Hong Kong Disney

[34Angels]

So Hong Kong Disney is now open......4 years AFTER I was in Hong Kong. I looked up the prices for admission and for adults it's HK$295 off peak and HK$350 peak (US $38 and $45 approx) and children 3-11 is HK$210 and HK$250 (US $27 and $32 approx) and seniors are HK$170 and HK$200 (US $22 and $26). It's a pretty small park right now so you could probalby do it all in 1 1/2 days, maybe just 1 day depending on what all you want to do and how fast you want to go. I REALLY want to go to this park.....of course I want to go to all of them!!:P

[Tink]

Yep, I would love to see this park as well. Maybe mrtoad has a trip in the works and could show us pictures. lol
Leanne

[mrtoad]

Well it looks like I will get a chance to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. Officially I have been approved for vacation in Asia at the end of my time on the job (currently scheduled to run April 6th-June 2nd). So my sister will fly over at the end of my job and we will vacation a week in Hong Kong. We looked last night at the official site, and it is quite small. There is only a Tomorrow Land, Adventure Land, and Fantasy Land. Some Disney staples (It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion). We can't wait to go on the Jungle Cruise though (It will be interesting to ride a ride where we can't understand anything)!!

[mrtoad]

Sorry, made a mistake on the last post. It's a small world, and Pirates and Haunted Mansion are not in Hong Kong Disneyland. Oh well.
Kevin

[34Angels]

Don't forget to put up pics and let us know all about it when you get back!!! Have fun!

[mrtoad]

Greetings from Anshan, China. I made it here yesterday. I haven't worked yet (tomorrow is the first day of the project), but from what I have seen, it's ok. Yesterday I was trying to get over some culture shock and jet lag (China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time), so I didn't venture out. Today I went to the mall. As for Disney "stuff" here, I did see several Clothing things of Mickey Mouse (not sure how much is officially licensed). I did see the Chinese were very impressed by my Casio Watch (I walked into a watch store and everyone wanted to play with my CAsio Watch). Oh well.
The trip to Hong Kong Disneyland will most likely be next month. I might make a couple visits to Hong Kong on this trip. My visa, while allowing for multiple entries, does not allow a stay of more than 30 days. I will probably exit to Hong Kong for a weekend, and return. I will probably wait until my sister visits me for vacation before going to the park however.
I will take lots of photos. I'm an amateur photographer, and have brought my SLR with me for the purpose of taking photos (along with my camcorder)

[34Angels]

When you go back over to Hong Kong, make sure you check out the Temple Street Night Market, it's awesome and they'll bargain down to a good price!! The have TONS of stuff there, including the silk dresses and robes if you need to buy gifts! I think I paid something like $30 or $40 US for a very pretty silk dress there. Hong Kong was a nice place, totally different culture though! I'm also a big Hard Rock Cafe nut and there's one there too. Just make sure you look BOTH ways twice before crossing the street as they drive on the opposite side of the road!! A friend of mine almost got hit because she looked the wrong way!!:w00t:

[mrtoad]

Greetings from Anshan, China...
Made my reservations today for a hotel in Hong Kong on Victoria Harbor from May 26th-June 3rd. The job is winding down, so I was able to schedule my flights and such this past week. I will definately be going to HKD, so I will give you a report on it and some photos as soon as I get back. From what I read now it's only in Phase 1 of it's opening, so there is probably not too much more to due than a 1 day visit. Now if I can schedule Tokyo sometime on my return to China, perhaps I can complete the Disney World Tour!!

