Phil's Adventures in Hong Kong Disneyland - April 2016 *new June 29th - link to PTR added*

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 1 - Introductions​

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Hello everyone! To those of you who have read one of my previous trip reports, welcome back! To any new readers, welcome as well! (please check with a veteran so you know what you are getting yourself into).

This was a very different trip for me. For one, well, it was at Hong Kong Disneyland, a place I had never been. But it was also something I did as a side trip from a work conference and done with not much planning or set schedule (something very different from Walt Disney World where I have everything planned out in a spreadsheet at least 180 days in advance).

I wasn't sure what to expect - but I can tell you I really enjoyed my time there ... so much so I went back for a 2nd unplanned day!

I suppose I should first introduce myself. My name is Phil and am a thirty-something Disney fan. I frequent these boards (typically on the trip report and podcast forums). I am married with 3 kids but they would not be joining me on this trip. My team at work has a global off site every year, but has always been in Zurich in the past (where our global headquarters are). This year it was decided to change it up and hold the event in Hong Kong (one of our major Asian hubs). Once that was determined I knew I couldn't go there and not go to Hong Kong Disneyland. So I traveled there a few days early to see some sites including a day at Disneyland.

One note, a co-workers came over with me to see the sites. I won't include pictures of her or anything but if I every use the term "we" that is who is included with me. She is not particularly a Disney fan but was willing to go along with me. After she indicated to me she had a great time and enjoyed it much more than she thought she would!

If people are interested in hearing about the other sites I saw I will be happy to cover that as well.

Lastly, just a quick shout out to @Ride the Wild Toad for some great advice on what to see and do at Hong Kong Disneyland

And with that - let's get this show on the road!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chapter 2 - Contents​

Chapter 1 - Introductions ... post #1
Chapter 2 - Contents ... post #2

Hong Kong Disneyland - Day 1
Chapter 3 - Getting to Hong Kong Disneyland and first impressions ... post #3
Chapter 4 - Exploring New Lands of Toys and Mystics ... post #45
Chapter 5 - I don't find this punny at all! ... post #76
Chapter 6 - Festival of the Lion King ... post #78
Chapter 7 - Meeting Mickey and taking a friendly cruise ... post #105
Chapter 8 - I am satisfied with my care ... post #131
Chapter 9 - Paint the Night and Disney in the Stars ... post #132

Intermission
Chapter 10 - Tour of Hong Kong - Part I ... post #152
Chapter 11 - Tour of Hong Kong - Part II ... post #153

Hong Kong Disneyland - Day 2
Chapter 12 - Back to Hong Kong Disneyland and Grizzly Gulch ... post #172
Chapter 13 - Dinner With a View ... post #192
Chapter 14 - Another Trip With Old Friends ... post #193
Chapter 15 - I Just Want to See the Lights Gleam! ... post #210
Chapter 16 - Time to Say Goodbye ... post #211

Link to new Pre-Trip Report: PTR - Driving and Breweries and the DIS Megameet ... Oh My! - July 14 - August 2 2016

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chapter 3 - Getting to Hong Kong Disneyland and first impressions
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As mentioned, I was in Hong Kong for an company off site and so we were staying in downtown Hong Kong, near the convention center which was near our office. So to get to Hong Kong Disneyland we first had to walk ~20 mins to the Central Train Station. I must say that navigating around Hong Kong in general was very easy. All of the signs had English on them and the train system was quite efficient and fairly inexpensive.

We first had to take the Tung Chung line train to the Sunny Bay station to switch to the Disneyland Resort Line:

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At the Sunny Bay station the Disneyland Resort line arrived and the train itself was super cute. The windows were shaped like Mickey Heads:

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and then inside there were lots of pictures of Walt, they had statues of Mickey and other characters, and even the hand-holds were Mickey themed:

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It was a short trip - only one stop and then we arrived!

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You have to walk down this pathway/promenade and arrive at this central hub area where there is this really neat fountain with Mickey surfing on a water blast from a whales blow hole. Two things you will notice in the below picture: 1) Lots of umbrellas out - it rained often in Hong Kong so people always have umbrellas, and it was pretty rainy this day and 2) selfie sticks. Many, many selfie sticks. They allow them in the park but most rides have a sign out front saying you can't use them on the attraction.

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We went and got our tickets - which, if you are wondering, cost HKD 539 for a one day ticket which is about USD 65 depending on exchange rate that day - so definitely cheaper that for the U.S. parks. It was a simple process and soon we were approaching the gate and able to see the train station - which definitely looks familiar:

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Short lines at the ticket booth and very easy process to get - just hand in your ticket and a CM scans it and they you walk through the turnstile ... no fingerprint scan or photo taken or anything. Once through the gates we took turns taking pictures in front of the train station. I did make sure to wear my DIS shirt:

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It was very exciting to be there and to walk under the train tracks - it all felt very similar but different at the same time. After walking in we went through town square and got our first look at the castle. I must say that it is quite a pretty picture of the castle with the hills in the background.

