Hong Kong Disneyland

[Tanzanite]

Hi thank you for sharing it looks loveley going to paris Disney this summer then Hong kong Disney only park not been to maybe in next two years will go .Did you see lots of charactors?

 

[steve76]

Hi thank you for sharing it looks loveley going to paris Disney this summer then Hong kong Disney only park not been to maybe in next two years will go .Did you see lots of charactors?

I didn't really go out of my way to find the characters, but I saw Mickey and Minnie, Woody, Goofy, Pluto, an Aristocat, Pooh, Alice and a couple of Pirates. There's a dedicated area in Fantasyland called Fantasy Gardens for meeting some of the characters - I'll put details in Part Three of my review which I'll post shortly.

 

[Tanzanite]

Thank you my kids love the charactors.

 

[steve76]

Part Three - Thursday, 7th May 2009

Finally, the day was here. I had spent nearly a week in Hong Kong and had saved my last full day for Disneyland. I got the tram from my hotel on Hong Kong Island to the subway station. I took the subway to Disneyland, changing lines at Central and Sunny Bay. The journey from Central takes around half an hour.

I arrived at the Resort at about 9.30 in the morning. The park opened officially at 10.30 but the cast members had told me the previous day that would start to let people in at 10am, so I still had a little bit of time to kill.

So, I walked down the promenade to the ferry dock. Currently there are no ferries to Disneyland, but they built the dock anyway. I had a quick look around – it is complete and ready to go. I imagine that at some stage the number of visitors will justify them running a ferry service. I hope so, as the ferry would be a spectacular way to arrive at Disneyland. From the ferry dock you can get excellent views of the Disneyland Hotel, Discovery Bay, and (in the distance) Hong Kong itself.

Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel from the ferry dock.

This photo shows the view looking East from the ferry dock. It’s a bit difficult to see, but the skyscrapers in the centre of the picture are those of the Western end of Hong Kong Island; the buildings on the left are of Kowloon across the harbour.

I slowly wandered back up the promenade, pausing again to watch the fountain. A couple of minutes before 10am I headed to the turnstiles to wait for opening. There was a small crowd, maybe 10 people queuing at each turnstile. Finally, they let us in. I picked up a guide map and times guide in English and headed under the train station.

In town square, Mickey and Minnie were greeting guests in the bandstand; there were only a couple of people waiting so I joined them and had some photos taken. Unfortunately they don’t have the Photopass system at HKDL (yet), but they had Disney photographers with all of the characters. I also saw the photographers at one point in front of the castle; there may have been more but I didn’t notice them. Once they have taken your photograph they give you a ticket – you can then view and purchase your photos at the photo shop on Main Street. The photos cost HK$100 and HK$120 (about US$13-15) depending on whether they are landscape or portrait. However, all of the photographers were more than happy to take photos with my own camera – something that I was very grateful for as this was a solo visit.

I made my way down Main Street towards the castle. Main Street is shorter and on a smaller scale than the Magic Kingdom. However, it is beautiful, and instantly familiar from photos of Disneyland in California. I believe that it is more or less a replica of the Anaheim version; certainly a lot of the buildings are the same. There are no horse-drawn vehicles in this version of Main Street, and no tracks in the street, though there were a couple of vehicles (the omnibus for example) at Town Square.

One thing that I really liked about Main Street is that it looked as it was supposed to look when it was designed. And by that I mean that it wasn’t covered in banners and decorations with ‘Celebrate Today’ or ‘Year of a Million Dreams’ or whatever the current marketing promotion happens to be. They did have a promotion – ‘Who’s Your VIP?’ but the decorations were discreet and limited to the bandstand in Town Square and outside of the gates. They didn’t allow it to interfere with the theming, which I really liked.

The Castle at Hong Kong belongs to Sleeping Beauty, and is a replica of the California version. It is small, but looks particularly attractive with the mountains behind it. Also, one advantage of having a smaller castle is that it doesn’t tower over Main Street. I always thought that it was slightly strange at the Magic Kingdom that you have a turn-of-the century American street, with a fairytale European castle at the end of it. They seem to go to great lengths everywhere else in the park to minimise thematic contradictions, but not on Main Street. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the Castle is certainly there, and it still draws you down Main Street, but it doesn't seem to dominate the landscape as much (if anything does, it’s the mountains in the background).

I had breakfast at the Main Street Bakery (a banana nut muffin) and got a locker, then made my way down to the hub to watch the Disneyland Band perform prior to opening. There was a small crowd watching the band and waiting for rope drop, but at rope drop the crowd quickly disappeared. After rope-drop I made my way to tomorrowland.

