Hong Kong Holiday 2009 Review Part 3 - Hong Kong Disneyland

So this review is a little late. I didn't realise that I hadn't blogged about it yet. So here goes..

Hong Kong Disneyland far exceeded our expectation. We hear a lot of ppl putting HK Disneyland down - like how small it is and how expensive it is and how the mainlanders makes the whole park worse.

Well yes the park is smaller than the other Disney parks around the world but that doesn't mean there's nothing to do there and I truly believe those who say there's nothing to do there may have visited the park when it first opened prior to the additions of new rides.

And yes it is expensive to visit the park. But hey it's a theme park, give me one theme park that doesn't over charge for everything. And frankly it's still cheaper than the themeparks at Gold Coast, Australia. Foodwise it's also cheaper than the Gold Coast parks.

Mainlanders...yes there's a lot of them, but I was pleasantly surprised not to see any spitting or squatting. Although that last part is probably cos there's a lot of seats around the park. The only bad thing abt the said mainlanders is that they don't know how to line up. They see an empty spot in front of you and they just push right through like they have some kind of homing device attached to them. Wait till they push or stick out an arm across your chest like you're not even there. That's pretty annoying. Other than that most of the park guests were 'well behaved'.

The Christmas decorations and the lights were beautiful. Especially the castle and the fireworks. It's

definitely a great time to go. Just like the other Disney parks, the It's a Small World ride is jazzed up for the festive season. There are also minor differences in the rides in HK to the ones in the parks I've been to. For example the Winnie the Pooh ride here has bumps and bouncing rather than just a smooth ride. And the Jungle Cruise is bigger and more intense. Lion King show is also different - then again maybe it's just been updated.

The hotel there is perfect. There really isn't anything I can complain about it. The buffets were good and I loved how they left little gifts in the room for you to take home like the animal handkerchief towels and hotel slippers that had the mickey mouse logo on it - in adult size and children's size too! At the time there was a special promotion where guests who stay at the hotel get an extra day at the park for free. Don't forget to make a little time to view the hotel gardens as it's quite pretty. Behind Disney Hollywood Hotel there's also a playground and swimming pool.

If you do go there, I suggest go early to the park and hit Dumbo ride at Fantasyland first or Autopia at Tomorrowland. These two rides always have a 20 minutes wait for them. Winnie the Pooh ride can sometimes have a queue too, so hit that after Dumbo while you're in Fantasyland. Tip number 2, Autopia has two lines which aren't the same. If you have the time, go back in and try them both. If you don't have time then we found the right line is better. Merchandise wise keep your eyes open for purchase with purchase specials. There's also different specials at each store and even the store at the hotel. Also don't miss out on the red HKD100 goodie bags whose values could even exceed HKD300. It's definitely worth it. We got so many good stuff from them.