I realized after our last trip that Hong Kong is indeed one of my favorite cities. It is almost a good neighbor of Manila since it’s so near and there is still so much about it I want to explore in terms of food, shopping and places.
But I have to admit it was quite a downer visiting Hong Kong Disneyland when it’s raining. Riding the Orbitron in our raincoats wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.
My advice really is not to go to Hong Kong Disney during the rainy season, even though I can just imagine how crowded it is during the summer. Size-wise, I found this Disneyland quite small, must be only as large as our very own Enchanted Kingdom. I realized after visiting Hong Kong Disney that we are doing very well with Enchanted. It is just the legacy of the Disney name, the Disney “magic” and the way they market the Disney brand with an array of merchandising products that makes it such a hit with tourists.
Anyway, if you only have less than a day to tour Hong Kong Disney, it’s a small world is one of the theme resort’s newest attractions and definitely one of the highly-recommended rides. In a nutshell, it’s a boat trip guests take to replicas of the different regions of the world with their own landmarks and Audio-Animatronics dolls dressed in national costumes, singing “it’s a small world” in different languages, including Tagalog (kay liit lang ng mundo…..)
Not to be missed of course are your favorite Disney characters, including Peter Pan, Aladdin and Pinocchio who are making their appearance for the first time in this Asian edition of “it’s a small world.”
Prior to watching the show, we had fun watching the toys emerge from the Clock Tower in an entertaining parade.
Some words to describe “it’s a small world:”: enchanting! An eye-opening treat for children.
Other new attractions at Hong Kong Disney:
High School Musical: LIVE! Dance and sing with performers of High SChool Musical as they feature hit songs from the movie.
Turtle Talk with Crush. In an “under the sea” setting, the 150-year old turtle from Finding Nemo asks questions about the human world and answers the crowd’s questions about his digital underwater world.
I agree with Anna, insofar as the rain put quite a damper on our spirits at first. In truth, my anticipation came solely from being an Disneyland alumnus, think I was nine years old, on my last visit!
I appreciate the small size of the park, but really prefer traditional amusement park rides, more than the all-ages, Disney-branded attractions I saw. For me, Space Mountain is the Holy Grail of a Disney visit. That, and the Dumbo ride.
What did I like least? Poor food quality – if you’re going to charge amusement park prices, could you serve me food that tastes better, at least? Ugh. Popcorn and other sweet treats seem to be the only thing they got right.
When a Disneyland is as small as HK’s, the density of shops to attractions becomes more obvious. To be fair, you need shops and restaurants, if only as places to recharge your batteries, after hours in line for some of the attractions.
YMMV 😀
Thanks for the tips Ajay and Mr. Z! Our family is scheduled to be in HK Disneyland (Cebu Pacific “0” fare) on the last weekend of Nov. I really hope it doesn’t rain.
Linnor,
One more piece of advice – take turns going on the rides. Odd-numbered family units (there were five of us) get broken up, and adults fighting over rides can be an ugly scene 😉
Did you see an ugly scene of adults fighting over the rides? No, I didn’t. 😛 I did see one adult leaving another adult because the person wanted to get first dibs at the ride, leaving the companion behind. Ugh