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Our plan was to head to Toy Story Land to ride those rides first and then head to Mystic Point. However, we didn't realize that while the park opened at 10am, only Main St. was open at that time, no other lands opened until 10:30. So we backtracked a bit and one thing that I wanted to do which was on Main St. was to meet Baymax. I had never met him before so when I saw he was here I thought it would be a great opportunity. We got in line for that and it probably took about 20 minutes to meet him (while ride lines were mostly very short, the character meet lines were a bit on the long side). They had a set up that looked like Hiro's garage with some props out as well

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In line they had a lot of pictures and artifacts around. One of the coolest displays was of one of the Disney animators I wasn't very familiar with named Tyrus Wong. He did shorts and then moved to features and did art work for Bambi. I was impressed that even though he only worked for Disney for 3 years he was inducted as a Disney Legend - indicating the impact his art style had on the company:

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Finally it was my turn and it was a fun meet. Gave him a fist bump and then got my photo and then he basically insisted on giving me a hug - and was definitely unique! He so squishy!

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After that we headed into Fantasyland to go through into Toy Story Land ... but it started raining a bit harder so we decided to duck into Mickey's Philharmagic. I was a little nervous about this being the first attraction my co-worker got to experience but she really enjoyed it! I think given her age this hit a lot of the memories from her youth (Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc) - so I was glad about that. It turned out to be a good start.

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After that the rain slacked a bit so we headed into Toy Story Land .... which will be in the next update

TTFN

 

[missangelalexis]

So excited to read about this trip, Phil!

Love the photo to start...everyone with umbrellas/ponchos and you are just basking in the rain

So cool that the train to the park was Disney themed!

Love how the train station looks so similar to the US parks.

The castle does look pretty with the greenery in the background!

Interesting that the rides don't open when the park does. At least you got to squeeze in the Baymax meet.

The Philharmagic theater looks exactly the same! I'm glad your coworker enjoyed it.

Can't wait to read about Toy Story Land!

 

[OKW Lover]

Loving the report so far. Can hardly wait until next year when we hit both Hong Kong and Shanghai.

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm so excited about this! It will get me ramped up for visiting Tokyo next year!

 

[rteetz]

I'm joining in! I can't wait to hear about Hong Kong. I really want to get there some day.

I love the train that takes you there.

That's weird how main street opens at 10 but then the rest of the park doesn't open until 10:30.

I love Baymax he is always a fun meet.

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm new here but I haven't consulted a veteran ... is that going to be a problem?

I'm really looking forward to reading about this trip. Hong Kong is one of those places I'll probably never visit, so the only way I'll ever see HKDL is through pictures!
And that castle with the hills in the background ... amazing. I'm excited to read more about the trip!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I haven't even started to read it yet but AHHHHHHHH I'm so excited to start!!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Oooh the hills behind the castle are very pretty.

Aww Baymax, I love him. The Hong Kong Disneylander's seem like people after my own heart, I do love to meet the characters!

I wouldn't have been too worried about Mickey's Philharmagic being her first attraction, that show hits all the feels so long as you liked Disney movies growing up. Was the show in English? How did the work?

I'm so excited to read more. I think the boyfriend and I have finally decided that we need to set dates for a trip to Japan...and I'm sure you know what that means! Even though I know the Japanese parks are very different from Honk Kong, I always love to read about the different parks. And to be honest, I'm not sure if Hong Kong is high on my list of vacation destinations (after Japan will be an Everest base camp trek in Nepal) so I don't know if I'll ever get to see it.

 

[MarbleBob]

Yahoo!!! So stoked that you are doing a legit TR on this visit!!!

It's cool that you had a co-worker to share the experience with. And she really lucked out to have such a seasoned Disney fan to tour the park with. I'm betting that you played a big part in helping her to enjoy it more than she thought she would

The resort line cars are totally cool. Wasn't expecting that!

Love, love, love the hills behind the castle. Just too cool! Based on that phot seems like the hub area and distance to Main Street might be a little smaller than The US versions?

Love that you got to meet Baymax. Was he pretty mobile/flexible?

Anyway, looks like you are off to a great start, and happy that you'll be sharing your experiences. This is probably the closest I'll ever get to HKDL, so looking forward to your next chapters!!!!!

 

[Carathryn]

Yay! I'm so excited to read this mini trip report Phil!
I LOVE all of the Disney details on the train, so cool!

I'm interested to hear how Hong Kong Disneyland compares to WDW and DL. It must be strange walking in to a brand new place with so many familiar sights!

 

[Ride the Wild Toad]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip to HKDL! Very jealous you got to meet Baymax.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[samsteele]

Excited to follow this! Something new & different to learn about. Thank-you!

 

[amberg93]

Of course I'm here to follow along

I have to say that the metro there is super cute. I wish we had a cute metro that was Disney themed.

Also, a Baymax meet is a solid first thing to do.

Mickey's Philharmagic is one of the best things in Fantasyland at WDW so I don't know why you were nervous about that being a first attraction I'm glad your coworked enjoyed it though.

 

[ljcrochet]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[hokieinpa]

I'm here and following along! How great that you got to squeeze this bit of Disney into your work trip.

Very affordable tickets and it seems pretty easy to get to the park.

I love the shot down Main Street with the castle and hills in the background!

Fun meet with Baymax - looking forward to seeing him in just a few days down in Epcot! And I'm a big Philharmagic fan so that seems like a nice first choice, especially with the weather. Is is a mirror of the WDW version?

 

[Tonyz]

Awesome!

 

[TinkFan74]

I think I will be going to Hong Kong next year. I can't wait for the next installment.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Thanks for the ping!

Super excited to follow along!