My family of four (me, spouse, 15 year old boy, and 13 year old girl) just returned from Hong Kong, a fantastic week that included one day at Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL). We live in northern California and have been to California's Disneyland/DCA three times in the past eight years, so that was our frame of reference for the park. We are non-Chinese Westerners and occasionally felt that acutely while at HKDL!
I started researching HKDL about two months in advance of our trip, which was late February - still the Lunar New Year festive period, but after the Hong Kong school holidays. There are a few Asia-based bloggers who cover it in English, there’s one Facebook page in English, and I referenced Robert Niles’ report of the World of Frozen media opening, but overall I was struck by how little there was online compared to Anaheim. My research focused on checking wait times in the app, which was imperfect because of the time difference (I was only awake for the first couple hours it was open!) and the major holiday period that transpired just before our arrival, making it hard to tell what was normal. I felt underprepared when developing our touring plan compared to the exact science of prepping a Disneyland day!
Disney opened the schedule with opening and closing times about three months in advance, so I could see the dates with tier pricing, and show schedules were live about a month in advance. However, the ride closure information was not posted until about three weeks in advance of the date range I was considering. While I had been prepared to buy our tickets and make the date reservation about a month in advance, I could see online that no dates were sold out that far in advance, so I held off, waiting for that closure schedule. Our top priority ride was Mystic Manor - and it turned out it did have a closure posted for one of our potential dates, the Wednesday option. I was concerned the closure might roll over to Thursday, so I ended up booking our one day ticket and reservation for Friday, a Tier 2 day (second cheapest), whereas Wednesday and Thursday were Tier 3 days (more expensive). I tried unsuccessfully to buy online on the HKDL website, but our U.S. credit card transaction consistently failed! So I was driven to Klook, an Asia-based travel agency platform, which had no problems with our credit card. The tickets cost approximately $90 USD per person. The email confirmation from Klook was ambiguous about if I needed to make a separate date reservation through Disney (online chat results differed from the email wording), so I was sweating this point until we walked through the turnstile, and they scanned our printed QR codes. I’m here to tell you, if you book one day through Klook, the reservation is included.
We took the MTR (subway - good headways, clean, and cheap) from central Hong Kong Island, which took about 50 minutes to the transfer station to the special HKDL short line MTR. It is very cute with Mickey theming.
That train was packed though, and I got my first shove in Hong Kong there. (Local friends warned us about this.) It’s a 10-minute walk from the DL station to the security line. You don’t see it when leaving the station to head to Disneyland, but there is a big transit plaza just behind the station, with multiple bus lines, hotel shuttles, and taxi stands.
There were plenty of staff around directing us into lines. There were special, much shorter, lines for hotel guests. Security was about 10 minutes, then we proceeded to the turnstiles, which was probably another 10 minute wait, during which I held my breath about the reservation question. We made it through no problem, and they don’t take your photo - just scan the code. You come out right at the flower display embankment with Disneyland RR on top, very much like Anaheim. It was a few minutes after the stated opening time of 10am at this point.
We already knew that Mystic Manor (MM) opened a bit later than some of the park, and we weren’t trying to rope drop World of Frozen. Apparently that does happen since there was an announcement about not running. (All signage and announcements are in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.) We just strolled down Main Street, marveling at how like Anaheim its design felt, and headed into the tiny Tomorrowland. We walked onto Hyperspace Mountain (virtually identical to Anaheim), Ant Man (Buzz Lightyear dupe), and Iron Man (Star Tours dupe). Ant Man and Iron Man have Hong Kong overlays which I thought was cute, but my family seemed to find cringe. 13, spouse, and I are all prone to motion sickness, but Iron Man didn’t cause us big problems - although we had no desire to press our luck and ride again. Huge line for the Astro Orbiter ride for the kiddies while we were walking onto the big-kid rides there.
It was after 10:30 so we headed over to MM, crossing the main plaza for the first but not the last time that day. It was a short wait to get on, maybe 10 minutes, and we were enjoying the ride experience greatly when it broke down! That’s actually never happened to me before. It was about a 10 minute wait with the lights on for the employees to come around and let us all out. We had to follow them out the exit like a row of ducklings. Staff at the exit handed everyone one paper priority return ticket.
It was after 11. We were in the neighborhood, so we went over to Rivers of Adventure/Jungle Cruise. It was about a 20 minute wait (posted 10), and there is just one line. The skippers say everything in three languages, and it is a bit difficult to understand through the garbled PA. However, it has some surprises and is a little longer ride, compared to Anaheim, and it’s worth doing.
