The facts, just the facts, ma'am 
:
The newest and smallest Disneyland opened two months ago,in Hong Kong. It's located on Lantau Island, just west of "downtown" Hong Kong (i.e. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island). The Hong Kong International Airport is on the same island, only ten minutes away. A train takes you in about tewnty minutes from the downtown area to the Disneyland Resort Station, which is only a few hundred yards away from the main entrance.
Hong Kong Disneyland consists basically of a Magic Kingdom and two hotels, an upscale Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel (400 rooms and a Victorian theme) and a somewhat more basic Disney's Hollywood Hotel (600 rooms and, well, a Hollywood theme).
The Magic Kingdom itself is rather small by Disney theme park standards. Main Street, U.S.A. has the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad (which makes only one other stop, at Fantasyland), three Main Street vehicles, the "Disneyland Story" (basically just pictures and videos showing "how Mickey Mouse Came to Hong Kong") and the usual Cty Hall. The rest of the street is filled by the Plaza Inn Restaurant, the Main Street Cafe, a bakery and five shops.
Adventureland offers "Festival of the Lion King", Tarzan's Treehouse and the Jungle River Cruise. There are two restaurants (Tahitian Terrace and River View Cafe), one shop and one water spray area, next to a spot where a group gives drum performances.
Fantasyland has a rather small Sleeping Beauty Castle, as well as several tried-and-true Disney staples: Mickey's PhilharMagic, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Cinderella's Carousel, the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Snow White Grotto. (Close your eyes and the experience on any of these could be in, for example, Orlando.) The photo-opportunity-with-Mickey (and Winnie the Pooh) stop is a somewhat Chinese "Fantasy Gardens." The two restarurants are the Royal Banquet Hall (which, however, is not in the castle) and Clopin's Festival of Foods. Three shops round out the scene.
Tomorrowland is still pretty compact: Space Mountain, Orbitron and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters offer their normal attractions. An Autopia is being constructed, due to open up next summer. There are two restaurants (Comet Cafe and Starliner Diner), and two shops.
So what's new, what's different?
Having now been on just about all the rides, and eaten my way through just about all the restaurants (no, I didn't have to open the belt another notch), I'd say that there are three main differences: the end of the Jungle Cruise, the Lion King, and above all the restaurants.
Most of the Jungle Cruise is the same as in any of the other Disney parks. (An interesting spin is that the lines form according to language: two variants of Chinese, and English. This way, you know what language the same standard Jungle Cruise jokes will be made in - and at least in English, the jokes are exactly the same ones you'd get in Anaheim and Orlando.) The end is somewhat different: just when you are about to reach the dock, a water spout forces your quick-thinking captain to veer to starboard, where you end up next to a small volcano and geysers for a short flame-and-water show before you return to dock.
Also most of the Lion King is much the same as elsewhere, but one segment in the middle has an obviously Chinese flair to it - Chinese trapeze artists plus some Chinese hocus-pocus mixed in with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" segment was really well done.
The biggest difference - and perhaps the best part of Hong Kong Disneyland, when compared with Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo - were the restaurants. All of them featured Chinese food, and each restaurant focused on a cuisine from a different part of China - and all were absolutely delicious. (If you're not into Chinese food, don't worry - the restaurants also offer Asian food more generally, as well as so-called Western food. If you insist on your hamburger and hot dog, you can get it.)
One additional small difference was in the rope drop, which for me in any of the other Disney parks always gets my adrenaline racing. There is no rope drop in Hong Kong Disneyland; no one is allowed through the stiles until the park opens.
And what was the atmosphere like?
We were there during the week, and the first thing that struck us was how few people there were. Capacity is something like 30,000 people, and I would be surprised if there were more than a few thousand. On a separate thread, it had been noted that there had been a variety of difficulties in starting up, and this was certainly apparent. There were few lines anywhere. The Fastpass could be used for two of the attractions (Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear), but because of the short lines, it has been discontinued for the three other attractions for which it had originally been planned. For someone battle-hardened in Orlando, it didn't really seem worth the while to use Fastpass for Space Mountain, when even at peak hours the wait for single rides was five minutes ...