People I had spoken to had said that the longest queues in the park were for Autopia, so that’s where I headed first. The ride is located almost entirely on the other side of the train tracks. The queue for this ride is huge and they obviously have long queues sometimes. I walked straight on with no wait. When you finally reach the boarding station, the line splits into three, one for each track. At this stage of the morning, only one (the right-hand track) was open. This track is the longest of the three, and at one point you cross under the Train Tracks and then go over the heads of the people in Tomorrowland. The tracks merge and split, and pass some well-landscaped areas, with topiaries and great views of Space Mountain. I have never had any desire to ride the speedway at Magic Kingdom, but this was a fun little ride. When I returned to the station, the cast member motioned that I could go round again if I wanted to, as there was still no queue – so I did.

View of Autopia from the queue.

Autopia track passing over Tomorrowland.

Having ticked that ride off the list, I headed over to Space Mountain. I was keeping an eye on the crowds, to see if I needed to start getting Fastpasses, but so far there were very few people about. As I entered the ride, the cast member told me ‘This is a rollercoaster’ and handed me a leaflet with the safety warnings on. I suppose many guests would be unfamiliar with Disney and so would not necessarily know what the ride is. I walked straight onto the ride, with no wait. The ride is, I understand, the same as the Disneyland version, with riders sat side-by-side and with a soundtrack. Wow. This ride is amazing – so much fun. It’s amazing what a difference the soundtrack makes and how fast the ride seems. I immediately went straight back on – again, with no queue.

As I left Space Mountain through the gift shop, a Cast Member holding a Stitch plush tried his hand at ventriloquism by having Stitch say goodbye and wave at me. This really made me laugh. In general the cast members here were really great – polite and helpful, in character, and they really seemed to ‘get it’. This was a nice surprise, since I figured that most of them would have grown up without Disney or Disneyland and so would not necessarily ‘get it’.

Next, I headed to Buzz Lightyear – no wait. An enjoyable ride, it is essentially the same as the Magic Kingdom version, with the laser guns being handheld rather than fixed on the vehicle. As I exited the vehicle, there was a cast member disinfecting each vehicle (the joystick and gun handles). I also noticed them do this at Space Mountain and It’s a Small World. At most of the attractions, there were also hand gel dispensers outside the entrance and exits, which was handy. I’m not sure whether this was routine, or due to the Swine Flu scare, but was nice to see.

I headed from Tomorrowland towards Fantasyland, passing Stitch Encounter. Stitch is located in the same building as Space Mountain, tucked away a little bit around a corner. This is an interactive show along the lines of Turtle Talk at Epcot. They do the show in different languages at set times throughout the day, but the times are not listed on the Times Guide – you have to go to the attraction itself to find out. The screen said that the shows in English were from 2-3pm and 7-8pm. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the show did not return to see it.

Tomorrowland is the smallest of the lands at HKDL, and the theming of it is minimal at best. It’s fine, just unimaginative and not particularly inspired. I still don’t really understand how Autopia really fits in with the Tomorrowland theme. In the centre of the land is Orbitron, a hub-and-spoke type attraction, and on either side are two large eateries which take up an awful lot of real estate. The way the land is laid out, I don’t see any obvious space for any new attractions, except possibly on the other side of the train line, with access through a narrow corridor next to Autopia.

I headed over to Fantasyland. There is a very wide path that separates Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, which runs from the hub to the backstage areas, and which is used for the Parade. There is nothing really going on along this path, and no real theming, but there was Woody doing a meet and greet.

In Fantasyland, I headed for It’s a Small World. You have to walk under the train tracks to get to it. The facade is impressive, and the boats are loaded from inside the attraction like the Magic Kingdom version. Not only did I walk straight on to the ride, but I had my own boat, and literally did not see a single other person on the ride or in the queue (this was at about 11.30am). Imagine that happening at the Magic Kingdom! It was actually a little weird. But still, IASW was great. It may be my imagination but I thought that there was more going on in this version than the Florida version (more scenery and more dolls).

Fighting through the crowds to get to It’s a Small World.

Quiet in the back!

Hong Kong’s version of IASW has the Disney characters in it, like the new version at Disneyland. I liked it – all of the characters were in the same style as the dolls and really blended in quite nicely. The only exception to this was the Little Mermaid, who has her own little scene at the start of the ‘Islands’ section which didn’t seem to mesh with the rest of the ride. But, otherwise, excellent.

