Solo Adventures in Asia Nov 2025 - First Timer's Travels to Hong Kong & Shanghai

[clappyclaps]

Hello everyone

I'm just on my way back from a solo trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Once I'm home in the next few days, I'll post a full report on my adventures but for now here's a bit about me and my trip in general.

About Me
My name is Sarah and I'm 38 from Greater Manchester in the UK. I'm single and don't have any friends who like Disney parks quite as much as me, hence why I'm travelling solo. This is my second solo Disney trip, after travelling to LA and Anaheim in March this year.

I love rides, I love films and like many my life growing up seemed to revolve around Disney films. I go to Disney mostly for the rides, but also for the general theming and atmosphere. Oh and the food and drink too as I'm a bit of a foodie. I'll admit that I'm not usually one for the parades, meeting characters etc unless I happen to be in the right place at the right time. And I'm not one for posing for photos either as it makes me a bit uncomfortable, so the best I can do is some rubbish selfies - like the one below of me in front of ToT on my last WDW trip:



About my trip
This trip was a split trip between Hong Kong and Shanghai. I flew direct from Manchester, UK to Hong Kong for 4 nights, staying at Disney's Hollywood Hotel. My plan was to spend 2 full days in HKDL and then the 2 other days sightseeing

After this, I flew to Shanghai to spend 4 nights at the Disneyland Toy Story Hotel. The intention was to spend 2 full days at the park, 1 full day sightseeing then the final day before my flight at the park again, however this didn't quite go to plan! (More on that later).

I'm writing this from Shanghai airport, where I'm shortly due to catch my first flight into Dubai, where I'll then get a connecting flight back into Manchester. A total of just over 20 hours travelling...

Watch this space and I'll post full updates on my trip very soon when I get back.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more .

 

[DianaMB333]

Following.. Im on my way to HK!
Will stay first 5d in DL

 

[clappyclaps]

Following.. Im on my way to HK!
Will stay first 5d in DL

Hope you have a fabulous time! Would love to hear how you get on

 

[clappyclaps]

Morning all,

After arriving home at around 1pm yesterday and sleeping for nearly 15 hours (!), I think I've finally recovered enough from my jetlag to post my first update. One final thing to add that I didn't include in my initial post is that I have used AI to enhance some of my photos - to remove people from them as it makes them look so much better! AI isn't something I generally use but I would say the ability to edit photos like this is definitely something I'm down for and a really useful feature, but wanted to be open about it's use. And so, onto my report:

Day 1 - Hong Kong
I flew from Manchester, UK direct to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. My flight left the UK at 10:25am and was around 12.5 hours, landing in HK just before 7am their time. The flight was uneventful and actually gave me an opportunity to catch up on a few films I hadn't seen at the cinema (Superman, The Naked Gun, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Final Destination: Bloodlines). I usually find long haul flights unbearable, but these films made it fly by!

We landed in HK on time and my luggage arrived surprisingly promptly. The airport was well signposted and I easily found my way to the taxi ranks - there were separate ranks depending on your destination, and the one for Lantau Island and Disneyland was super easy to find. There was no queue and I jumped into the first taxi - I had a pre-printed card with my hotel address in Mandarin, but didn't need it as the driver spoke enough english to understand. After a pleasant 15 minute(ish) ride, we arrived at my home for the next 4 nights, Disney's Hollywood Hotel:






My first impression of this hotel is that it is absoutely stunning, and definitely fits that old school Hollywood theming.

I'd made it to the hotel by around 8am, only around an hour after landing - so efficient! Check in time wasn't until 3pm, however the hotel allows you to 'pre-check in' at any time - they give you your room keys etc, and tell you that they will notify you by email/text when your room is ready so you can head straight there. You can also drop your baggage off and they'll bring it straight to your room once ready.



I'd bought park tickets for today and tomorrow, but hadn't planned any further as I hadn't known for sure exactly what time I'd arrive at the resort. As I was checked in by 8:15am, I decided to purchase the early entry pass (priced at around £20) which would allow me to get into the park an hour earlier at 9:30am rather than the standard opening time of 10:30am.

