December 23, 2010

an almost complete guide to Hong Kong Disneyland

This is the second post on our 4D3N Hong Kong trip that was highlighted by the visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. Here is an almost complete guide to the magical land that is surely a must-visit place if you’re heading to Hong Kong, be it with kids, or just for the kids in you.

Here’s the almost complete guide to the magical kingdom through my eyes

Magical Train to Hong Kong Disneyland

Firstly, to get there.

From Hong Kong island, take the train from Central to Sunny Bay station, then hop onto the Magical train that takes you all the way to Disneyland straight up.

The train ride should last a little over 30 minutes, we purchased the 3 day unlimited pass with return trips to the airport that costs 300 HKD. Value for money as the airport trips cost 160 HKD both ways already.

the beautiful Disneyland Hotel

We spent 2 nights at South Pacific Hotel on Hong Kong island, and while that was a pretty good hotel in a nice location with plenty of good street foods (read my account of Street Food in Hong Kong), Disneyland Hotel is in another class on its own. The building was impressive, and really without a doubt, put one in the whole Disney mood.

Snow white and the Disneyland Hotel courtyard

Snow White was having a photo session with the kids at the lobby while we were checking in. The courtyard at the hotel is just as impressive as the interior and the room we were in. Check out the green maze that’s made out of plants, and I thought these stuff only exists in storybooks.

Hong Kong Disneyland entrance

After having an excellent lunch at the Crystal Lotus restaurant within the hotel (which I’ll blog about soon), we checked in our bags and headed straight to the park with out Disneyland tickets on hand.

There’re free shuttle bus service going around Disneyland park – Disneyland Hotel – Disney’s Hollywood Hotel every 15 minutes or so.

A few pictures at the beautiful fountain in front of the gate and then we’re in!

Main Street USA and upcoming Christmas decoration

First stop was Main Street USA. Which was, well, set up to look like a sort of cowboy town in US.

Here you find a lot of souvenir shops and a few restaurants, the Disney parade is usually conducted here too, but at our time of visit they were preparing for the upcoming Christmas decoration so parade was sorta on hold. The gingerbread town in the photo above wasn’t fully ready, but by now they should be. We will come back to Main Street a little later.

Tomorrowland and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster

Going pass the Sleeping Beauty’s castle and made a right turn, we arrived at Tomorrowland. The first attraction we went on was the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster.

The 3D (and super convincing) Buzz gave us the low down and instructions on what we should do, then off we go in the ride. It’s a sort of lasertag ride and you get to shoot targets and keep a score, I got 68800 – pretty impressive for a first timer, not to mention super auspicious too.

And the fun had just begun.

the awesome Space Mountain Ride

Next we went on the most thrilling ride at HongKong Disneyland – the Space Mountain.

This is a roller coaster that’s in almost total darkness. I don’t know how high we went, but it was pretty high, and insanely fast too. The ride was so fun we ended up doing it twice more on the next day. This is definitely a ride not to be missed if you are a thrill seeker. I tried to take a video but I guess the super low light condition didn’t help.

the many adventure of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo’s flying circus

Next stop was the Fantasyland, and after the thrill and spills at Space Mountain, we decided to have something that is easier on the stomach. We went on the Dumbo’s flying circus. This ride goes pretty high and provides a good bird eye’s view on the whole Fantasyland.

The many adventure of Winnie the Pooh is another ride that I enjoyed a lot. It was like reading a life size animated flip out storybook by sitting on a cart. Pretty cool even for an adult, the kids must love this to bits.

the Golden Mickeys award show

We then head to the Golden Mickeys award show. The broadway style show lasted some 40 minutes and it was a lot of fun, I am left wondering how the actors could do this day in and day out, the performance must have taken a lot of energy, and they have to do a number of shows every day.

Tarzen’s Treehouse and Jungle River Cruise

By the time the show ended, it was starting to get dark already. We went onto the next destination – Adventureland.

The Jungle River Cruise came in 3 languages – Mandarin, Cantonese, and English with a pretty heavy Hong Kong accent. It was an adventurous cruise around the waterway that had a lot of wild animals, head hunters, booby traps, and fire caves. This while the funny narrator cum boatman tried to made us laugh, scared, and slightly wet at the same time.

After that we hop on the raft that takes us to the Tarzen’s Treehouse. The trail going up and eventually down from the treehouse also presents Tarzen’s story as you go, a pretty relaxing attraction. At the top of the treehouse, the entirely Adventureland comes into view.

the fireworks at Sleeping Beauty’s castle

The announcement for the fireworks came as we were still at Adventureland, so we quickly made our way back to Mainstreet USA where a huge crowd has already built up in front of the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

Then there was the fireworks. Fireworks must be one of the most amusing things ever invented, no matter how many times I look at them, I’m still amazed. The backdrop made it that much more beautiful too.

Mainstreet USA at night, and the trail to Disneyland Hotel

The park came to a close after the fireworks, we worked our way out along with the crowd.

Instead of queueing up for the shuttle bus, we decided to take the pretty long walk back to Disneyland Hotel. That turned out to be a good decision. The walkway from Disneyland to the hotels is actually a beautiful garden that had, among the nicely manicured plants, a stunning fountain too. The weather was very pleasant at 20+ Celsius.

We then had dinner at Chef Mickey’s restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood hotel, which I shall write about soon.

and a couple pictures with Diasy Duck

We had 2 days worth of Disneyland Park’s passes, so there was no wasting. After breakfast and a couple pictures with Daisy Duck, we went off to the Park again.

Autopia, and Haze in the train going around Disneyland Hong Kong

Our first stop was the Autopia, it was sort of a go-kart on track that showcases the future with electric car. This is an attraction that would amuse kids more than adults, but kinda fun nonetheless.

We then hop on the train that goes around the entire park. There’re a surprise on the ride, but I shall not spoil it for you.

Street performers and Merlin speaking Cantonese!

We then went on the Space Mountain ride twice more.

There are also quite a lot of street performances around the park, like these two guys above, and also Merlin who speaks Cantonese. Never a dull moment.

Sleeping Beauty Castle, Mickey’s PhilharMagic

Just prior to lunch, we attended Mickey’s PhilharMagic show, a 3D (with glasses) that features not only 3D visuals, but also wind, water, and smell too. That was an interesting experience, I was so glad we didn’t miss it.

After lunch at the Tahiti Terrace, it was time to go back to the hotel to get our bags and make our way back to the airport.

Hong Kong Disneyland certainly didn’t disappoint. You need at least a full day (we did it in 2 half days) to get everything out of it, it’ll be a somewhat tiring day but you’ll surely leave with a smile.

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