Next, I headed to Fantasy Gardens. This area is set back from the main Fantasyland thoroughfare, housing a number of character meet-and-greet areas. You enter from one point, and follow a set path which winds around gardens, topiaries and streams, passing a number of pagodas, each with a character. It’s a really nice area and a nice way to meet the characters. When I visited, there was an Aristocat (I think that’s what it was!), Winnie the Pooh, Mickey, Pluto and Goofy. I walked past a few times during the day but it was always the same group of characters. I met Mickey, Pluto and Goofy, waiting only a couple of moments for Pluto and Goofy, and without waiting at all for Mickey. There were only a couple of groups in Fantasy Gardens and so all of the characters were able to spend a fair amount of time with each group.

(I’m the one on the left)

At one point later in the day, Alice appeared by the Teacups. The queue to meet her was quite large, maybe 20 people deep, yet the characters in Fantasia Gardens were standing around waiting for visitors. It seemed that many guests did not realise that the characters were there. Or maybe Alice is just really popular in Hong Kong!

Next, I did the Winnie the Pooh ride. Once again (and by now you should be spotting a theme), I walked straight on, with literally no-one waiting. As far as I can tell, it was exactly the same as its Florida counterpart. This ride is not exactly a ‘must-do’ for me in Florida, but when you don’t have to wait for it, and it’s only 3 minutes out of your schedule, it’s an enjoyable ride. The ride always makes me laugh when it starts bouncing!

I grabbed some lunch at Clopin’s Festival of Food in Fantasyland. The menu was Chinese food ‘from the China’s Great Northwest’, and had separate counters depending on whether you wanted barbecue, wok-fried or noodles. I had the barbecued Pork and rice, which was fine, but not exceptional. In general, from what I saw of the food available in the park, it was mostly Chinese and Asian food, with only a few ‘western dishes’.

Rush hour in Fantasyland.

Fantasyland is similar to the Magic Kingdom version, but more spread out and with more greenery. There are quite a lot of areas which are just gardens, filled with flowers and topiaries, though I suspect that these are just placeholders for future attractions. The mountains are right behind Fantasyland which gives it a unique look.

By now it was about 12.20 so I headed over to the ‘Golden Mickeys’ Theatre to catch the first show of the day at 12.40. Amazingly, the theatre was nearly full by the time the show started – I had no idea where all the people had come from. Apparently the show is a cut-down version of the show from Disney Cruise Line– an awards show where ‘Golden Mickeys’ are awarded for various categories, such as romance and adventure. It’s basically a couple of minutes of dialogue between the host (Bebe) and Mickey or Minnie, followed by a song from a Disney movie, repeated for each category. The staging is quite impressive. It’s a very enjoyable show, though not one I feel I need to see again anytime soon. All of the dialogue is in Chinese, but a screen to the right of the stage shows English subtitles. The songs are all sung in English, with Chinese subtitles on a screen to the left of the screen.

I was planning to catch the 2pm showing of Festival of the Lion King, so my plan was to catch the train to Main Street, then walk to Adventureland. Though there was only a very short wait for the train to arrive, we were sat for a very long time on the train waiting for it to leave. I don’t know what the delay was, but a few people on the train gave up waiting and got off. There are only two stations – Fantasyland and Main Street. The seats on the train are in two rows, running along the length of the carriage, looking inwards towards the centre of the park. The windows at the back, looking outwards, are blocked by shutters. The back row is raised so that everyone gets a good view, but unfortunately there is not very much to look at (though in fairness I only did the Fantasyland-Main Street side of the route). It’s a shame that you can only see inwards, as already a lot of the park (It’s a Small World, Autopia) is outside of the berm, and as the park expands I would think this would be increasingly the case.

I walked back up Main Street, had a quick look at Snow White's grotto next to the Castle, and then went through to Adventureland.

I arrived at the Festival of the Lion King show in good time. They let you into the theatre about 5 minutes prior to the start of the show, and everyone gets seated very quickly, which is better than in Florida. The theatre and the show is similar to the Florida version, with a few differences: the stage raises and rotates throughout the show, there are no tumble monkeys, and the story is different. All in all, I thought that this wasn’t as good as the Florida version, though still enjoyable. The show is in English, but there are two monkeys who translate into Chinese. However, from what I could tell, they were only translating the narrator’s part, so I would think that it would be difficult to follow the show if you don’t speak English. This time, the theatre was maybe a third to a half full.

After the show I headed to the Jungle River Cruise. The big difference here is that when you enter the queue, it splits into three, one for each language. Announcements tell you that the queue time is the same for all languages – they dispatch boats in different languages depending on the length of each queue. They also warn you that you may get wet. I had to wait around ten minutes for this ride – not because the queue was long, but because it was very slow loading. There seemed to be only about three or four boats in circulation, meaning that after one boat left, there was a few minutes’ wait before the next one arrived. Also, the fact that there were three different languages used meant that they didn’t necessarily fill up each boat before it was sent off.