And seen as the weather in HK was absolutely glorious (sunny and 21 degrees celsius at 8am), I decided to follow the promenade walk that led from the hotel all the way to the park. The promenade walk is located at the back of the hotel on the water, so I made my way through the hotel grounds, obviously taking some photos as I went!



The theming in the hotel grounds is so well done, and the scenery is stunning. And the view from the back of the hotel and the promenad walk is incredible:


The promenade walk takes you behind all 3 hotels, with the Hollywood Hotel being the furthest away, and then up to the park grounds and transportation hub. It really is a beautiful walk, taking around 25 minutes to reach the park itself with some stunning views:


I ambled my way along, until I finally reached the famous HKDL sign:




Next up, I'll go though my first day at HKDL and show you my room at the hotel.

 

[clappyclaps]

Day 1 - Part 2
On arriving at HKDL, the first thing I see is the Mickey Whale fountain, that really is a beautiful fountain featuring not just Mickey but Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy too:




After snapping some photos, I headed to the early entry access entrance. It was clearly signposted and not particuarly busy, so I walked through security and joined the queues to get into the park around 15 minutes before opening. A few minutes before opening time, they started letting everyone in. Ticketing here is super easy and all based on QR codes held on my phone, so pretty soon I was in the park.

Not everything is open during early access hours - only Main Street, the castle area, Fantasyland and the World of Frozen are open. I knew about this in advance, and as the Fantasyland rides aren't really a priority for me, I used this time to concentrate on Frozen and snapping some photos while the park was quieter:

Then I headed over to Arendelle. I was really looking forward to this being the first Frozen dedicated land, and while it is small, I was really impressed with how it looked and the overall theming:

The land was virtually empty, so I jumped on Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs - I walked on it and I was the only person there, so got an entire coaster entirely to myself! This is similar to Seven Dwarves Mine Train although a lot tamer, and it's a really nice starter coaster. But it was a little short and could do with being a bit longer - especially if you have to queue up for it longer than I did!

After this I went on Frozen Ever After, which is pretty much identical to the one at WDW although you don't get as wet:

After this, I took a bit of a break for a much needed coffee and a muffin (I'd been awake for around 22 hours at this time) and snapped some more photos before the rest of the park opened:

I was hoping to head to Big Grizzly Mountain (the HK version of Big Thunder) however Grizzly Gulch (aka Frontierland), Mystic Point (aka Haunted Mansion) and Toy Story Land didn't open until 11am, half an hour after park opening, so instead I jumped on Jungle Cruise:

Controversially I actually preferred this version as it seemed like it had a bit more going on with some fire and water action, although the jokes didn't quite translate as well.

After this, it was only 10 minutes until Grizzly Gulch was due to open so I joined the people loitering around the entrance and we were soon allowed in. I followed everyone rushing onto Big Grizzly Mountain and virtually walked on to the ride, waiting only a few minutes. Hands down, this is my favourite ride at HKDL. It's a cross between Big Thunder and Everest, and imo a brilliant cross at that as it also features a super fast launch two thirds of the way into the ride. Such a fun ride.

I then headed over to Mystic Point to go on HK's version of Haunted Mansion, called Mystic Manor, and again I walked onto this. Interestingly the pre-ride show room wasn't working this day, but it was on subsequent visits on later days. This is nothing like the original ride, it's something completely different and this gets my vote as my second favourite ride. It isn't scary or creepy in the slightest, but it's so original and fun and I really loved it.

Next up was Toy Story Land:

I headed straight to my favourite ride from DLP, RC Racer, and again walked straight on with no queue - I love this ride so much and just wish it was longer!

After that I hopped on Toy Story Parachute Drop (slight queue on this one but nothing major) and then made my way round to Fantasyland to jump on It's A Small World. Full disclosure, I haven't been on this ride for years (think maybe the DLP version was the last time I'd tried it), but it was entertaining to see the HK version and again, no queue.