I'd say roughly 90 % of the guests were either from Hong Kong or from mainland China. Most of the rest were from elsewhere in the region (Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, India and so on), and the very few Anglo-Saxons that we saw were - judging from their accent - from Down Under (Australia, to you).
There was an earlier thread two weeks ago where some posters ventured rather strange opinions regarding people in Hong Kong or in China. They seemed to assume that the locals were rubes, spitting on the sidewalk, letting their toddlers take a leak on the sidewalk, and in general not knowing how to behave like decent people. (Ahem!) Having just laughed my way through the thread about gross things people have seen in WDW or Anaheim, all I can say is that Hong Kong Disneyland guests were up there with Tokyo Disneyland guests when it came to knowing how to behave. This may have something to do with the fact that the entrance fee was some 30 USD, as a result of which, by Chinese standards, all of the guests were well-to-do. My own guess, however, is that people everywhere know how to behave, especially when they are in a well-maintained area like Hong Kong Disneyland.
And the hotels?
We stayed at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel, which also has a small conference center. The rooms were rather plush and very comfortable, the grounds nicely laid out, and the hotel had a huge spa in the basement. (However, the spa had been contracted out, and the prices at least by Chinese standards were obscenely high.) The restaurant - with its character breakfast - was excellent, and, because there were few people, at times during the character breakfast it almost felt like there were more characters than guests!
Behind the hotel was a pier, from which you could catch a ferry to downtown Hong Kong.
Next door was Disney's Hollywood Hotel, which seemed to have more guests. (The lower prices may be a factor here ...) The Hollywood theme was carried through in the architecture, the lay-out of the grounds and the uniform of the staff, but for example the background music seemed to be a mix of Hollywood tunes and rythym and blues. (Which reminds me. I've always thought background music should remain in the background. At least at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, the music in the lobby was so loud, normal conversation proved to be impossible...)
An entertainment area, with some shops (such as Virgin Records) was supposed to have opened up in October, but we didn't see any signs of this.
The cast?
Disney had gone to a lot of trouble training its cast members. Like I mentioned, non-Chinese guests were in the minority, and Westerners like us were a rarity. We were always treated with great courtesy. It may be unfair, but I would say that this courtesy was not the normal Chinese courtesy, but a rather artificial attempt to mimic American down-to-earth hospitality and small-talk. Most of the cast members we ran into made a rather obvious effort to turn on the charm, and if we had to wait for even a few minutes (not unusual at any of the Disney parks anywhere in the world), we would be subjected to "Certainly, I will do this immediately I am sorry to keep you waiting Here you are Thank you very much Can I do anything else for you . . ."
Case in point: One morning I went out jogging. I was crossing an empty parking lot when I heard a loud "Hoi" behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see a Chinese cast member about twenty yards away. I kept on jogging and another "Hoi" was shot through the air. Now, I've travelled a lot in China, and I know that some Chinese can be rather meticulous about following the rules. Perhaps, by running across a parking lot, I was violating some arcane local ordinance? I turned towards him and shrugged my shoulders theatrically to show I didn't understand him. He looked puzzled, and gave another loud "Hoi". I started walking towards him, when he began to look rather alarmed. Another Chinese cast member happened to be passing him by, and the first cast member immediately turned to talk with his colleague - after which he turned to me, now about ten yards away, and tried again: "Hi!" I answered with a "Hi!" of my own, and we both proceeded on our way.
The bottom line?
Disney's first park in China (the next one may be in Shanghai, perhaps as early as 2010) is still pretty small, and shouldn't occupy you more than a day. Both of the hotels are good bases for visiting the park, but a long way from the shopping and the action in downtown Hong Kong. I'd suggest splitting your Hong Kong visit - a luxurious hotel in the city for most of your stay (I have several favorites of my own, should you ask), and two nights at one or the other Disney hotels. Once you've gone round the park, watched the Disney on Parade (offered once during the week, twice on Saturday and Sunday), and stayed to watch the fireworks at closing (7 pm during the week, 9 pm during the weekend), you can take it easy at the pool or lounge around at the hotel and relax. Hong Kong is a beautiful city, and Disney offers a good way to spend part of your time there!
