Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris TR

[queenie82]

Pooh Bear, a Lion King and the rest of the night

After playing over at Tarzan’s Treehouse I returned to Adventureland. The Festival of the Lion King was on soon but not yet so I decided to go do something else first. I headed to Winnie the Pooh. I was mainly curious if there were any differences with this version of the ride. There are subtle differences between Disneyland and WDW – mainly the loading and the vehicle. Tokyo Disneyland is COMPLETELY different.

As I was moving through the queue getting run into after every move forward I took some photos. Photos were also being taken by the inconsiderate morons behind me, however their method was shove the camera in front to take the photo they could take when they moved forward two steps a minute later.

In any case they show that the queue is in essence the same as WDW, DL and Tokyo DL. These pages of the story book.

As for the ride I got my own vehicle, which was the same sort as found as WDW. The ride was entirely in English and identical to WDW.
After riding the one in Tokyo it is a little difficult to appreciate this ride the way I once did. A way to describe it is like a storyboard draft of the one in Tokyo. BUT…I do adore Tigger and I still love this ride.

After visiting Winnie the Pooh I went back to Adventureland to watch The Festival of the Lion King. The stage and seating set up is identical to WDW. The 4 key set pieces are the same. However…the show is not.
I filmed this show as I had a pretty good seat so I will do some screen capture later on. However, I did take a few photos at the end.

What has happened is essentially they have ‘simplified’ the show. The performers and costumes are much the same and everyone sings in English. However the key differences are
- There is no pointing out of which ‘section’ of the audience you are in. Wartog section, Lion section etc. This avoids the deafening screaming and ‘animal sounds’. I was really happy about this.
- It is a more literal story telling from scene to scene in the movie. All the key performers are Westerners who speak and sing in English. There is an amazing African woman singing that opening. Simba and Nala were dressed and performed like they do in WDW. There is no jumping monkey scene in the middle though as it is more story telling.

So how do they deal with the language barrier???
They have Monkeys…yes…literally a pair of Monkeys who come out between scenes to in essence translate what is happening in the story. These two guys would appear randomly and suddenly POW…here comes the Cantonese!! Which as always is a quite abrupt sounding language compared to English. But especially compared to the smooth and lyrical tones of The Lion King…it is quite jarring.

But I understand. This was about the easiest way to give them the beautiful show.
All in all it was great fun. But I do prefer the WDW version.

After Festival of the Lion King I went back through Adventureland to Tomorrowland to check on when Stitch Live would be on.
The ambiance in Adventureland after dark is beautiful but very hard to capture and I didn’t really have time to set up with my mini tripod but this gives you the idea.

Again…very reminiscent of Animal Kingdom (to me at least)

When I got to Stitch Live I discovered the English version would be on after 7pm so I continued on to get some dinner. I returned to what I had noticed earlier in the day in Tomorrowland. The Starliner Diner. As it seemed to have slightly more ‘Western’ Food.

Here I got a Pork Chop burger. Which was very nice, although also rather strange. It was a nice chunk of meat but it didn’t taste like a Pork Chop. It also had a strange almost BBQ type sauce which didn’t seem to really go with it.
But as a place to eat I would recommend it. The quality was fine. Just a bit strange is all.

So after eating it was time to get a place for Tinkerbell lighting the castle. This I video recorded so (again) I will at some point do screen capture. However I found a nice place to brace myself against a pole while watching the show and take my night castle photos.

The Lighting was a typical one. Not very long but a nice little ‘event’.
Afterwards I went back to Stitch Live and a show was about to start which was great. All in English and a typical shy kid in the front chosen. The father was of Asian descent but spoke English fluently and played his role of telling Stitch his son’s name etc.
Stitch himself was great. One of the better versions I’ve been to. The photo of ‘that guy’ was PRICELESS. The look on his face.

After playing with Stitch I returned to the hub to set up for the fireworks show. This again I filmed and it was a great show. But I did find it difficult finding a great spot. Everything is very similar to Disneyland. But although I looked around the typical areas it seemed there were fewer bins around? I’m not sure. I set up next to the pole but by half way through my arm was getting very tired.