[Tink]

Yay Kevin! I am so glad you get to go. With your sister right? You two will have so much fun, I can't wait to hear about it.
Leanne

[mrtoad]

Well I finally made it to HKD today. I will give a brief synopsis here, but I promise a full trip report when I have some more time. Anyways, we arrived via the MTR (Disney owns it's own trains!!) around 10:15. On the walk from the MTR to the front gate, it started pouring rain. We got inside the park and made our first purchase, some rain ponchos. Determined not to let this get us down, we trekked down mainstreet USA to Space Mountian. Wait for the ride was minimal (maybe 5 minutes). Ride was great, and very similar (even down to the soundtrack of Disneyland Anaheim). Still pouring outside, we decided to jet across to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Again wait minimal, and both my sister and I reached level 3. Rain had slowed down, so we decided to trek across to fantasyland. On the way, we stopped at Snow White's Grotto, and saw Cinderella and Snow White. We decided to watch Mickey's Philharmagic. Same ride as WDW, with some added senses of smell (in the be our guest scene, you could smell the champaign and the apple pie). We got out and decided to eat lunch (we had a buy one get one free coupon) at the Royal Banquet Hall. The cuisine is Chinese, and I had Dim Sum dumplings, whereas my sister had some soup and noodles. I thought the food was good, but something in the soup didn't agree with my sister. We decided to forgo riding for a little while, and caught The Golden Mickey's (a show at the Storybook theatre). AMAZING SHOW!! Both my sister and I agree that it's probably the best show I've seen at any Disney park (the same quality as Aladdin at DCA). While there is no Toon Town in HKD, there is a Fantasy Garden for Character Meet & Greet, where my sister and I decided to wait and see Mickey. My sister was still a little ill, so we went to see the Festival of the Lion King (good show, but different than the AK version... My sister and I had a split decision on which is better, I liked the AK and she liked HKD). We decided to wait for the Disney on Parade Parade. We both were scratching our heads afterwards, as many of the floats looked "recycled" from various parades we have seen at different Disney parks (like they used a sketch scene from a parade at MGM). They used a big inflatable Mickey, which my sister said she saw on parade in 1992 (I have also seen the photos of it). So, we would give it a thumbs down. Off too the Jungle Cruise, and a really neat surprise at the end (you don't get to see the backside of water, but get to experience the fire and water Gods). I took the raft over to Tarzan's Treehouse (it's location would be the same as Tom Sawyer's Island at DL) and came back to meet my sister (who felt like shopping). We went back to mainstreet to see the Hong Kong Disney Show (interesting stuff, as groundbreaking to Phase 1 completion was a little over 2 years). I decided to ride the teacups 2x, as my sister was finishing her shopping. Another voyage on Space Mountain brought us to 6:15 PM (with fireworks at 8:00). I stayed in Tomorrowland to ride Orbitron and BLAB one more time, and then did my shopping (a furthur note about HKD shopping --- not too many products that seemed unique to HKD--- my sister and I were both disappointed with the collectors selection). Watched the fireworks, and headed back to the MTR and our hotel. Of the 23 attractions listed on the Guidemap, we did 15 of them today (sorry we missed Dumbo, Cinderalla's Carousel, and Winnie the Pooh), but we certainly didn't do too bad considering the torrential downpours of the mourning (literally we walked in puddles with 1" of water on the way to Space Mountain in the morning), and we stopped and waited for the parade, fireworks (maybe 45 minutes total), and sat down and ate two meals (maybe 1 hour total)..
I will try to get an official trip report, and photos organized within the next 2 weeks.
Kevin

[Goofy]

Can't wait for the photos.
Question - Are the face characters asian or anglo and are the shows in english?
Andy

[Tink]

Kevin,
I am so glad you got to go! Thanks for the quickie synopsis.
I also have a few questions. You said Space Mountain was the same and had the same music as the Disneyland version. You have not been to Disneyland since it reopened have you? So I am assuming you mean the old version.
The Parade you mention - it IS recycled pieces. lol I remember reading about that when the park was built. People were upset, but the fact of the matter is this: Many people in HK have never seen the others shows/parades before, so this is ALL new to them. As for those of us that have been to the parks, it is good to know, but certainly would not detract from the experience.
Merchandise - not much unique to HK? That really surprises me, as that is such a huge way they make money. Then again it goes back to who there has been to or has access to what we have in America, so this again is all new to them. But, I would be very upset if I could not find something unique to buy, so I hope you and your sister found a few good things.
Now, off topic, and a joke - So, Kevin, wanna fly me and Alex to Philly, then to WDW for a personal tour? Andy has a conference in Philly this fall. lol
Back on topic, I can't wait until you get back and we see the pictures. Please tell me you took video!
Leanne