:The newest and smallest Disneyland opened two months ago,in Hong Kong. It's located on Lantau Island, just west of "downtown" Hong Kong (i.e. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island). The Hong Kong International Airport is on the same island, only ten minutes away. A train takes you in about tewnty minutes from the downtown area to the Disneyland Resort Station, which is only a few hundred yards away from the main entrance.
Hong Kong Disneyland consists basically of a Magic Kingdom and two hotels, an upscale Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel (400 rooms and a Victorian theme) and a somewhat more basic Disney's Hollywood Hotel (600 rooms and, well, a Hollywood theme).
The Magic Kingdom itself is rather small by Disney theme park standards. Main Street, U.S.A. has the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad (which makes only one other stop, at Fantasyland), three Main Street vehicles, the "Disneyland Story" (basically just pictures and videos showing "how Mickey Mouse Came to Hong Kong") and the usual Cty Hall. The rest of the street is filled by the Plaza Inn Restaurant, the Main Street Cafe, a bakery and five shops.
Adventureland offers "Festival of the Lion King", Tarzan's Treehouse and the Jungle River Cruise. There are two restaurants (Tahitian Terrace and River View Cafe), one shop and one water spray area, next to a spot where a group gives drum performances.
Fantasyland has a rather small Sleeping Beauty Castle, as well as several tried-and-true Disney staples: Mickey's PhilharMagic, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Cinderella's Carousel, the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Snow White Grotto. (Close your eyes and the experience on any of these could be in, for example, Orlando.) The photo-opportunity-with-Mickey (and Winnie the Pooh) stop is a somewhat Chinese "Fantasy Gardens." The two restarurants are the Royal Banquet Hall (which, however, is not in the castle) and Clopin's Festival of Foods. Three shops round out the scene.
Tomorrowland is still pretty compact: Space Mountain, Orbitron and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters offer their normal attractions. An Autopia is being constructed, due to open up next summer. There are two restaurants (Comet Cafe and Starliner Diner), and two shops.
So what's new, what's different?
Having now been on just about all the rides, and eaten my way through just about all the restaurants (no, I didn't have to open the belt another notch), I'd say that there are three main differences: the end of the Jungle Cruise, the Lion King, and above all the restaurants.
Most of the Jungle Cruise is the same as in any of the other Disney parks. (An interesting spin is that the lines form according to language: two variants of Chinese, and English. This way, you know what language the same standard Jungle Cruise jokes will be made in - and at least in English, the jokes are exactly the same ones you'd get in Anaheim and Orlando.) The end is somewhat different: just when you are about to reach the dock, a water spout forces your quick-thinking captain to veer to starboard, where you end up next to a small volcano and geysers for a short flame-and-water show before you return to dock.
Also most of the Lion King is much the same as elsewhere, but one segment in the middle has an obviously Chinese flair to it - Chinese trapeze artists plus some Chinese hocus-pocus mixed in with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" segment was really well done.
The biggest difference - and perhaps the best part of Hong Kong Disneyland, when compared with Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo - were the restaurants. All of them featured Chinese food, and each restaurant focused on a cuisine from a different part of China - and all were absolutely delicious. (If you're not into Chinese food, don't worry - the restaurants also offer Asian food more generally, as well as so-called Western food. If you insist on your hamburger and hot dog, you can get it.)
One additional small difference was in the rope drop, which for me in any of the other Disney parks always gets my adrenaline racing. There is no rope drop in Hong Kong Disneyland; no one is allowed through the stiles until the park opens.
And what was the atmosphere like?
We were there during the week, and the first thing that struck us was how few people there were. Capacity is something like 30,000 people, and I would be surprised if there were more than a few thousand. On a separate thread, it had been noted that there had been a variety of difficulties in starting up, and this was certainly apparent. There were few lines anywhere. The Fastpass could be used for two of the attractions (Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear), but because of the short lines, it has been discontinued for the three other attractions for which it had originally been planned. For someone battle-hardened in Orlando, it didn't really seem worth the while to use Fastpass for Space Mountain, when even at peak hours the wait for single rides was five minutes ...