We strolled through Toy Story Land thinking we might do a ride, but all the lines were 40+ minutes. RC Racer has a very deceptive queue formation, well hidden. It went down multiple times that day. We didn’t end up doing any of those three rides, and that land feels quite crowded.
Somehow it was close to noon, and we were ready for lunch. I, a vegetarian, had a list of entrees I could eat at the various restaurants, but the only one with options for all four of us was Royal Banquet Hall. It is huge, and we were not previously aware that it has separate lines for different parts of the menu, nor is this clear until you get in line and get close enough to read the overhead menus. I could only get my vegetarian item in one line, while my family stood in another. They got food after about 30 minutes: husband and 13 found their meals (pork chop/rice, and meat lovers pizza) satisfactory in taste and size and reasonably priced by Disney standards; 13 got a kids meal which she reported to be yucky. I, on the other hand, found my line had barely moved after 30 minutes and was forced to bail out. HKDL needs mobile ordering! I had brought power bars with me and ate one with a Diet Coke for lunch; it kept me going but it was not delicious and I’m still annoyed. There was insufficient seating and only with both kids searching for a table did we have one by the time we sat down. Then there were people hovering over us the entire time. They have to rethink this part of the experience. I really wanted to buy their lunch! We also had a problem with being double charged at checkout (they said card was declined and so we gave them a second card, but actually both were charged). Spouse and I decided to skip dinner at this point (or at least skip dinner in the park), not wanting to spend more time in line.
After lunch, we started criss-crossing the park looking for things to do that involved short lines and/or sitting. We tried to go to the Mickey’s Wondrous Book show but got to the queue too late - they closed the line about 20 minutes before the show. The kids did the tea cups (20 minute queue) while my spouse and I prudently sat out.
Our 15 yo decided to work on his Ant Man score and went back on his own. The rest of us rode It’s a Small World (15 minute queue, posted at 10), nobody’s favorite ride, but we liked this version a lot - it felt longer and more engaging than Anaheim, with some touches of inclusivity like figures in wheelchairs. Then we popped by Arendelle, which was small, cute, and packed - we did not attempt any rides. An odd thing I noticed there - other than the decision to call the land “World of Frozen” instead of Arendelle, which I will not honor - is that it’s challenging to get good photos of the land. There is a high barrier in front of the lake so kids’ heads don’t reach over the top of it, thus you can’t take a nice photo of your family by the lake, and the big glacier backdrop is mostly obscured by the castle. Strange design choices although it looks nice at ground level.
We looked for a Castle of Magical Dreams walk-through but there wasn't one - there was a “random princess” (employee’s words) meet and greet in the castle and the line wasn’t too long. I would have done it but my 13 yo felt herself to be past that experience. The Fairytale Forest was a small walk-through that 15 hated with every fiber of his being - many slow people taking all the boring photos slowed us down. We did our second ride on MM, and it didn’t break down on us! A solid family ride. I’m happy we got back to it when we did since it went down again later. We caught a bit of Mickey’s Lunar New Year performance in front of the castle in our perambulations, a showbizzy Chinese pop music number. We all rode the railroad halfway, nothing special or surprising.
By 3 PM, I was starving. We got off the railroad at Main Street and I charged up to the Main Street Bakery. I would have preferred the Main Street Corner Cafe, but its line was much longer. The Bakery is actually a Maxim’s (Hong Kong bakery chain) in disguise. We all got sugary and very expensive bakery treats, plus I ordered a piece of pizza-ish flatbread for “health”. I asked for a cup of water and the answer was no (in just the one language). At the bakery, we paid with the same US credit card that was declined earlier. We just crashed on the curb right in front of the bakery to eat, when the PA came on to announce in three languages that the parade would begin in 30 minutes. My husband pointed out that the announcement was specific about it being “Mickey and SOME friends,” and he was correct to flag that as a clue. But we were tired enough to want to linger over our snack and thought we might as well wait for it. During the course of the snack, my 13 yo lost her last baby tooth on her white chocolate coated Elsa croissant. My husband advised her to drop it down the grate we were perched over. She spent the rest of the time on the curb pressing a napkin wad to her bloody mouth: a golden family memory!
People definitely packed in as the parade time of 3:45 got closer, but although I was braced for chaos, everyone was fairly respectful of personal space (unlike the time in Anaheim when someone parked their stroller in front of me and one of my kids sitting on the curb waiting for the parade). We were elbow to elbow, though. The parade approached! Boisterous music in English. First some dancers, who seemed talented and energetic to my untrained eye. Then it was two circus type wagons, one with Mickey and Minnie and one with Duffy and friends. And then the parade was over. That was not worth waiting for!