So…that was the conclusion to the day. The park was then closed and it was SHOPPING time. This is when you realise how many people were in the park!!! Yikes!!!

I’ll add my final thoughts and a few more photos a bit later…

 

[queenie82]

Shopping

I had been shopping gradually during the day. This was largely because I collect pins and had discovered, only on arrival, that they do pin trading here.
I soon discovered the pin tins which were 1 – the best value and 2 – were GREAT pins to collect. I traded for some lovely pins and had a decent collection by before park closing time.

During the day I had also gone to a shop in Adventureland, which had a special on T-shirts where if you got 4 shirts you got 60% off all of them. Great deal. Got 2 Tron shirts, a glow in the dark Halloween shirt, and a Scrump shirt (only fans of a particular movie would know who that is.)
I had also collected a couple of Chinese New Year themed goodies on sale.

What I MOSTLY discovered is that you should look in EVERY shop. Each shop would have a different offer or selection. The T-Shirt sale was only at that one store. At most stores there were offers where you could buy some product for 50% off if you spent a certain amount. Nothing as good as the Throw Rug or Fleece blanket or Bag offers found at WDW. But still nice kids products, which would make great presents.
But EACH store was usually a different product. Some didn’t have the offer. It really did vary a lot.

So when the park closed my target was the Main Street Stores. But this was clearly the target of everyone else in the park as well!! The stores were packed.

Now, I have seen a bit worse before. But it was just given the ‘apparent’ crowd the number of people was surprising. But I think it is important to remember this is a “1 day” park with no Downtown Disney. So these shops are your only shops unless you hike it over to the hotels.

I gradually worked my way around and got a bag to carry my goodies around in. I was mainly getting pins. There were SOOO many lovely ones. Chinese dressed characters. Stitch ones. Then…I spotted it. Mega pins!!!
Mega pins are beautiful. I had only ever gotten one. A Stitch one that came in a tin. It’s very special to me. Traded for rather than bought.
But they are generally quite expensive, so I’d never bought one before.
This time I saw a beautiful one though and not very expensive even though it is a LE. I will definitely say that pins in HKDL really are a reasonable price. Paris is the most expensive. The US is average, but certainly for collectible tin pins and larger pins Hong Kong was cheaper.
Overall I was quite happy with the price of things in Hong Kong Disneyland. It might just be because the dollar is doing pretty well. But it wasn’t too bad. I remember in HS my friends were getting I think about a 5-1 with the HK dollar. Now it’s about 7-1.

(I might take some better photos but this is it)

The box…

The LE card

The Pin

After my shopping it was about 8:45pm and there was no sign if things actually closing. So I went over to the Photo shop to have a look at the photo taken at the start of the day. It was also crowded so I waited about 10mins to get to look at the photos. To say I was unimpressed is putting it mildly. You see THEY mess with it and ‘frame’ it artificially like you can with photo pass. They had taken 2 ‘normal’ shots and 1 at an angle. The angled one they had twisted to look like I was kissing mickey…but the ‘frame’ had Minnie’s signature??? Go figure…

Anyway…it seemed popular but I wasn’t impressed.

So by the time I finished all that it was 9pm. I had a decision to make. I had planned to visit at least one hotel in the morning but decided to stay at the entry area. So at 9pm would I still go visit at least the Disneyland Hotel? I still had about a 40min train journey back to the hotel.

I decided to walk over to the Disneyland hotel following the sign. It took a little longer than I expected. About 15min. But I got there and had a bit of a look around.

It is largely based on the Grand Floridian. It has the caged lift and is a grand white building. I think the proportions and layout are a bit different. But it is completely themed like the Grand Floridian

Entry Foyer Chandelier

Entry Foyer Mickey and Minnie

Side entry staircase Chandeliers. (Go into the foyer and turn right and walk down the corridor)

I had a bit of a look around the shop then decided to call it a night. There is a shuttle that loops Station – DLH – Hollywood Hotel.
I went down to the bus stop and there was one due in about 7 minutes. This was the view looking back up to the entry from the busstop

The Bus then went to the Hollywood hotel with was very nice looking from the outside but I was too tired to have a look around.

