CA Regulars have you been to Hong Kong Disney?

[Sarahelizabeth]

I know this is the CA board but as a CA regular I'm putting this here to get CA regulars opinion of Hong Kong Disney and how you liked it compared to Anaheim? I'm tagging along with my husband on a work trip to the Philippines and while he is working I'm doing a solo trip. I'm staying at the Disneyland Hotel and doing one day at the park. Space Mountain is down which I'm super bummed about because I wanted to compare it to our version but oh, well. Anyone have any tips on special things not to miss or see? I consider myself a pro at LL here so the fact that they don't have any time based reservation system is wild to me! I'm going to buy the Premier Pass and early entry. (When I was planning my trip to Disney World I loved to hear the CA regulars opinions on the differences between the two so hope this is okay to post here.)

 

[LKing]

How exciting! @indoshakespeare recently posted a trip report about their visit to our Disneyland. I'm not sure how often @indoshakespeare reads these boards, but it sounds like they visit HK Disneyland relatively often.

 

[maleficent55]

Ordinary adventures went last year and did two great videos on it! They do a lot of talking, comparing, etc
Worth checking out

 

[MartyParty]

I know this is the CA board but as a CA regular I'm putting this here to get CA regulars opinion of Hong Kong Disney and how you liked it compared to Anaheim? I'm tagging along with my husband on a work trip to the Philippines and while he is working I'm doing a solo trip. I'm staying at the Disneyland Hotel and doing one day at the park. Space Mountain is down which I'm super bummed about because I wanted to compare it to our version but oh, well. Anyone have any tips on special things not to miss or see? I consider myself a pro at LL here so the fact that they don't have any time based reservation system is wild to me! I'm going to buy the Premier Pass and early entry. (When I was planning my trip to Disney World I loved to hear the CA regulars opinions on the differences between the two so hope this is okay to post here.)

It's been a while since we visited Hong Kong Disney but will share a few thoughts. We stayed a couple of times at the Disneyland Hotel and found it very charming. Kinda a Grand Floridian but not exactly.

Not sure how much time you have but the MTR train will take you into to downtown Hong Kong. I think it's about an hour ride and the station is right there at Disneyland. Hong Kong is a lovely city with shops, restaurants, site seeing, etc.

Enjoy!

 

[OKW Lover]

I'll chime in here even though I'm not a DL regular. For background, I'm a WDW regular but have visited DL several times and consider myself quite familiar with its charm. Also, I've only been to HKDL once and that was a few years ago.

I found HKDL to be charming. Almost as charming as I find DL. There are some really good attractions there, notably Mystic Manor, that have no equivalent in other parks. We found the park to be well maintained and clean.

 

[indoshakespeare]

How exciting! @indoshakespeare recently posted a trip report about their visit to our Disneyland. I'm not sure how often @indoshakespeare reads these boards, but it sounds like they visit HK Disneyland relatively often.

Hong Kong and Japan are the only Disney Resorts where we can go without having to apply for a visa so we go there relatively often. The biggest downside to Hong Kong Disneyland is there is no Downtown Disney so restaurant and shop options are not that many (limited to the ones in the park and the hotels). You have to go take the MTR to either Tsing Yi or Tung Chung to find non-Disney restaurants.

 

[Sarahelizabeth]

It's been a while since we visited Hong Kong Disney but will share a few thoughts. We stayed a couple of times at the Disneyland Hotel and found it very charming. Kinda a Grand Floridian but not exactly.

Not sure how much time you have but the MTR train will take you into to downtown Hong Kong. I think it's about an hour ride and the station is right there at Disneyland. Hong Kong is a lovely city with shops, restaurants, site seeing, etc.

Enjoy!

Thank you! I do have a day to explore the city too. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[MartyParty]

Thank you! I do have a day to explore the city too. I'm really looking forward to it!

Jealous!

Our family really like HK DL and enjoyed Hong Kong. We used to live in Perth which made it our closest Disney destination. If time is limited and you're not familiar with Hong Kong, you might consider paying for a tour. That's the most efficient way to see the sights.

Oh, and as for the lining up for rides and attractions at HK DL something to consider. It was customary for the locals to think nothing of skipping in front of others while in line. Our family would form a four-person wide line to block this type of behavior. It wasn't constant but it did occur from time to time. When it did occur, we tended to let it go and not cause a fuss. My wife's a rule follower and it would really aggravate her. Perhaps it's different now.

 

[Piglet99645]

I was there in August 2006. For what it's worth, bring an umbrella. For the heat.

We thoroughly enjoyed our one day there. It was like DL, only a bit smaller. Things may have changed. Have fun!

 

[SPINster]

I went to HKDL in March 2024. I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely smaller, but still had a lot to love about it. Lines are sooooo much shorter than the U.S. parks, we went two days and were able to do everything the first day without any premiere passes.

Best:
-Mystic Manor (Albert is my new fave niche Disney character)
-Grizzley Gulch
-Frozen Ever After is an improvement on the Epcot version
-Ant-Man and the Wasp (their version of Buzz) tech is SO MUCH BETTER OH MY GOD.
-Momentous is a great castle show
-Rare (to the US) characters! Esmerelda, Koda and Kanai, Duffy and Friends, King Louie, etc

Disappointing:
-Honestly, their Space Mountain is so boring, you aren't missing anything
-The character interactions were good but many of the lines are SO INCREDIBLY LONG. And inefficient. The Duffy characters are 2+ hours each.
-The parade is basically a cavalcade, though they are getting a new anniversary parade soon.
-Oaken's Sleds coaster. May be the shortest ride in any Disney park. The Barnstormer is more substantial

Other tips-
-Keep an eye out for the PUSH trash can-he's often in Tomorrowland.
-If you've ever wanted to do a VIP tour, they are so much less expensive. I think we paid less than $1500 total.
-There's a shuttle to the park, or you can walk (it's about a 15 minute walk). If you walk, you enter from a different side and there's NO ONE there, so you can get photos of the "Hong Kong Disneyland Arch" solo. It's really nice to walk back at the end of the day, without any people!
-There's really nothing around the area, other than the hotels and park. So food options are limited.

 

[indoshakespeare]

They used to have the electrical parade before Covid. It was wondeful. Now they only have the cavalcade

 

[robinb]

I went to HKDL a long time ago. My DD25 spent her 8th birthday there. One of the things that I remember was the Jungle Cruise had different lines for different languages. We picked the non-English side and laughed along with all the jokes we knew the skipper was saying.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

It's been awhile but some of the things I remember liking abour HKDL are that the wait times were not long. We also walked up to the parade five minutes before it started and got a great spot, no camping out like the other parks. It was fun to get different merchandise especially the Duffy and friends stuff. The one thing I was a bit surprised about is that they closed some lands early. So if the park closed at 9pm that didn't mean all the lands and rides were open until 8 some were closed at 7. I really liked it there, it was much less stressful than DL. There is a walkway behind the hotels that looks onto the ocean which was a nice little walk if you have some hotel time.

 

[Corveyep]

That sounds like an amazing trip! While HK Disneyland is definitely smaller than Anaheim, it has some cool differences, like the awesome Mystic Manor ride (think Haunted Mansion vibes but with a unique twist) and the incredible food options—definitely try the dim sum in the park. Since you're used to LL, it'll be a bit of an adjustment without it, but the queues tend to move faster than you might expect. For special experiences, try to catch the parades and shows—HK Disney has some of the best visual storytelling. And even though Space Mountain is down, you can still enjoy rides like Hyperspace Mountain or Grizzly Gulch. Have an amazing time, and let me know if you want more tips!