The Jungle River Cruise is slightly different to the Florida version. The route takes you around an island with Tarzan’s Treehouse on it, so when you first leave the dock, the river is wide, with guests watching from several points on the ‘shore’ and on the island, and with the rafts to the island crossing the river in front of you. As you pass by the tree-house you start to leave civilisation, the river narrows and you enter the depths of the jungle. Many of the scenes are familiar from the Florida version. The Piranha attack was a very good effect which certainly surprised the people in my boat!

When you eventually emerge from the depths of the jungle, you can see people again on the river bank and the docks up ahead. But suddenly a geyser erupts in front of you and you take a sharp turn right behind some rocks. There, your boat stops and a scene unfolds involving fire and a lot of water, whilst your boat shakes from side to side. This scene is not entirely unlike Catastrophe Canyon, on a smaller scale. Finally, you emerge from the smoke and return to the dock.

The first time I rode this, I was sat on the left-hand side of the boat, and got a light spray from the final scene. The second time, I rode on the right-hand side, and got wet. Not soaked, but if you’re sat on that side you will definitely need to protect your camera.

My intrepid skipper, Ricky, was excellent. He really got into the part, interacted with the guests, was very funny and spoke very clearly. As far as I can recall, there were no puns, probably due to the fact that many of people in the boat spoke English as a second or third language. My skipper later in the day (I have forgotten her name) was fine but not as good as Ricky.

Overall, I really liked this version of the Jungle Cruise.

Next, I headed for the rafts to the Treehouse. However, the cast member there told me that the tree house had ‘broken down’ and was not currently open. He said that I could do the raft ride, but that it would be a round trip and I would not be allowed to get off on the island. I politely declined and said I’d call back later. I went to look at the Riverview Terrance restaurant, but the cast member there told me that it was closed all day. So, I headed back to Tomorrowland for another two rides on Space Mountain (no wait), Autopia (about 10 minutes), Buzz Lightyear (no wait), and Space Mountain two more times (no wait).

Next, I headed down Main Street, this time taking my time and looking in the shops. In Town Square is the ‘Art of Animation’ exhibition. This is really just one room, with some pictures and a couple of models. A nice diversion but not really an attraction. However, they did have a Toy Story Zoetrope which was amazing – a series of small models on a turntable, which, when spun and illuminated by a strobe light, came to life in a way which is amazing to see and difficult to describe! (There is a video from the version in California Adventure on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrIgwSxZDcc; however, it really does not do it justice). I spent a couple of minutes watching this.

By this time I was getting hungry again and I decided to eat at the Main Street Corner Cafe. I had the two-course set meal of Spaghetti Bolognese and Cheesecake. It was a very nice meal; I was sat in the conservatory section with a view of the hub outside, which was very pleasant. From memory I think it cost HK$120 (USD15) which I thought was reasonable.

After the meal I went to the tip board to ask if the Treehouse was open. It was, so I headed over. You have to take the rafts to the tree house. When you reach the island, you follow a path past waterfalls and an animatronic baby elephant to the Treehouse. The Treehouse is similar to the one in Florida – a series of stairs, bridges and platforms, with props and scenes which tell the story of Tarzan. What sets this apart from the Florida version is that at several points in the trip you are afforded some spectacular views. You can see a large section of the jungle cruise (including the dock and the final scene); the mountains in the background provide a spectacular setting which really fits in with the ‘adventure’ theme. You can see Tomorrowland, with Space Mountain and the mountains behind. In the other direction, you can see the Hollywood Hotel and Disneyland Hotel. And, far off in the distance, you can see Hong Kong – it sounds weird to say it, but I think I had actually forgotten where I was, so this was particularly exciting! I thought that this was a really charming little attraction, which I really enjoyed. I think that this was in large part due to the setting, on its own island, and surrounding by jungle and mountains.

Adventureland is by far the largest of the lands at HKDL, even though it only has 4 attractions (Jungle Cruise, Rafts, Treehouse, and Festival of the Lion King). It is easily the best themed and, I think, most successful part of the park. Adventureland takes up all of the left-hand side of the park, from Fantasyland right round to Main Street (Festival of the Lion King Theatre is just tucked behind Main Street). If they ever decide to build a Frontierland, or any other land, then there isn’t really anywhere for it to go where it can connect to the hub. However, there is plenty of room behind Adventureland, and there is a path that goes under the train tracks, but is closed off. If they build new lands at HKDL then the layout will have to be substantially different to other parks. My feeling is that they will build a Pirates-themed area, which will fit in with the Adventureland theme but have its own dedicated part of Adventureland.