I then wandered over to Tomorrowland, where I walked onto Hyperspace Mountain. There was a single rider queue for this (the only one in HKDL) but I didn't bother with this as there was no normal queue. This ride is pretty much identical to the one at DLR, although it felt a little smoother maybe with it being newer. I'm not a fan of this ride, as it usually plays havoc with my motion sickness and this version was no different!

Next up I jumped on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle, which is basically an Ant-Man themed version of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This was a really fun different take on the ride and like everything else so far, I just walked on.

After this, I was feeling a bit peckish so decided to start to check off some of the food and drinks I had on my list. I opted for the Pineapple Dole Whip with Strawberry Slush Float and the Buzz Lightyear Vanilla Blackcurrant Mousse cake from Jessie's Snack Round-Up. I had wanted the Alien Mango Pistachio Mousse Cake, but they didn't have any so Buzz was my second choice. The mousse cake was really disappointing, it looked great but flavour wise it seemed to be lacking in vanilla or blackcurrant, and just seemed to be the same soft mushy texture throughout. The slush float however was delicious! It was shamefully my first time trying dole whip, and I loved the tartness of it paired with the strawberry slush, it was really nice and refreshing.

By this time it was getting on for early afternoon and I was incredibly tired, having now been up for close to 26 hours. So after taking a few more snaps of Main Street, I decided to make my way back to the hotel to check out my room and have a nap:

Next up, my hotel room!

 

[cassidy57]

Following along, so excited to read about your trip!!!

 

[clappyclaps]

Day 1 - Part 3
After returning to my hotel, I snapped a few more photos of the interior:

Then I headed up to my room, and the rest of the hotel including my room is every bit as stunning as the entrance and lobby - even the carpets, lifts (elevators) and floor/room numbers look great:

The room itself, while facilities and features wise didn't have any more than what you'd usually expect from a standard Disney room, was incredibly polished and felt really luxurious.

As far as the room goes, I really didn't have any complaints. It was spacious, really comfortable and had everything I needed, including some free slippers. The bathroom was well equipped with standard toiletries (you could purchase an extra toiletries pack that included toothbrushes, shower cap etc if needed, I didn't), and also had one of the best hairdryers I've ever used in a hotel before. I could also log into my own Disney+ account on the TV to watch films, and the room also had it's own filtered water machine. It felt quiet in general too and I don't recall ever hearing or wanting to complain about noise outside, which for a light sleeper like me is a real plus.

My plan for my first night had been to have a short nap and then had back out to the park before it shut at 8pm. Unfortunately my body had other ideas and I ended up sleeping for a few hours longer than anticipated, meaning it was too late to bother venturing out to the park again. So instead, I unpacked and settled into my room to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the rest of the week.

Next up, day 2 at HKDL!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

You mentioned that the Jungle Cruise jokes didn't translate well. How did the translation work? Did they narrate the cruise in English? Or did you use some type of headset or device to translate the narration from Chinese?

 

[clappyclaps]

You mentioned that the Jungle Cruise jokes didn't translate well. How did the translation work? Did they narrate the cruise in English? Or did you use some type of headset or device to translate the narration from Chinese?

They narrated in English. When you enter the ride queue, they offer cruises in 3 different languages - English, Mandarin and Cantonese - so you can just choose which one. When I say didn't translate well, i probably meant more that the silly humour didnt seem to come across in the same way.

 

[clappyclaps]

Day 2
Day 2 was my second full day at HKDL. I'm an early riser and the fact that the park didn't open until 10:30am was a bit frustrating for me, so prior to my trip I'd already purchased the early access for today. Realistically after taking advantage of this the day before I didn't really need it, but it'd be remiss of me not to take advantage of as much time as possible at Disney!

My second day started very much the same as Day 1, I hit the World of Frozen first and took the rest of the early entry hour to take photos of anything I felt like I'd missed the previous day. This is my first visit to a Disney park when the Christmas decorations have been up so I was loving taking all this in. There was also a lot of 20th anniversary decorations dotted about too.