I’d set an alarm on my phone for the remaining showtimes for Lion King and Mickey’s Wondrous Book, and we decided to try Lion King, which I was pushing for since I had never seen either the movie or the stage show. It was a mob in the waiting enclosure a half hour before the show, but we got in, towards the back. It is a huge theater in the round, well designed for visibility. I don’t want to spoil the show, but we all found it very enjoyable, great stagecraft with some surprises. The dialogue was in English with some live translation (I assume in Cantonese) provided by one character, plus unobtrusive overhead monitors for Chinese subtitles. Of course, there were high quality Disney performers who seemed to be live singing. Way too many people in the audience were videoing the ENTIRE THING. As 13 whispered to me, “they are never going to watch that again”. I tried to rise above it and not let it distract me too much, and I embarrassed 15 greatly by singing aloud to “Hakuna Matata.” It’s a singalong, right? Right?
15 fled from us after the show, back to Ant Man where he was determined to improve his score. And he did - after his 10-12 total rides, he got up into the 700,000+ range! He asked an employee what the high score was, but they declined to tell him (perhaps a language barrier). We met him over there for one more ride as a family where he delighted in crushing us. He stayed at Ant Man while spouse, 13, and I tackled Animation Academy in Cantonese. Luckily Minnie transcends language!
Via the app, I was keeping an eye on our final hoped-for important rides - Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars and Frozen Ever After. Neither had dropped below 60 minutes until now - Grizzly was at 45 and Frozen was at 50. We decided to tackle the Grizzly as a family and zipped over there. Wait was still 45 when we got there, but we ultimately got on after about 35 minutes, or a little after 7 PM. No spoilers, but worth the wait! I wish that crowds had been fewer so we could have ridden that again, but I was anxious to do the Frozen ride - the only one in existence so far - before Arendelle closed at 8. I was also afraid they would close the queue early, so three of us sprinted over there while 15 decided to close out Ant Man. We made it into the queue no problem, and it didn’t seem like they closed it until much closer to 8 (as opposed to getting all the guests on by 8). Posted wait was 45 and we got on in 25. Very fun ride with terrific Frozen theming and a few surprising thrill elements! It inspired 13 to watch the movie for the first time in years on the flight home.
We’d been flirting with the idea of staying for Momentous, but by the time we got off Frozen at 8, our feet and motivation were dunzo. They start closing areas and exits around 8 pm; we were at the back of the park, separated from 15, and we all got confused about how to get out. It was quite dark in patches and disorienting, but we made it eventually! When we walked past the castle at 8:30, the plaza was packed with people sitting down waiting for Momentous. They looked tired and sad. We had no wish to stay for it.
We took a taxi back to our hotel from the transit plaza behind the train station for about $300 HKD, payable in cash, which we had earlier withdrawn from the ATM near City Hall on Main Street USA. Even though the park had been so busy, there was no wait for a taxi since we were gone before the show. It was around a 20-minute ride.
My total step count was around 7 miles, comparable to a day at one of the Anaheim parks even though this is way smaller. Lots of criss-crossing the park to find the shortest line (which didn't exist).
Expect some attempts at line-cutting. We formed a wall with our family of 4 once we caught onto it. If you’re a smaller party, you will have to be very vigilant!
We got dehydrated even though we had two water bottles with us. There were refilling stations at most restroom areas, usually with lines, but I only saw one actual water fountain in the entire park (in Arendelle). Bring a bottle per person, and I can’t emphasize this enough - bring in enough food to keep you alive for the day. Food is allowed, just nothing that needs heating. I saw security stop someone with a few cups of noodles in their bag!
The wifi worked okay, but dropped us frequently, maybe due to the volume of users on our busy day. Luckily we had bought eSims through 3 (the local carrier) and that basically worked well for our weeklong trip with some caveats unrelated to data - data was plentiful, so we were able to access the app throughout the day.
If you are using a non-HK credit card, have a backup payment method ready in case your card is declined in-park, either a secondary card or cash.
I would definitely suggest trying to go midweek if it works for your schedule, since my research showed wait times were lower then, and if the rides you want aren’t going to be closed. The entire park is usually closed Wednesdays, except for holiday periods. I would definitely avoid HK school holidays.