After the Treehouse, I returned to the Jungle Cruise for another ride. The wait was about ten minutes again, but there was only one other party on the boat. I sat on the right for a better view of the final scene but this time got wet. Afterwards, I walked through to Fantasyland. By now it was starting to get dark and the park was even emptier than before. I rode on Dumbo (I would never normally dream of riding on Dumbo, but there was literally no-one waiting) and did Pooh again (no wait). Then I returned to Space Mountain for a few more rides (I actually lost count of the number of times I rode this – it never gets old) and had a wander around the now-lit-up Main Street.

By now it was nearly time for the 8pm fireworks. I went and picked up my bag from my locker, bought some photos from the Photo Shop on Main Street, and wandered through some of the shops. I watched the fireworks from halfway down Main Street. The fireworks were spectacular. I then headed out of the Park to get the train back to Hong Kong.

Now I love Space Mountain, especially the Hong Kong version. But for me, the most exciting ride of the day was the riding back to the hotel, through the streets of Hong Kong at night from the top deck of the tram. Sometimes Disney just cannot compete with reality!

The fourth and final part will follow shortly, so stay tuned...

 

[steve76]

Part Four – Summary

I love this park and I had a fantastic time. The park and resort area are beautiful and well-planned. The setting, surrounded by mountains and on the South China Sea is incredible and unique amongst Disney parks, yet it’s only half an hour from the incredible city of Hong Kong.

The reason that I could not find much information on the internet to help me plan my visit was because practically no planning is required. The longest I waited all day was about ten minutes for the Jungle Cruise and Autopia; most rides (including Space Mountain) were walk-ons all day. I didn’t use Fastpass as it just wasn’t necessary. The one time that I tried to use the Single Rider line (for Space Mountain), it just fed into the regular line and I had a car all to myself anyway. You don’t need reservations in the restaurant as you’ll probably have the place to yourself. There’s no Dining Plan, and no Park Hopper. No need to think about minimising walking as the park is so small you’re never far away from anything. The only planning you need to do is work out at what times you are going to see the shows, and get yourself there with five minutes to spare.

I had a really great day, however I think that in large part this was due to the fact that I almost had the park to myself and rarely had to wait for anything. I think that if the crowds had been like the Magic Kingdom, then it would have been a different experience – I probably wouldn’t have bothered with some of the smaller rides, and I would have been a bit more critical of the number of ‘big’ rides and rides which are unique to Hong Kong.

Having the park almost to myself was fantastic. However, I do hope that they start to increase their visitor numbers so that the park is successful and can expand into a large multi-park resort.

I was pleased to see that, despite the lack of crowds, the park appeared to be fully staffed and with everything open (except for the Riverview Terrace restaurant). It must be tempting for management to close many of the restaurants during the week and cut back on the number of cast members, but I’m pleased to say that (from what I could tell) they hadn’t. There were many, many cast members in the restaurants, shops and attractions, and there were quite a few characters around the park (Woody, Alice, Merlin, some Pirates, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Aristocat, and Pooh).

I did several rides multiple times, but did not do Stitch Encounter, Orbitron, the Carousel, Philharmagic, the Tea Cups, or see the Parade. I still filled a whole day (10 hours) with only a couple of short breaks. I do think that this is a whole-day park, unless you are only interested in the headliners (Space Mountain and, er, Jungle Cruise). This is partly because there are two shows which take up a fair chunk of time each. However because of its size and the fact that many of the attractions could be considered as fairly minor, you could spend just an afternoon here and go away happy.

The park is small, with nowhere near as many attractions as the other Magic Kingdom parks. I imagine that this would be a surprise to the casual visitor, who would walk into the park and then be disappointed when they couldn’t find Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion. I can imagine people arriving without doing any research and then feeling a little short-changed; I think that this is why HKDL gets such a bad press sometimes. But if you accept that and get over it, then it is a great little park. And after all, Disneyland in California was a little park with very few attractions when it opened all those years ago.

I didn’t actually miss any of the ‘classic’ attractions. I hope that if they do build these, then they add a different twist to them rather than just building a carbon copy. One of the reasons I loved the Jungle River Cruise is that it was a little bit different to the other versions. However I would be just as happy if they were to build some new attractions which were unique to Hong Kong. How about some new ‘classics’?