After the main park opened, I headed over to Tomorrowland to jump straight on Hyperspace Mountain and Ant-Man, walking on again. Then I headed back up to Grizzly Gulch to grab a quick bite to eat - some Prawn Cutlets from the Lucky Nugget Saloon. I hadn't been expecting much from these but these were genuinely the best thing I ate the entire time I was at the park. They were hot, fresh, crispy and incredibly tasty, and even the fries were really good and well seasoned.

I then jumped on Big Grizzly Mountain again, this time with a short queue but nothing major and then headed over to Mystic Manor. There was another queue this time but maybe no more than 15 minutes, and this time I got to see the pre-ride show. Next up after this was another visit to Toy Story Land - the queue for the Parachute Drop was rather long but RC Racer was only showing as 20 minutes so I jumped on here. Luckily despite their being no single rider queue, the cast members went round asking if they needed singles so I managed to get on this very quickly.

The park in general seemed a bit busier today so after hitting all of the rides again, I spent the next couple of hours looking round the shops and making sure I hadn't missed any attractions I really wanted to do. I'm a bit particular when it comes to merchandise, but I'm a sucker for mugs and magnets and HK had plenty. Along with spirit jerseys which I love, so I managed to pick one of these up too.

Mid-afternoon I nipped back to the hotel to relax for an hour, and then headed back out to the park so I could see it all lit up and get back on some rides. The park at night time looks incredible, and all of the Christmas decorations look so good! I took so many photos and these are just a very small highlight!

After finally getting into the park I was a bit peckish, so I headed to the Starliner Diner for a more substantial quick service meal, the Expo Combo - a wagyu cheeseburger with potato wedges. Sadly this was probably the worst thing I ate in the park. The wedges were fine, no different to oven cooked wedges you can buy in a supermarket over here, but the burger was so dry it was barely edible. The burger itself might have been okay, but it was ruined by this dry almost stale tasting bun. Such a disappointment!

After eating, I wandered the park again going on Big Grizzly and Mystic Manor. As I was wandering back through Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, I caught the end of a drone light show which was really impressively done:

I then headed out of the park, picking up a sweet snack on my way - a pair of filled choux buns. One was filled with an oreo cream and the other an original vanilla (I think). The choux was a little harder on the outside than I'd expect, to the point where the fork provided was a waste of time and I just ate with my hands, but both buns were quite fresh and tasty although the intended flavours didn't really come across.

On my way back to my hotel, I walked the front way rather than taking the promenade. It's a shorter walk, quiet even though it's along a big road, but it takes you past the front of the other 2 hotels, the Explorers Lodge and the Disneyland Hotel. And I figured I may as well take the opportunity to have a look inside the lobbies of both hotels, and while I didn't venture too far, they both looked really nice and had some grand christmas decorations:

Explorers Lodge

Disneyland Hotel

And the front of my hotel looks pretty incredibly at night time too!

Next up, 2 days sightseeing in Hong Kong and Lantau Island.

 

[clappyclaps]

Day 3
Today was a full day sightseeing in Hong Kong city, and I was going to be using the MTR (a light rail/train similar to the subway/underground). The Disney station was only a few minutes walk from the park itself, and the Disney resort has a dedicated line with only one stop that links with Sunny Bay, a station on one of the main MTR lines. This MTR line goes direct into Hong Kong main station, and takes around 35-40 minutes.

The MTR is really easy to navigate and use, and even better it allows you to tap in and out using your bank card (or phone). There are dedicated light blue turnstiles at the entrance/exit of the stations that allow contactless tap in, and honestly this made this entire system so flawless and easy to utilise. It was no different than the tram system I use at home. And the Disney line features some super cute Disney themed trains, including the first trains I've ever seen with sofas!

