TR~ Friday, Jan 4th in HKDL *LAST-9/22-Getting Tired*

[PrincessInOz]

Just starting to dig into the HKDL threads here and absolutely loved this trip report. Great pictures and some really interesting details that I hadn't read anywhere else (you can only get a button on your bday, CMs arent very nice etc). The detail you captured in TSL was better than any I've seen.

I think I'm most intrigued by the pushing and shoving thing that I keep reading. I mean, what is this about? Just a general cultural propensity for hustling or a "snooze you lose" thing or what? People have called it rude but it sounds dangerous to me. I find it hard to keep my pixie dust in check when I'm affected by inappropriate behaviors when I'm in WDW. If somebody actually pushed/shoved/cut the the line in front of me, I'm not sure what I'd do. Thoughts on this from anybody who has observed this?

It actually happened to me in the ladies restroom on The Peak. I said something about it and found myself in a situation where there were 5 other ladies around me "baying for my blood". Naturally, this was all breaking out in Cantonese around...but I understood enough to know that the others around me did not appreciate me saying something about line cutting.

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah! Caught up here as well.

Grizzly Gulch looks a lot like the hotel Cheyenne in DLRP. I felt right at home.

 

[Minnie222]

It actually happened to me in the ladies restroom on The Peak. I said something about it and found myself in a situation where there were 5 other ladies around me "baying for my blood". Naturally, this was all breaking out in Cantonese around...but I understood enough to know that the others around me did not appreciate me saying something about line cutting.

Just to let you know that the people that line-cut are Mainland China visitors to Hong Kong, NOT the local Hong Kong people. Local Hong Kong people hate these line cutting/people pushing situations. It is not Hong Kong culture to be like that. However, since there are so many Mainland visitors (particularly at tourist locations), it is impossible for Hong Kong people to change the situation.

I am not trying to argue or defense the situation you saw. Just trying to explain what is going on there.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Getting Crowded

We exited the Festival of the Lion King into a more crowded park!


We backed towards The Hub and was planning on going to Tomorrowland but the kids really wanted to go on the carousel in Fantasyland. We came up with a plan for Andrew and I to go get FPs for Space Mountain and to all meet up next to the carousel after their ride.



With FPs in hand, we headed towards Fantasyland. Since I love Turtle Talk with Crush so much in Epcot, I was even more excited to talk to Stitch in Stitch Encounter. This show is shown in 3 languages but at different times so you have to check your times guide for a language you can understand. I knew the kids would enjoy it, so I asked the CM when the next Mandarin show starts. With that info in mind, we dashed off into Fantasyland.





We passed by Golden Mickeys but was never able to make a show.


It was weird to see It's a Small World off in the distance and down the hill from Fantasyland...

Not that I wanted to go on, that ride creeps me out.

Look at all the people!

Still incredibly light compared to the summer and holiday crowds.



When we got to the carousel, his family was nowhere in sight! We thought they might either be on the carousel or maybe in the bathroom so Andrew went off to look for them while I headed off for pictures with Duffy in Fantasy Gardens.





I was so excited! Most of the people in line didn't even know who he was! They just wanted a picture with a giant teddy bear.

I thought this was so cute.


Andrew joined me last minute...

...to give me some bad news. He couldn't find his family anywhere!

Here's a tip for foreigners that don't have an Asian data plan. Bring walkie talkies aif you plan to split up or make the meet-up details very clear. We were given one of my SIL's phones but for some reason, she turned it off so we had no way of contacting them.

We looked some more around the carousel and went inside Royal Banquet Hall to see if they were in there. I took pictures! It was beautiful.










There was also a Cantonese-speaking Merlin out and about with a little boy standing over the Sword in the Stone. He was really funny! They drew a really large crowd and I loved the whole spectacle of it.


We finally spotted his family coming out of Philharmagic! When they finished the carousel ride, they didn't see us so they just went ahead and watched the next showing and turned off their phones...

By this time, we were cutting it pretty close for the next Mandarin Stitch show so we hurried over to Tomorrowland but lo and behold....a parade was coming through.



I was pretty anxious and counting down the minutes because this was the last Mandarin show of the day and I really didn't want the family to miss this amazing piece of Disney magic!

Luckily for us, we were at the tail of the parade so we squeezed in past the crowd that followed the parade and got into the Stitch line just as they were closing it off the guests. We made it just in time, phew!







I couldn't wait to talk to Stitch! I know I'm not the only person that is more than a little disappointed by the Stitch attraction in WDW so I was very excited to see this in Hong Kong.