In summary, the park is definitely the baby of the Disney family, but it’s beautiful and I think it has the potential to be a really great park. I’m really excited to see how this park grows and develops over the next few years. It’s not yet a park that most people would come all the way to Hong Kong to visit on its own, but if you combine it with a trip to Hong Kong itself then this definitely deserves a little bit of time out of your schedule.

I hope that people enjoyed the review. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.

Postscript 1

The park is very close to the airport. If you sit on the right-hand side of the plane as you leave Hong Kong, then you get a spectacular view of the park as you ascend.

Postscript 2

As part of the same trip, I visited the Night Safari in Singapore. If anyone is ever in Singapore, then I highly recommend this. It’s basically a zoo of sorts, open only after dark, where you can watch nocturnal animals by artificial moonlight. It consists of a safari village, a tram tour past and through enclosures, a self-guided walking tour, and a show. The concept and execution struck me as very Disney-like and something that Disney would be proud of. This is what Disney’s Night Kingdom should be! I would be happy to write a mini-review if anyone is interested.

 

[Tillybud]

thank you for sharing your wonderful trip report, I'm sorry it's ended I really hope to visit the park one day as it looks truly wonderful.

I agree it must have been strange to not have the huge crowds, the queues and everything that comes with that but your photos and tr have protrayed a very charming park. It's also nice to think that visitor numbers doesn't dictate the level of service provided in terms of cm's, ,etc.

Your photos are stunning and the setting makes them rather unique. I think the castle with the mountains in the background is just breathtaking. Thank you once again

 

[gilld]

Thank you for a very descriptive report - I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

If you have time, I'd love to read about the Singapore Night Safari. My daughter did this on her Round the World trip and I would love to do it.

 

[Pegasus928]

That was a fantastically well written, descriptive and informative report with some excellent accompanying pics.
I think the castle looks spectacular against the back drop of the mountains. I also loved the fact that they were disinfecting the rides when everyone got off. I wish more places would do that then I wouldn't have to carry my own hand gel with me (I'm not OCD or anything - I just like to clean my hands regularly )

 

[Chilly]

Thanks for the wonderful report and photos.

 

[Tillybud]

That was a fantastically well written, descriptive and informative report with some excellent accompanying pics.
I think the castle looks spectacular against the back drop of the mountains. I also loved the fact that they were disinfecting the rides when everyone got off. I wish more places would do that then I wouldn't have to carry my own hand gel with me (I'm not OCD or anything - I just like to clean my hands regularly )

that's a great point, I have to admit I thought exactly the same

 

[Verity Chambers]

Thank you for taking the time to write this report, it is fantastic to hear about this park, as i know so little about it.

 

[steve76]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'd be happy to answer any more questions if anyone has any.

If you have time, I'd love to read about the Singapore Night Safari. My daughter did this on her Round the World trip and I would love to do it.

Singapore Night Safari

I had a great evening at the Singapore Night Safari. It's located right in the middle of the island, North-West of city itself. It's in a little pocket of rainforest, on an outcrop of land which sticks out into a reservoir. The website is www.nightsafari.com.sg.

I combined my visit with an afternoon at the Singapore Zoo which is next door. (By the way, I thought that the zoo was very good, but ultimately missable if you have limited time). You can get there from the city by bus, but I took the easy option and just got a taxi (which was ~20 minutes and not expensive). There are lots of tour companies that will provide return transport by coach, but they don't give you very long there so I would just recommend taking a taxi.

Once the zoo closed at 6pm I wandered over to the Night Safari. The Night Safari has four parts - a 'Village', a tram tour, walking trails, and a show. As you arrive you enter the Village. This is a nicely-themed area which you have to go through to get to the other parts. This is where you can pick up your tickets, eat and drink, and shop.

The other parts of the Safari didn't open until 7.30pm (which is just about the time it gets dark) so I had lots of time to kill. There isn't really enough to do here to kill that amount of time, unless you have a very leisurely meal. There is a buffet restaurant, which looked quite nice, but I ate at Bongo Burgers. The food was really, really good - definitely not your usual burger fayre. I sat and had a leisurely meal here - there were very few people about at this stage. Next to where I was sat, there were staff providing photo opportunities where you could hold snakes, which I watched for a while.

I had a look around the shops. There were the usual souvenir shops, plus a couple selling more expensive items like ornaments, artwork and jewellery, all vaguely African (or at least 'cultural'). I already had my tickets since I had bought a 'zoo hopper' at the zoo.

By the way, the toilets here were spectacular - kind of an inside/outside arrangement with lots of bamboo, a monsoon, fish tanks, and strange noises!