[Sue]

Goofy...I had the SAME question about the face characters as I read Mr. Toad's report!!!! :)
Very interesting about the rides, etc...guess it goes to show that Disney makes people happy everywhere...
What would you say, other than the cuisine, is the biggest difference between DHK and other Disney parks you have been to?
VERY VERY interesting! Can't WAIT to see the pics..
OH, I remember my other question..given some of the height differences in Asia...were the ride restraints different?

[mrtoad]

Just a quick reply, as my sister and I are heading out this morning for shopping at Stanley Street (the fake market here in Hong Kong). We have a full schedule tonight, including dinner at a floating restaurant, and 1:30 all inclusive booze cruise in the harbor at night!!
Anyways, to answer the question, the characters had Anglo faces. In the show the Golden Mickey's, the characters spoke in Mandarin Chinese--- but the voices were very similar (ie, I could pick out Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy). Snow White looked like she was played by an asian woman (only because of they eyes though), but Cinderella looked (and talked Anglo). However, some of the merchandise did feature Characters with eastern faces.
I did take some video, and I will definately send it to you Tink. I probably took 100 photos, so I will send them to you too.
Space Mountain seemed like it was very much the same as the new Space Mountain (perhaps a little slower, though, it's very hard to tell). The beginning was slighly different (you don't go through the red tube which makes me very dizzy), but the soundtrack is exactly the same as the new Space Mountain. BLAB is exactly the same. The Festival of the Lion King is very similar, except that the stage rotates in this version, and the floats are on a smaller scale. They also took out one act of monkey tumbling in this version too.
The castle is pretty much a carbon copy of Anaheim.
As a side note, I thought the park would be very small--- not so. While it only has 3 official lands (Tomorrow, Fantasy, Adventure), there is much room for the park to grow. There is 3 rides opening up this summer in Tomorrow land (Autopia, Stitch Encounter, and a H20(water) zone of some sort.
Considering they started construction on this park in 2003, and it just opened September 12, 2005, the park is really beautiful (I think it's the most beautiful Magic Kingdom I've seen), and it will continue to get better!

[Tink]

Kevin,
Thanks for letting us know about the characters.
Do all of the CM's speak English?
Yes, the castle should look like the one in Disneyland as it is indeed Sleeping Beauty Castle. From what I know, ALL future parks will have Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Leanne

[34Angels]

So I'm envious of you!! I really want to go over there and check it out!! How many days would you say it would take to completely explore the park? Did you go through the flower gardens....maybe they weren't flower gardens? I had read (or thought I read anyways!) somewhere that they had a garden type thing that was suppose to be beautiful! Can't wait to see pics!!

[mrtoad]

I would say most of the cast members speak english, or at least English well enough to communicate. Pretty strange that the couple words I could speak in Chinese is Mandarin Chinese, and they speak Cantonese here (so my basic please and thank you doesn't mean anything to them). I don't think the language barrier should intimidate anyone from coming, since the place is pretty much bilingual. Transportation couldn't be easier to and from the park.
They do have a fantasy garden where they have Character meet and greets (they have no toon town). It is very beautiful. The overall landscaping of the park was very nice (adventureland look awesome too). While the park has 23 attractions (some of them, not really attractions, such as a raft to Tarzan's treehouse (the equivalent of Tom Sawyer's Island), or Main Street City Hall, or the main street transportation), and I did 15 of them in one day. The only major things I missed was the carousel, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh (fantasyland attractions I rode elsewhere). The park wasn't overly busy, and my sister and I are definate Disney vets, so we might have hustled a little more than the casual visitor. With that, I would say 2 days would be sufficient to see and do everything complete. I'm very satisfied with what I got for my $38 US in one day!!

[Tink]

No kidding Kevin, it sounds like the two of you had a blast! I sure hope one day we get to make that trip.
Leanne