HK Disney - Better than expected...

[Forkbeard]

Did HK Disney a few weeks back.

Wasn't expecting much. We booked two days, as the 2nd day only cost an extra £6 (booked it on the website day of UK flight).

Only needed one day to cover it and had time to spare. No queues as such.

It was way better than I expected. My HK friends thought I was crackers to go and claimed it was terrible. I was pleasantly surprised.

Jungle River Cruise - three queues for Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Despite what everyone tells you about people speaking English in HK... a lot of people don't, and those that do struggle with anything but simplistic language. This made the ride quite funny since the pilot could not time the punchlines We should have ridden it again in one of the other languages since my friend is Chinese and speaks all three.

Fantasy Gardens were sweet and I assume unique to HK.

"It's a Small World" seemed more coherent than Florida. The sets made more sense and the singing was easier to discern. Maybe it's the same and I'm just getting old.

Big Grizzly was great and a very nice twist on BTMRR. Not as shaky as BTMRR so felt a little slower.

Hyperspace Mountain was rubbish. No drops

Iron Man Experience was Star Tours but not as much fun imo.

RC Racer I avoided in Paris, but tried it here. Much much better than I expected. A kids ride but you get the sensation of dropping and at the very back even more so.

Parachute Drop seemed less fun than Paris. My friend explained why but for the life of me I cannot remember

Mystic Manor was brilliant. The best dark ride of any Disney Park. What I mean by that is that it's not the Haunted House but rather more akin to Peter Pan and stuff like it, only way way better. Trackless as I recall and cars with other guests in them would enter rooms with your car and move about independently. It felt very fresh and interesting. Great for kids and not scary at all.

They let you into Main St. a little early which was nice.

They do some form of graduation for local schools and all the children wear their special school costumes with capes and mortar board hats with Mickey ears. They were so excited and it reminded me of what Disney was all about.

The entrance pathway was nicely done and very spacious and they played the Disney music from various films as you approach. A large moving Mickey statue greets you at the end. One of the best entrance/exit walkways I've experienced.

Overall I really enjoyed it. It felt fresh and spacious and very little queuing. They have old style fastpasses which I enjoyed using again.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Thanks for this - we will be there next month. I'll have a look at the tickets online as I had just thought about buying them there on the day.

[Forkbeard]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

Thanks for this - we will be there next month. I'll have a look at the tickets online as I had just thought about buying them there on the day.

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I was told by locals that the online price was the same as on the day, but was pleasantly surprised by the two day offer online. Hopefully the offer is still very cheap for you.

I got there very early (in true Disney fan style) and the queues for tickets were very short right up until opening. I reckon most folks were going the online route too.

There's a fair bit of hoarding up as they are developing the park, and the railroad wasn't doing a full circuit of the park as I recall.

It might be the smallest Disney resort but I came away having enjoyed myself

[Pumpkin Pie]

I knew the castle is being redeveloped. It doesn't really bother me that much - there was a fair bit of boarding up around the parks in Orlando when we were there a couple of years ago. I'm looking forward to it all!

[Silvercat]

We went in 2016 and loved this park, it was so pretty and very green and verdant. The backdrop of the mountains behind the castle were incredibly photogenic!

I agree with your comments about Mystic Manor, it is indeed trackless and very smooth, and such a fun ride, we loved this. We also were big fans of Big Grizzly and the storyline there is so funny, BTMR is one of our favourite rides so it was no surprise that we would be such fans of Big Grizzly. The whole area around there is so much fun to explore.

[Forkbeard]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

I knew the castle is being redeveloped. It doesn't really bother me that much - there was a fair bit of boarding up around the parks in Orlando when we were there a couple of years ago. I'm looking forward to it all!

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Totally agree.

Not sure if you've been to HK before but highly recommend Ngong Ping cable car and the big Buddha. On a sunny day mind

Make sure you go early to Ngong Ping... queue can be very long.

[Forkbeard]

Originally Posted by Silvercat

We went in 2016 and loved this park, it was so pretty and very green and verdant. The backdrop of the mountains behind the castle were incredibly photogenic!

I agree with your comments about Mystic Manor, it is indeed trackless and very smooth, and such a fun ride, we loved this. We also were big fans of Big Grizzly and the storyline there is so funny, BTMR is one of our favourite rides so it was no surprise that we would be such fans of Big Grizzly. The whole area around there is so much fun to explore.

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Yes, it is a lovely park and so much better than people often say. It deserves more praise.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by Forkbeard

Totally agree.

Not sure if you've been to HK before but highly recommend Ngong Ping cable car and the big Buddha. On a sunny day mind

Make sure you go early to Ngong Ping... queue can be very long.

See more...

No we have never been before. We are there 7 nights so hope to fit as much sightseeing as we can. We are going Singapore first.

[Forkbeard]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

No we have never been before. We are there 7 nights so hope to fit as much sightseeing as we can. We are going Singapore first.

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7 nights is plenty of time to see many great attractions.

[Lola]

Went to HK Disney last Dec and loved it. Similar to Paris in size but much nicer and to us it was like ‘old school’ Magic Kindom. Not too busy, clean and friendly. Lion King was great and Mystic Manor.