you do with jet lag. As long as you can sleep on the plane, jet lag isn't generally that much of a problem when you have a west-bound flight. The park does close already at 7:30, so you could probably keep going until then, and then sleep soundly that night - to get up for a late breakfast, check out and get to the park gates before rope drop at 10:30.
You are right that the demonstrations have so far been mostly on the weekends. Hope things stay relatively calm for you on Thanksgiving.
Yes, Visa and in particular MasterCard are relatively widely accepted. You can use the ATMs at the Disney hotels and the park to take out a small sum of Hong Kong dollars.