I then arrived back to the MRT station and waited about 10mins for a train back to Tsim Sha Tsui (via Sunny Bay and Lai King.)
While there weren’t many people around there was another group of teenage girls and various other people using the trains still. I thought I might feel nervous about it being late but I felt safe travelling within the MRT system. I don’t know if I were getting off somewhere else I would have felt safe. But I felt fine getting off at Tsim Sha Tsui and walking back to the hotel.

The next day was the most fun….packing!!!


Post Script –
I was all in all happy with Hong Kong Disneyland. It is a lovely park with its own unique charms. Certainly on a quiet day you can enjoy it quite well without the ‘problems’ it has. However, I would never make a special trip to this park. As lovely as it is the cost of a trip to Hong Kong is not much less than going to the US. Especially with all the sale airfares that have been going.

I think you have to be a Disney geek as well to appreciate Hong Kong for what it is and see past what it lacks. I could have been much more critical of it not having this and that…but I chose to mainly look at what it did have and what I thought of those things.

 

[shushh]

HKDL looked so lush. I don't why that surprised me so much!

That pin is just phenomenal. I LOVE it!!!! Did they have the other chinese animal horoscopes or only the rabbit? Excuse my ignorance but what is LE? And so the shops remained open even though the parks were closed? HKDL is starting to sound better and better...

OK, I need to know from the Disney commando queen. Do you think we could just "wander" around? Or do you suggest I devise a plan of of attack?

 

[PrincessInOz]

That resort looks nice. Are there any others? Just wondering ... for the other thread.

And I think LE = limited edition. Yes..same question as shushh....any other chinese horoscope animals? Even better - did they offer a set of all 12 animals?

 

[queenie82]

HKDL looked so lush. I don't why that surprised me so much!

That pin is just phenomenal. I LOVE it!!!! Did they have the other chinese animal horoscopes or only the rabbit? Excuse my ignorance but what is LE? And so the shops remained open even though the parks were closed? HKDL is starting to sound better and better...

OK, I need to know from the Disney commando queen. Do you think we could just "wander" around? Or do you suggest I devise a plan of of attack?

LE - Limited Edition.
The stuff was all Year of the Rabbit. I'm a Dog and damn proud of it so was on the look out for Dog stuff but I didn't see any. [If you do...pwetty pwease can I have something!!!]
The only 'star sign' stuff I saw was actually 'normal' star signs. Taurus, Aries etc...

Yes the shops in the park (in Main Street) were open until 9pm.
That is the MAIN shops. The Grand Emporium type. So long as there are enough people they seem to keep the Emporium and photo shop open. But I really think it has to do with there being no Downtown Disney.

The food places were all doors closed pretty much though. But remember this wasn't at 8pm. This was 8:10-8:15 - as in after the fireworks.
They were just letting people finish up eating etc. But no other people were being let in.

As for wandering. I would advise doing Autopia early because it is such a slow loading ride. I would have some kind of plan for doing shows. As in when they might best fit in. But you've seen the full Golden Mickeys a few times so I wouldn't panic about it.

The Weekends do still get busy and even some weekdays can be busier than others. But generally weekdays are quiet. This was a Monday.

I wouldn't go in with WDW planning. But perhaps some idea of what you want to do. Especially if you want Character interaction I would look carefully at that. That was one thing that ALWAYS had a queue. The Rapunzel and Tinkerbelle meet and greets had queues. And obviously Mickey and Minnie.

I would mainly aim to have fun though :

 

[queenie82]

That resort looks nice. Are there any others? Just wondering ... for the other thread.

And I think LE = limited edition. Yes..same question as shushh....any other chinese horoscope animals? Even better - did they offer a set of all 12 animals?

There is the Disneyland Hotel and the Hollywood Hotel.
They are both pretty expensive and from memory room options are limited.
Obviously the Disneyland Hotel is the 'best' one though.

 

[PrincessInOz]

LE - Limited Edition.
The stuff was all Year of the Rabbit. I'm a Dog and damn proud of it so was on the look out for Dog stuff but I didn't see any. [If you do...pwetty pwease can I have something!!!]
The only 'star sign' stuff I saw was actually 'normal' star signs. Taurus, Aries etc...

Woof! Woof!