Plan well in advance for women’s bathroom breaks - lines were far out the door almost the entire day. Interesting side note, in my week in HK using public facilities in malls, stores, and museums, HKDL was the only venue I saw with squat toilets. Curiously, 15 reported (to us, not to the authorities) someone smoking in the men’s restroom (!).
I estimate at least half of the female guests were in some sort of dress-up, from Disney t-shirts (guilty) to mild cosplay to full costume of some sort. Feel free to pile on the flair!
Best rides for us: Big Grizzly Mountain (all four of us agreed it was our #1), Frozen Ever After (#2 for 13, spouse, and me), and Ant-Man (#2 for 15). Hyperspace Mountain, although identical to Anaheim’s version, was its expected awesome coaster self. Lion King was our best (and only) show.
We had such high hopes for Mystic Manor, and while it was good, breaking down 2/3rds through our first time meant that the surprises were spoiled for us when we finally got to complete the ride. Alas, that’s how it goes sometimes… hakuna matata.
My overall impression is that HKDL is Disneyland with a Chinese overlay. It was fun to compare and contrast with our California parks, and I’m glad we went this one time, but it did extinguish any desire to add Shanghai Disneyland to my bucket list. Unless you’re really a Disney completist, I think one or the other would be sufficient.
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Thank you Amalia for such a detailed report!
I am gutted that you couldn’t get to experience Mystic Manor as it was intended on your first time through. That was one of my favorite rides anywhere.
Getting free cold water with meals proved pretty much impossible for me in Hong Kong, too. If you can get water, it’s hot. I just ended up getting a bottled water.
Also agree that the character processional is not worth waiting for. Plus, it’s ridiculously loud. Given that this was the original home of Paint the Night, the lack of a proper parade is discouraging.
I’m so happy that you loved Grizzly Gulch, though. That coaster deserves more love from Disney fans, so I’m always happy when it gets some attention.
Thanks again for a great report!
This sounds like a pretty miserable experience, even for a Disney park. Does the park app not provide wait times to prevent having to wander the park looking for short lines? I have a bit of interest in Mystic Manor, but would visit the Tokyo Disney resort long before I would ever consider going to HKDL.
WOW! I almost felt like we went to two different parks. I visited HKDL the beginning of Sept 2023 and had a completely different experience. I waited no longer then 10 minutes for any attraction, and didn't experience one rude person. I had lunch at the Starliner diner in Tomorrowland, and the closest thing I would use to compare would be Cosmic Rays, and was able to find a table pretty much immediately. For Dinner I had the convenience of going back to the Hollywood Hotel for Dinner. My only negative was nothing that could be avoided due to when I chose to go, and that was The World of Frozen had not opened. I was able to enjoy every attraction and show (lion king was closed for refurb) at a relaxed pace. Now maybe this was all due to me being a solo traveler. I still look at my picture and videos (yes I'm one of those that video the shows) almost 6 months later. Do I plan on visiting again? With the most heartfelt yes I most definitely do. I hope to include it in with a visit to Shanghai Disneyland.
OP here! I think the crowds we experienced were fundamentally due to Frozen driving up attendance, compounded by visiting on a Friday during a holiday period (at the tail end of it, after HK schools were back in session, but still). And some criss-crossing the park is just inevitable with a group of 4, trying to agree on rides and please everyone.
I tried to write up the different cultural practice regarding queueing as neutrally as I could - something to expect, is all, and might not be as noticeable on a less busy day. My teens ended up kind of enjoying the challenge of fending off what we perceived as "line cutters".
Awesome trip report. I visited way back in the day in 2019 and still remember it as one of my best Disney days ever since the park has some neat attractions and the crowds were so relaxed! Seems like the park was a bit more filled up this time for you but nothing too crazy.
I rave about Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Rail cars. It's amazing. Your family agrees. It's beautiful, lengthy, and just flat out fun. In my top two of Disney rides in the world and I've also visited Tokyo, DWorld, and DLand (Anaheim) multiple times. I look forward to visiting HK Disneyland sometime this decade again and your trip report was informative and keeping me in the loop of this wonderful park.
Great report, another park I'd love to visit sometime.
Was Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs not open on your visit? Thanks for the awesome report!
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Thanks for sharing an interesting read and I can definitely relate with the different attitudes in China when it comes to queuing. If you didn't like Hong Kong I can tell you mainland China is much worst! Whenever I visit my in-laws in Shanghai its always astonishing to me how "rude" people are. I mean its perfectly normal to them but even my Chinese husband gets annoyed now having lived in Canada for so many years.