A very funny thing happened right before the show started. We sat at the front to stay close to the kids that got to sit closest to the screen, just as in Turtle Talk. Just as the lights dimmed, a CM came running over to the row in front of us and told a mother to "stop that" and "that's not allowed in here". We looked at what was happening and it looked like the mom had pulled her son's pants down...revealing his private part and had an empty water bottle to it...As if to pee in the bottle during the show...

Andrew and I were kind of...taken aback at that behaviour. Good thing the CM caught it or we would suddenly be sniffing some bad odour during the show.

The show itself was GREAT!!! It was so funny! The kids had a great time and Stitch had lots of fun with the adults too. I highly recommend seeing this show. I'm not sure what the English show is, but I'll report on that after my trip this November.

As we were heading out, my MIL made a comment about how lucky we were to catch a Mandarin Show. Andrew spoke up and said it was because I asked for the time. Hooray, more points with the In-laws!

Up next: Getting tired

PS. I saw special pavilions in Fantasy Gardens for each of the princesses as well as the Fab 5. I'm so excited to see Rapunzel on my next trip!

 

[zanzibar138]

Lucky you found your family in the end! And in time for the show too

It's a shame you didn't catch more of the parade - it's a really good show And I love the parade song too!

That incident at Stitch doesn't surprise me given what I've seen there before. Last time we were there staying at the (quite fancy and expensive) Disneyland Hotel, we saw a lady changing her baby (or possibly grandchild, she looked pretty old ) on one of the sofas in the lobby I pointed it out to one of the CMs who was there, thinking it was pretty unhygenic, but he said it happens all the time and wasn't at all phased by it.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Getting Tired

After the Stitch show, we were just in time for our Space Mountain FPs so we decided to take turns going on the ride so there would be someone with the kids.

Andrew, his brother-in-law, and I went on first and had a great time! I thought the ride had too much light which made me duck my head a lot because I could see so much...which is silly of me of course. It definitely felt like a really LOONG ride. I think it's longer than the Space Mountain in WDW.

Next, Andrew rode again using his mom's FP and went with his dad while the rest of us stayed outside with the kids. They were starting to get really tired but still wanted to go on the train.

When Andrew and his dad returned, his dad looked like he had gone through some serious shock! Apparently he was not used to thrill rides and kept saying, "It's still going???" during the ride. He enjoyed himself but said he would not go back on.

While in Tomorrowland, we saw this guy.


I'm not a fan of Muppets so I don't know who he is, but he was rolling around with another CM and was talking to the guests.


As I said before, the kids wanted to go on the train, so we headed towards Main Street. Goodbye Tomorrowland! I'll see you soon!


Right as we neared the Plaza Inn, the family said they were hungry. So we took a look at their menu and decided not to go in.



The Plaza Inn serves high end Chinese food.

We turned our sights across the street at the Corner Cafe.








We looked at the menu and was pretty happy with it so we went inside.


Once we were seated, I knew what I wanted...


Unfortunately, no one wanted to share with me so I decided to get something else.

We found that the service in here wasn't that great either.

I ordered a mango smoothie.


And chicken wings with 3 kinds of dip.

The 3 kinds of dip were "cha siu" which is a Cantonese bbq sauce, a tangy sweet and sour sauce, and an American bbq sauce. I love Cantonese fried chicken and really enjoyed my meal.

My niece got a children's meal and I thought it was so cute!


Andrew got a Reuben sandwich.

It was very good! We were very impressed.

For dessert, we had to try the Mickey waffles and fruit.

Delicious!!! Highly recommended.

When we exited the Plaza Inn, it was a lot darker and a lot colder. We made the choice of skipping the train ride and just spending the rest of our time in the shops on Main Street.



I loved seeing all the boxes of candy and cookies that are sold in HKDL. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo. Chinese people (and Japanese too) have a custom of bringing home souvenirs for family and friends when they visit a place so only in the Asian Disney parks can you find these small gifts that are designed just for that purpose! I picked up a few boxes to bring home when we were at the Disney store in the Hong Kong airport. The tin boxes make great keepsakes!

This was ALL I could find of Duffy merch


Around 7pm, we made the executive decision to skip the fireworks and beat the subway traffic home. I knew I would be returning by the end of the year anyways.





Goodnight Hong Kong Disneyland!


Here's some more shots of the subway platform. I thought it was very pretty!


And that concludes my TR of my first time in HKDL!!!

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this 9-month telling of a 1-day trip!

I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have. I will be returning to HKDL for my birthday at the beginning on November, so look forward to a TR from that!

If you liked this, you can also follow me in my other TRs with links in my signature.

Again, thank you all for following along! See ya real soon

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks for taking the time to write this report, Yuki! It's so interesting to see the parks around the world. There is always something that looks so familiar and then so different.
Main Street definitely looks different to me in your pictures.
Thanks for sharing.