There was also a place where you could get Fish Nibble Therapy. I'm sure that it has a real name, but it's basically where you sit with your legs in a fish tank, and the fish nibble away at your dead skin on your feet. This is arranged so that you can stand and watch people do this. Quite bizarre. There are also some mini-shows, with tribal dancers every few minutes.

About about 7.15 I started queuing for the tram. The tram ride is probably the Main Event, yet for some reason it's not included in admission - you have to pay an extra SG$10 (US$7 / £4.50) on top of basic admission (SG$20 / US$15 / £10). The trams are like the ones used at the Parking lots at Disney, except you all face forward. By this stage it still wasn't quite dark so we had to wait a few minutes before departing.

The tram takes you on a tour of the jungle. The journey takes a fair amount of time (approx 45 minutes) and covers quite a lot of ground. It's very much like the Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom, in that you drive past and through enclosures. All of the enclosures are designed to look very natural, and so for the most part you cannot see exactly how the animals are kept in (moats filled with plants so that you cannot see them etc.). You also drive fairly slowly so that you get a good look at the animals. There is a guide at the front of the tram who did a really good job of pointing out the animals and giving us information on them, though his narration was quite cheesy!

The animals you see are both nocturnal and diurnal. It's a varied bunch, from tigers to flamingos, to deer and wolves, owls, zebras, hippos and a whole load that I cannot remember. At several points you actually drive through the enclosures, and the animals can come right up to the tram.

The animals are lit by a series of lights which simulate the light from a full moon. This means that it is definitely dark, but you can see the animals (though sometimes you do have to work quite hard to find them). Flash photography is strictly forbidden, and I'm pleased to say that it was enforced. (A couple of times at the start of our tram tour, they actually stopped the tram to have words with a persistent offenders!). The low light, plus the moving tram, meant that I didn't even try to take any photos. I did try later on during the walking tour, but failed miserably .

At about the halfway point, the tram briefly reaches civilisation at the East Lodge. This is basically where you can get a cold drink and use the bathroom. At this point you can get off the tram and do some of the walking trails, and then hop back on a later tram. Alternatively, you can stay on the tram - which is what I did (I did all of the trails later).

The other main part are the walking trails. There are three trails - the Fishing Cat trail, the Leopard Trail, and the Forest Giants Trails. All of these are linked by paths so you can do them all in one big circuit. Again, these are all lit by artificial moonlight, but the animals are all marked by dimly-lit information boards. The paths are all winding and varied, so it definitely feels like you are going on a 'trek' rather than just walking around a zoo. I think the way it is laid out probably makes you think you are covering more ground than you are. There's a map at http://http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/visitor/images/NSMap_Mar09_big.gif.

I started with the Fishing Cat trail, which included fishing cats, otters, barking deer, and a whole load of other animals. Then I did the Leopard Trail, which included Leopards but lots of other animals besides. This was also where the walk-though bat enclosure was - I nearly had the life scared out of me when a bat flew right for me! At this stage you get to the East Lodge. There is then a long section of the trail which includes Hyenas, Bongos, Giraffes etc. At a few points you get a glimpse of the resevoir.

(I told you the photos were bad!)

Finally, you get to the Forest Giants Trail which included, well, nothing. There were no animals here, just a long path and a large suspension bridge. This seemed very strange - a bit of an anticlimax, especially since this was listed as a 'trail' and many of the animals were on paths between the 'trails'.

There are a couple of points where the walking trails run alongside the tram route, but for the most part they are completely separate and explore different areas, so you need to do both.

I went mid-week and, whilst there was a long queue for the tram, there weren't many people on the walking trails. At several points I was the only one in sight and it really did feel as if I had trekked deep into the jungle. I can't tell you how amazing it was to watch the animals by moonlight - it really felt as if I had stumbled upon them in their natural habitat, and it felt like quite a privilege to see them.

The last part of the Night Zoo was the 'Creatures of the Night' show which I did not see, as it didn't really interest me, so I can't tell you about that.

As I returned to the village, the place was now quite busy. I got some ice cream from Ben and Jerry's (New York Super Fudge and Strawberry Cheesecake ) and stood and watched some fire dancers for a while, then went out to the taxi rank and got a taxi back to my hotel.

I really enjoyed the Night Safari and would heartily recommend it. I think this is something where it really pays to avoid the crowds and go during the week if at all possible, as it just seemed all the more exciting when I was watching the animals on my own.

The reason I mentioned this place in my original post is because I thought that this was a really high-quality product and actually very Disney-like. With the exception of the trams (I'm sure Disney would have somehow themed these - made them into jeeps, or trains or something) this could have been produced by Disney. When I think of the rumours of Disney's Night Kingdom or Jungle Trek, I wonder whether they had seen the Night Safari and were thinking along the same lines. They could do a lot worse.