I'd say roughly 90 % of the guests were either from Hong Kong or from mainland China. Most of the rest were from elsewhere in the region (Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, India and so on), and the very few Anglo-Saxons that we saw were - judging from their accent - from Down Under (Australia, to you).
There was an earlier thread two weeks ago where some posters ventured rather strange opinions regarding people in Hong Kong or in China. They seemed to assume that the locals were rubes, spitting on the sidewalk, letting their toddlers take a leak on the sidewalk, and in general not knowing how to behave like decent people. (Ahem!) Having just laughed my way through the thread about gross things people have seen in WDW or Anaheim, all I can say is that Hong Kong Disneyland guests were up there with Tokyo Disneyland guests when it came to knowing how to behave. This may have something to do with the fact that the entrance fee was some 30 USD, as a result of which, by Chinese standards, all of the guests were well-to-do. My own guess, however, is that people everywhere know how to behave, especially when they are in a well-maintained area like Hong Kong Disneyland.
And the hotels?
We stayed at the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel, which also has a small conference center. The rooms were rather plush and very comfortable, the grounds nicely laid out, and the hotel had a huge spa in the basement. (However, the spa had been contracted out, and the prices at least by Chinese standards were obscenely high.) The restaurant - with its character breakfast - was excellent, and, because there were few people, at times during the character breakfast it almost felt like there were more characters than guests!
Behind the hotel was a pier, from which you could catch a ferry to downtown Hong Kong.
Next door was Disney's Hollywood Hotel, which seemed to have more guests. (The lower prices may be a factor here ...) The Hollywood theme was carried through in the architecture, the lay-out of the grounds and the uniform of the staff, but for example the background music seemed to be a mix of Hollywood tunes and rythym and blues. (Which reminds me. I've always thought background music should remain in the background. At least at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, the music in the lobby was so loud, normal conversation proved to be impossible...)
An entertainment area, with some shops (such as Virgin Records) was supposed to have opened up in October, but we didn't see any signs of this.
The cast?
Disney had gone to a lot of trouble training its cast members. Like I mentioned, non-Chinese guests were in the minority, and Westerners like us were a rarity. We were always treated with great courtesy. It may be unfair, but I would say that this courtesy was not the normal Chinese courtesy, but a rather artificial attempt to mimic American down-to-earth hospitality and small-talk. Most of the cast members we ran into made a rather obvious effort to turn on the charm, and if we had to wait for even a few minutes (not unusual at any of the Disney parks anywhere in the world), we would be subjected to "Certainly, I will do this immediately I am sorry to keep you waiting Here you are Thank you very much Can I do anything else for you . . ."
Case in point: One morning I went out jogging. I was crossing an empty parking lot when I heard a loud "Hoi" behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see a Chinese cast member about twenty yards away. I kept on jogging and another "Hoi" was shot through the air. Now, I've travelled a lot in China, and I know that some Chinese can be rather meticulous about following the rules. Perhaps, by running across a parking lot, I was violating some arcane local ordinance? I turned towards him and shrugged my shoulders theatrically to show I didn't understand him. He looked puzzled, and gave another loud "Hoi". I started walking towards him, when he began to look rather alarmed. Another Chinese cast member happened to be passing him by, and the first cast member immediately turned to talk with his colleague - after which he turned to me, now about ten yards away, and tried again: "Hi!" I answered with a "Hi!" of my own, and we both proceeded on our way.
The bottom line?
Disney's first park in China (the next one may be in Shanghai, perhaps as early as 2010) is still pretty small, and shouldn't occupy you more than a day. Both of the hotels are good bases for visiting the park, but a long way from the shopping and the action in downtown Hong Kong. I'd suggest splitting your Hong Kong visit - a luxurious hotel in the city for most of your stay (I have several favorites of my own, should you ask), and two nights at one or the other Disney hotels. Once you've gone round the park, watched the Disney on Parade (offered once during the week, twice on Saturday and Sunday), and stayed to watch the fireworks at closing (7 pm during the week, 9 pm during the weekend), you can take it easy at the pool or lounge around at the hotel and relax. Hong Kong is a beautiful city, and Disney offers a good way to spend part of your time there!