First up was a trip to Victoria Peak, a hill that allows great views of the city and skyline. To get up to the peak, there is the Peak Tram, a funicular railway that takes you all the way up to the top. I'd pre-bought my ticket and after arriving around 9:30am, I headed straight in with no queue and jumped on the next waiting tram to the top. The journey itself was short, around 10 minutes and offered some great views. The tram brings you up into the Peak Galleria, a shopping and dining centre with various outlets and dining options. It also has Sky Terrace 428, which is a viewing platform 428 meters above sea level, and my tram ticket included entry to this. I joined the small queue waiting for the terrace to open and at 10am we were allowed up. It offers some phenomenal views of the city and also a lot of Disney themed photo ops and artwork both at the top and throughout the building as you go up (it was rather windy hence the windswept photo!):

I spent a couple of hours up at the Peak, and before heading back down I grabbed a snack - a traditional Hong Kong egg tart. This is a bit of a cross between an English egg custard and a Portuguese pastel de nata, the former I love and the latter I wasn't a fan of, so I was intrigued how this Hong Kong matched up and I can tell you these little things are delicious! Really light, creamy with nice well cooked pastry and the fact that they're warmed up makes them even better. I could happily have eaten half a dozen of these in one go!

After this, I jumped back on the tram to get down from the Peak and walked a few blocks to get to the waterfront. The buildings here really are beautiful and the waterfront was lovely, and I walked along it to get to the Reunification Monument, which commemorates Hong Kong being returned to China.

I then jumped on the MTR to get across the water to Victoria Harbour, to walk along the Avenue of Stars which is a waterfront promenade that has statues and handprints of various celebrities. This ended at the Clocktower, a landmark and monument previously part of a former railway station. Behind this was a shopping centre that had a lot of Disney themed Christmas statues and photo ops:

After making a quick pit stop at Starbucks for a cold refreshing drink and another egg tart, I jumped on the MTR again to go and see Kowloon Walled City. The Walled City had previously been a military stronghold and the entire area was now a really beautiful city park:

I then jumped back on the MTR to go and see the Wong Tai Sin Temple:

By this time it was late afternoon and I decided to head back to my hotel - I was pretty hungry and I'd decided on eating at the Marvel themed bar/restaurant in the hotel, The Archivist, so headed back to grab an early dinner.

This is such a nice bar, like the rest of the hotel it is really well designed and there's lots of Marvel items dotted about the room including the Infinity gauntlet. It was pretty quiet when I arrived but did get busier while I was there, although the atmosphere for a bar was maybe a little lacking. I can never say no to a cocktail and the ones here sounded great, so I ordered The Potent Stones, which came with it's own bit of smoke and theatre. It was certainly a nice tasting cocktail, although I'm not entirely sure how much alcohol was in it as it didn't taste like much.

Food-wise I ordered Chicken Variants, which was a tapas style main - it included tandoori chicken lollipops, garlic butter chicken wings, kung pao style chicken wings and chicken cartilage skewers in Japanese ginger sauce. This looked great, but sadly didn't taste as good as it looked. Both versions of wings were really nice, but the skewers and lollipops were lacking in a bit of flavour and while they weren't bad, they weren't anything to write home about.

I'm a sucker for anything sweet and I'd been eyeing this dessert up before I even arrived, so I had to order the Asgardian Cheat Day dessert. It was a chocolate brownie, spicy chocolate lava cake and a chocolate cream and looked divine, especially with the little chocolate hammer. However unfortunately this was another case of style over substance. The chocolate cream was really nice, but the chocolate brownie tasted more like a hard chocolate ganache (not like any brownie I've ever eaten or made), and the spicy lava cake was only slightly lava-ish and the spicy aspect of it was surprisingly hot, arguably all it tasted of was heat. Such a shame, I'd been expecting a lot from this meal especially considering the price and it was a bit of a let down.

Next up, day 4 - another day of sightseeing.

