Hong Kong: Disneyland!

For those of you who are unaware, I have basically grown up at Disney parks. At one point I went to Disneyland and California Adventure once a month for a few years straight. More recently, Disney World took over as the park of choice, and at least one day each weekend was often spent in one of the parks. Seeing as Disney has had such a large part in my life, I’ve always been curious to compare the international parks to the ones in the states. When I was in Europe the other summer I was very tempted to visit the one in Paris, but due to lack of time (and the fact that I know zero French), that did not end up happening. Now, seeing as I was in Hong Kong, there was no way I’d be passing up the opportunity to visit the Disneyland there :)

I purchased the tickets at the Metro station a day before we were going to go (they were about $60USD a piece, which is significantly cheaper than the Disney parks in the US). I figured it made more sense to have tickets on hand rather than wait in a long line at the gates. Anyway, the day finally arrived. Monday, July 1, 2013. The day of Disneyland Hong Kong. We boarded the metro and set off to the park. They have a train station right at the entrance which makes it nice and easy to get to from the downtown region of Hong Kong. 

Disneyland Hong Kong is set up very much like Disneyland in California or the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Main Street is almost identical. The castle is very short though, smaller than the one at Disneyland. The park is divided up into several sections, 3 of which have been added over the past several years. Reviews of the park I’d read in the past described it as small and a disappointment compared to other Disney parks, but those reviews were all prior to the add-ons. 

Main Street: Upon entering the park, you see the traditional Mickey in the flowers with the train station behind it. The basic entrance is the same as the parks I’m familiar with. Once you go through the tunnel, you see the basic Main Street store fronts, the fire station, and other buildings. The shops all sell similar items to the US. Tasty foods, clothes, jewelry, toys, and so on. Overall Main Street is on par to the ones I’m used to seeing.

Tomorrowland: Off to the right, just like in the US, is Tomorrow land. It has a few rides, including Space Mountain, the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia, and a few others.

 

Fantasyland: Right ahead of Main Street you can see the castle which is modeled after Sleeping Beauty’s castle, however it looks more like the castle at Disneyland to me. It is very small and doesn’t really stand out as anything special to me. Like in California, It’s a Small World is a stand alone building with moving parts on the outside. The ride itself integrates Disney characters into the various scenes, which I believe makes it much better than the ones in the US. There are not many other  rides in Fantasyland, and those that are there use the same tracks/concepts/films as the ones back at home. Tea Cups, Winnie the Pooh, PhilharMagic, Carousel, Dumbo. They also have the areas to visit characters and food and shops, but nothing very unique.

Adventureland:  Adventureland is home to the Jungle River Cruise, Tarzan’s Treehouse, and the Festival of the Lion King Show. It’s a nice area to walk through with all the plants and birds chirping. The Lion King show is very similar to the one at Animal Kingdom in Florida. There are two monkeys who help translate parts of it for the Chinese guests, seeing as the show itself is performed in English. I don’t have much to say about the other attractions in this section of the park unfortunately.

Grizzly Gulch: One of the park’s add-on sections is home to the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars ride which is a cross of Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom or Disneyland. It is a typical Disney coaster.  Grizzly Gulch has a few areas to take photos as well as a place to grab some food. 

Mystic Point: The newest section at Disneyland Hong Kong just opened in April of this year. It is home to Mystic Manor, a pretty impressive ride utilizing trackless technology. In addition to the movement of the vehicles, Mystic Manor uses some pretty incredible special effects and also introduces an adorable monkey character, Albert. Mystic Point is also home to the Garden of Wonders, which I was pretty disappointed with. It is supposed to create 3D illusions when you look through a viewing area, but I didn’t really notice anything spectacular about it.

 

Toy Story Land: This was a very well done addition to the park. One entrance houses Woody while the other has Rex. Within this area of the park, guests are shrunken down to the size of the toys and can take pictures and ride attractions based off the movies. 

I definitely enjoyed my day at Disneyland. The rides were mostly the same rides I’m used to back at home. The atmosphere was the equivalent, with music playing all through the park, decorations and attention to detail everywhere you look. People watching was as fun as it ever is. It wasn’t too crowded and lines were never too bad. Surprisingly, the newest ride didn’t even have a line the first time we went on it! The food was very tasty, and cheaper than the food back home (only thing missing were the churros). There was however, one downside to the day. Rain. When it rains, all outdoor attractions are closed. Unfortunately, this is a major portion of the rides. It started to rain in the early afternoon before we had a chance to go on everything. We hadn’t considered the rain when planning our route for the day. I was unable to experience the Jungle Cruise or Tarzan’s Treehouse, both of which I had been looking forward to. We did make it on all other outdoor attractions we cared about. In addition, we didn’t stick around to see if the rain would clear up for fireworks, and it’s a good thing we didn’t, because the storm only got worse. I had been looking forward to watching them, but perhaps I’ll go back another day.

Tips for your Hong Kong Disney Adventure:

Get there early and start with the outdoor attractions.

Be sure to get fast passes for rides like Space Mountain or Buzz.

Eat a lot of tasty food!

Stay hydrated!

Mostly everything is in English and bathrooms are western style with toilet paper and soap. Rain may put an end to your day, so if possible, avoid going on a rainy day.

The end! (Written August 1, 2013…yes…I’m bad at staying up to date!)

Edit: I forgot to tell you about Jim's opinion! Jim had never been to a Disney park, nor did he have a desire to ever go, but I dragged him along. From my perspective, he seemed to enjoy his day. He was impressed with a lot of what he experienced and he liked several of the attractions. Let's see what he has to say.

What did you think of Disneyland in Hong Kong? -"What did I think of Disneyland? Um...(sits with folded arms). Um...as someone who does not have a Disney fetish, Hong Kong Disneyland was an entertaining day out. Most of the rides were intended for a younger or more Disney oriented audience so they didn't catch my fancy as much, but uhh Toy Story land was pretty awesome. And Mystic Manor was a really cool ride. I'm sad that they did not have churros available for sale. Because I have not been to any other Disnelands, I can't comment on the overall quality in comparison and since I prefer parks like Cedar Point or Six Flags, it isn't exactly my cup of tea so I cannot in good conscience recommend it unless you are a fan of Disney in particular.

Oh no! It looks like I was wrong! I guess he didn't enjoy it :( Oh well. I still had a nice day.