Observations on Hong Kong Disneyland (visit on 05/16/2019)

[Absimilliard]

I went to Hong Kong Disneyland last week and this was my third visit to the park. I wanted to share some observations.

- I can't comment on admission media as I was invited by Hong Kong Disneyland in the interest of full disclosure.

- Very easy to get to the park from the city. Just take the MTR to Sunny Bay station switch to the Disneyland Resort line.

- Tomorrowland is mobbed in the morning with Ant-Man and the Wasp showing a 30 minutes wait and Iron Man Experience a 60 minutes. Later in the afternoon, both had died down to 10-15 minutes, so wait until then and see if it improves.

- Ant-Man was a dud for me. Iron Man was brilliant and mixed Soarin' with Star Wars so well it was better both of those rides and Flight of Passage for me.

- Few restaurants were closed, notably in Adventureland. This lead to the Explorer's Club in Mystic Point, normally the quietest restaurant at the park, to show a 45 minutes wait for food at 2pm. Food was delicious and Halal for those who observe Halal/Kosher diets. The restaurant is beautiful and much more adventurous than what you see in the US and Paris Disney parks.

- Mystic Manor, Iron Man and Ant-Man had a great selection of merchandise. Picked up some Mystic Manor umbrellas at 50% off notably. Alas, the Mystic Manor music box was sold out.

- All three roller coasters have test seats. The ones at RC Racer and Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars is at the entrance and the one for Space Mountain inside the Fast Pass line. At 6'3-280 lbs, I fit in well on all the rides except for RC Racer, which has tiny seat belts that were a good 1 inch too short for me.

- Hyperspace Mountain is currently running on Space Mountain and I though it was completely awful. It's too lighted up inside and I though I was riding it with work lights on.

- Mystic Manor is my favorite classic dark ride tied up with Phantom Manor in Paris.

- Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars is brilliant and my favorite mine train roller coaster.

- Easy to meet lots of Disney characters. I met Moana in Adventureland, miners Chip n Dale in Grizzly Gulch and Baloo and Louie near the Lion King show in Adventureland. I also saw Mickey in Miner costume as well as Cookie and Duffy on Main Street.

 

[OldSchoolReasons]

Thanks for feeding back! Your comments on tomorrowland have made me consider my plan of attack. What day did you visit?

Tying Mystic Manor with Phantom Manor is high praise indeed, I have a Phantom Manor tattoo so I am now even more stoked to ride in next week.

Are characters line-ups or free roaming or a mix? I found with Tokyo as long as you stood your ground and were patient the free roaming ones were the best to meet and they had a real variety too.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Thanks for feeding back! Your comments on tomorrowland have made me consider my plan of attack. What day did you visit?

Tying Mystic Manor with Phantom Manor is high praise indeed, I have a Phantom Manor tattoo so I am now even more stoked to ride in next week.

Are characters line-ups or free roaming or a mix? I found with Tokyo as long as you stood your ground and were patient the free roaming ones were the best to meet and they had a real variety too.

Hong Kong for the most part does not do roaming characters. Fab 5 on Main Street and the Princesses can get long lines. Characters at Karibuni Marketplace often have nobody in line on weekdays.

With the exception of Ant Man, those wait times seemed really abnormal for a Thursday. OP mentioned: "I was invited by Hong Kong Disneyland". Was there a private event or something? It could also be HKDL overstating wait times (which they are prone to do) so both Iron Man and the Explorer's Club would have been closer to 30 minutes actual wait.

 

[Absimilliard]

Hong Kong for the most part does not do roaming characters. Fab 5 on Main Street and the Princesses can get long lines. Characters at Karibuni Marketplace often have nobody in line on weekdays.

With the exception of Ant Man, those wait times seemed really abnormal for a Thursday. OP mentioned: "I was invited by Hong Kong Disneyland". Was there a private event or something? It could also be HKDL overstating wait times (which they are prone to do) so both Iron Man and the Explorer's Club would have been closer to 30 minutes actual wait.

Mickey and Chip n Dale rotated in and out of a character greeting point in Grizzly Gulch. Lines were short, but for Mickey, they only allowed a certain number of people to get in line before closing it off. Moana was a one person wait, same for Baloo and Louie. Everytime I went to go see Duffy or Cookie, the line was closed off sadly.

There were no special event; I own a blog and contacted HLDL before my visit. Just like journalists will mention they were invited by Studio X when going somewhere to interview actors or see a movie at a premiere, I did the same.

For the wait for Explorer's Club, I got in line at 2pm and got my food served at 2:45pm. There were a lot of indians at the park and with Tahiti Terrace closed, this was the only restaurant that served indian food, which explains the long wait. For Iron Man wait, it quickly died down after the morning rush, so I just went back at night to ride it again.