(sorry...couldn't resist)

 

[queenie82]

Woof! Woof!

(sorry...couldn't resist)

Woof Woof back...

Let me guess....hmmm....you're a Dragon?
Just basing on character is all

 

[queenie82]

Oh...and if anyone is wondering...
I used the Comm Bank Mastercard/Travel Card at Disneyland Paris as well as Hong Kong Disneyland (with Euro and HK dollars loaded on) without any trouble.
Everything seemed to go through fine.
Whenever I used it I just signed for the purchase.

BUT...At Hong Kong Disneyland there were some Visa Card offers so keep that in mind.
I didn't really think about it before departure but I don't actually have a Visa Card other than my Debit Card and I didn't want to use it. Plus I already had HK dollars loaded ready to use that I wanted to use.

And in terms of what things cost. The T-shirts full price were HK$160 (about $20) and because I got 4 of them I got 60% off. So about $8 a shirt :

 

[shushh]

Those prices are great for Disney T-shirts! If I see any Dog pins, I shall buy one...any other requests??!?! Princess?

By the way, I'm a dragon. Can you tell?!?!?!

 

[queenie82]

Castle Lighting and Fireworks

These two events I filmed with an HD Video Camera. Ideally I’d get photo and video but there is only one of me and while I managed to do it for the parade (still yet to check that video though) it is impossible to do at night. So I went with Video.
There are a couple of reasons for this. I know many people prefer photos because they look at them more as opposed to video. However, for me there is something that video provides that photos can’t – the music.
For me music is a BIG part of what makes Disney special. Through the help of others as well as my own purchases I have an extensive collection of Disney music. More specifically – Disney PARK music. You might not always pay attention…but trust me…if the music wasn’t there, you’d notice it. The music is everywhere all the time.

Anyway, Firework and Parade music is always wonderful as it typically takes classic film scores and blends them into a magical 10-15min score. It strips out the lyrics and you get lush and flourishing instruments instead.

Enough about my music obsession though…I went through my footage of these 2 events and here is my screen capture. You don’t get the worlds greatest photos with it…but some are pretty good. With more time and a more careful frame by frame look I might do better.

Castle Lighting

A little wander through Tomorrowland

 

[queenie82]

The Fireworks

 

[queenie82]

Fireworks continued

 

[queenie82]

Fireworks Finale

 

[queenie82]

Oh...and by the way...they say Big Buddha can see these every night (as long as it is a pretty clear night.)

Lucky guy!!

 

[queenie82]

Those prices are great for Disney T-shirts! If I see any Dog pins, I shall buy one...any other requests??!?! Princess?

By the way, I'm a dragon. Can you tell?!?!?!

Thanks very much

I would say yes given how driven and determined and ambitious you are. I think we are all in awe of planning a trip for 21 people

It's hard doing the 'picking' in reverse but I'm scarily similar to most of the traits you see about dogs

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh...and by the way...they say Big Buddha can see these every night (as long as it is a pretty clear night.)

Lucky guy!!

Great fireworks shots Queenie. Thanks for sharing.

Those prices are great for Disney T-shirts! If I see any Dog pins, I shall buy one...any other requests??!?! Princess?

By the way, I'm a dragon. Can you tell?!?!?!

Shushh - if there are the complete 12 set, I'd love one of those. Otherwise, rat, dragon and snake fill my household. THANKS!!
If you do find them, I might need to see if I can come up and personally collect them........now.....how to sell that to DH and DS?...

 

[queenie82]

Shushh - PrincessinOz just reminded me...
I'd need a Monkey to go with my Dog [so appropriate him being a Monkey...]

As I say I don't recall seeing anything other than the Rabbit. But it was only a few weeks after the start of Chinese New year so they were still very much focused on Rabbit.
By May they could well have more variety.

Thanks so much for that

 

[queenie82]

Great fireworks shots Queenie. Thanks for sharing.

You are MOST welcome

If you do find them, I might need to see if I can come up and personally collect them........now.....how to sell that to DH and DS?...

Good luck with that
Start dropping the hints now so it is HIS idea

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good luck with that
Start dropping the hints now so it is HIS idea

Second term holidays might seem an appropriate entry point for the discussion....