 

[clappyclaps]

Day 4
Today I was heading the opposite way into Lantau Island, to visit the Tian Tan Buddha and Ngong Ping Village. The easiest way to get to Ngong Ping village is via the Ngong Ping 360 Cable car, which has a station in Tung Chung. Tung Chung is one stop away from Sunny Bay on the MTR, the opposite direction to Hong Kong.

While dining in the Archivist yesterday, I'd chatted with an Australian couple who had visited all of this that day and they recounted a horror story of having to queue for 3 hours at Tung Chung just to get on the cable car. With this in mind, I decided to head out early and get to the cable car before it opened at 9am.

Same as yesterday I jumped on the MTR from the Disneyland station and this time headed to Tung Chung, a trip that took around 20 minutes. I reached Tung Chung at around 8:30am, and there were already a couple of people queuing for the cable car so I joined them. At around quarter to 9 they let the queue into the building, which is quite a winding queue featuring different checks and queues depending on which type of cable car experience you had opted for. They checked tickets, put you in the right queues and I ended up second in line for the standard car. They do a crystal car too which is almost entirely clear glass including the bottom, however I'm not the biggest fan of heights or cable cars, so opted out of this.

At 9am they let us on the first cable car, putting around 8 of us in one car. The car itself seemed steady and barely moved, which for me was a blessing as I'd been terrified it'd be rocky or moving in the wind, and the views were incredible - as you come up over the hills you can even see the big Buddha in the background:

The journey took around 20-25 minutes and brought us to Ngong Ping village, located below the Buddha. The village had a lot of shops and restaurants and was obviously very well equipped for tourists. There's also a lot of incredible architecture, features and statues in the village and the local area below the Buddha.

The Buddha itself had 268 steps leading up to it, and also some spectacular views once you get to the top:

After spending some time up at the Buddha, I headed back down the steps with the intention of walking the Wisdom Path, a path lined with wooden monuments that was recommended to me by @zanzibar138 however unfortunately it was shut for refurbishment. So instead I just had a walk around the jungle for a little while before heading back into Ngong Ping village. I grabbed a quick snack (another egg tart!) and then walked onto the cable car back down to Tung Chung - there was no queue and nobody waiting, meaning I got an entire car all to myself. Being slightly scared of heights and cable cars, being on my own was mildly nerve wracking, especially as the wind appeared to have picked up lower down and I could definitely feel the car moving and swaying! Fortunately I made it down in one piece, only slightly terrified

I had a wander around Tung Chung on my return, but after this it was still only early afternoon so I decided to buy a last minute ticket to HKDL and head in there for the last time - seemed rude not to seen as I'd be walking past anyway. I almost regretted my decision when I saw the size of the queue outside, but fortunately hotel guests got to skip this and pretty much walk straight in, phew!

When I got in the park, I spent it going back on my favourite rides - namely Big Grizzly, Mystic Manor and RC Racer, plus any others which had a reasonable queue. I also grabbed another snack off my list, the Italian Gelato with Small World Boat from Small World Ice Cream. This had chocolate, vanilla and raspberry gelato and it was really good, and went down very well in the warm weather. There was maybe too much waffle to gelato, and practically eating the waffle at the bottom was pretty difficult, but these are minor issues when the gelato was so good.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed uneventfully, and I headed back to hotel to pack and prepare for my move to Shanghai the next day. On the way, I grabbed a couple of desserts from the restaurant to eat in my room - a Mickey Tiramisu and a Donald strawberry mousse cake. Unfortunately these were another case of style over substance, they looked phenomenal but taste wise lacked in flavour. The tiramisu wasn't nearly coffee flavoured enough, and the outer chocolate shell was a bit much, and the Donald cake really needed more strawberry!

Next up, I head to Shanghai where things don't quite go to plan!

 

[zanzibar138]

Just seen this (thanks for the tag!) and catching up. Really loved your HK report - makes me super excited for my trip in October! Shame about the wisdom trail being closed. We had the opposite experience in HK - no line for the cable car, but waited at least an hour for the Victoria Peak tram.

Looking forward to reading about Shanghai