 

[Cyrano]

Enjoyed the additional installments and especially the Night Time Safari park.
Thanks for sharing a wonderful trip

 

[Snowy-girls]

Oh WOW,thank you so much for your trippie .It looks fantastic,and from visiting DisneyLand myself you can see the similarities you mention.I cannot believe how empty it looked,no wonder you got so much done.
Thank you again .x.

 

[jackieleanne]

That was such a well written and wonderful report. Thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[wils]

Really interesting report - many thanks

 

[Rosie]

Thank you for the trip report and pictures.
One day I would love to visit and its fascinating to see the pictures and read about the unique features of this park.
The Singapore Night Safari is a great concept and one I would also love to experience. My family are really fussy eaters so it may have to wait until the kids holiday separately from DH and I but its definitely in my top ten future trips .

 

[Horodos]

Hong Kong Disneyland is one of the place to visit in my wishlist....
When is the best time to visit?

 

[darthtatty]

wow im glad i spotted this. My husbands always wanted to do every Disney park and next year we are visiting my brother in Australia, we were thinking of stopping at Hong Kong along the way and Doing the Disney park and staying at a Disney hotel. I think youve made our minds up for us.
Such a great report with lots of detail,useful information and loads of beautiful pictures.
The only things id like to know about is more about their disabled facilities as we have a wheelcahir user. Did you see any other wheelchair users getting on rides etc? will have to do a bit of research i think.
Thanks again.xx

 

[steve76]

Hong Kong Disneyland is one of the place to visit in my wishlist....
When is the best time to visit?

Hmm, I'm not really an expert as I've only been there once! I'm sure there are other people on the boards that can talk about when the best time to visit Hong Kong is. Personally I don't like the heat too much so would just try to avoid the Summer.

As far as crowds go, then I think just avoid the holidays to avoid most of the crowds. If possible it's probably best to avoid the weekends as most guests seem to be locals rather than holidaymakers. I've heard that the park can get quite busy at weekends (remember that there aren't that many rides to absorb the crowds).

When you buy your ticket for Disneyland, you have to choose either a 'Regular' ticket, which lets you in on 'Regular' days, or 'Special' tickets which let you in on 'Special' days. The Special days are the holidays and days of particularly high attendance. The HKDL website has a calendar which shows which day is which (click 'show ticket days' above the calendar). That's a pretty good indication of the crowd levels. (The website is a little confusing - they used to have Regular, Peak and Special days. Now they only use Peak and Special days, but the website still shows Regular days for people that have already bought their tickets on the internet.)

They do decorate the park for Chinese New Year (January or February, I think) and have special events and parades. If you're interested in seeing Disney done differently then I think this would be an amazing time to visit. However, I would expect it would be crowded.

wow im glad i spotted this. My husbands always wanted to do every Disney park and next year we are visiting my brother in Australia, we were thinking of stopping at Hong Kong along the way and Doing the Disney park and staying at a Disney hotel. I think youve made our minds up for us.
Such a great report with lots of detail,useful information and loads of beautiful pictures.
The only things id like to know about is more about their disabled facilities as we have a wheelcahir user. Did you see any other wheelchair users getting on rides etc? will have to do a bit of research i think.
Thanks again.xx

Glad you enjoyed the report! After racking my brain for a while, I do remember I did see a couple of wheelchair users at the Festival of the Lion King show in Adventureland. There were spots for their wheelchairs in the front rows, with seats next to them for the rest of the party.

Other than that, I really cannot recall seeing any other wheelchair users. However, as you saw in my report, there weren't many other people so I wouldn't read anything into it.

The Golden Mickeys theatre was entered from the back, so the wheelchair spots would have been at the back of the theatre (but there aren't really any bad seats - in fact you're probably better off further back so that you can see what's going on when the characters run around the theatre). The Main Street station had steps - I'm not sure but I would imagine there is also wheelchair access. The (real!) train station also had steps and escalators, but I'm sure that there must also have been an elevator.

Other than that, I think that everything was on the same level - I don't recall any other steps or anything - and I can't really think of any areas that wouldn't be fine. As for things like getting into and out of the ride vehicles - you would know better than me, but it shouldn't be any different than at the US parks.

I've just looked on the website and there is a section on Guests with Special Needs, and that links to a leaflet which looks like it has some good information.

Remember that the park is only a couple of years old so should be very modern in this respect, and that all of the Cast Members spoke excellent English if you ever needed help.

If you do visit, then I'd love to know how you got on.