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My family and I traveled to Hong Kong Disneyland for a full day visit in August of 2015. I wrote up some details about my trip for anyone looking to plan a trip themselves!  This park is undergoing a number of upgrades in 2019 and beyond, so be sure to look into all the details of any changes that might have occurred since my trip!

Arrival

We took the subway to the park from downtown Hong Kong and it was very easy to do. You get off the train at the last stop, and you switch to specific Disney train cars with Mickey windows and different statues throughout the cars. 

There was a long walkway from the subway to the park entrance, similar to how Disneyland’s entrance is set up!  The park opened at 9:45 according to the website, but they let us in around 9:30. Not sure if the rides didn’t open til 9:45, or what, but it caught me off guard slightly and it helped alleviate the crowds at the entrance.

The Rides

1. The Teacups – Same ride as in the US. Classic ride, but the teacups are VERY small and it was near impossible for 3 adults to fit in 1 cup. Be sure to spread out in order to enjoy the ride fully!
2. Space Mountain was very similar to the rides in the US Parks, but it had all of the effects working and the ride mechanisms were very smooth. A great ride that we went on a few times throughout the day!
3. Toy Story Land – Was not impressed with the rides that they had here (though my little brother liked them). The theming and overall appearance of the land is very cool. The rides felt very “off the shelf” and it made me very happy to know that the land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World had totally different rides!
4. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin – This was in Tomorrowland, similar to the US-based parks, and not in Toy Story Land. Is essentially the same ride as in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.
5. Mickey’s Philharmagic – The theater was very nicely laid out. Luckily it was entirely in English, making it a very enjoyable experience for us tourists! Also, as a tip, if the rows are starting to fill up, try walking around the back of the theater and find the other end wide open, as many people stopped right in the middle of the theater to get the best seats.
6. Mystic Manor – Really cool ride with lots of special effects. All of them were working great and if the wait didn’t get so long near the end of the day, I would have loved to have ridden this again. Themed around the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A), this ride quickly became one of my favorites!
7. Big Grizzly Mine Car – A very nice rollercoaster that reminded me a lot of Big Thunder Mountain mixed with the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train mixed with Expedition Everest from Walt Disney World. Have some parts that go backward, and is a very smooth ride system, with lots of neat scenery. I found it kind of weird that they didn’t theme this around a movie/characters and it was just about bears in general.
8. Jungle Cruise – Very disappointing ride. Our guide spoke very poor English (they had 3 versions, English, Cantonese, and Mandarin) and they did not do any puns at all. The commentary was all “Look at the baby elephants” and “don’t stick your hands out of the boat”. Hiring an employee who speaks fluent English would help tremendously and I am curious if the other version had puns and was more similar to the US version? I have also heard that other skippers might do a better version of the ride, and I was just unlucky on this specific voyage.
9. It’s a Small World – This ride is set back into its own “land” much like how Disneyland’s is set up. Can hear the song for a while leading up to it as well. The ride had Woody in a western themed area, Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco, the 3 Caballeros in Mexico, etc. The addition of the Disney characters into the ride works really well, and helps younger kids really enjoy this classic attraction!
10. Winnie the Pooh – Did a fast pass for this because the standby line was over 60 minutes when nothing else had a line in the park…no idea why it was so long. The ride was good, but basically identical to is peer at Walt Disney World

Food

1. The park had all of the big snack foods; Carmel Corn, Churros, and Mickey Ice Cream Bar. I saw a sign for a dole whip (one of my all-time favorite snacks), but the 1 place in the park that they were sold was out of them.
2. Only had 2 table service meal places and they all had pretty long waits but we ate at the Corner Cafe (sponsored by Coke). Had pretty good food, and both Western and Chinese options. Nothing amazing but the Rueben I ordered was a good sandwich. Cost about $15 per plate so nothing outrageous.
3. Had dinner at the Tomorrowland cafe where the only item of note was the “Baymax Burger” which was a crab patty on a rice bun with an avocado mayo. My little brother ordered this and said it was really good!

Shows

1. The Lion King – This was slightly different than the version at the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The story was weaker, and they had less acrobatics. They did nothing with the meerkats and it seemed very short in comparison. The theater was full and was still a good production but I went in with the high expectations of Animal Kingdom’s version of this production, and it fell short. The show was in English with a few parts in Cantonese, but they also had TV monitors with translations around the theater for people to translate.
2. Flight of Fantasy Parade – This was a very short parade, about 10 minutes long. They had a few high-quality floats, including some lesser popular ones in the US (Lilo and Stitch, Pooh), and some staples (the princesses, The Lion King, Mickey Mouse, and Tinkerbell).
3. Character Meetings – They had Duffy right at the front of the park when we walked in and there was a wait to see him, which was the first indication that we were not in an American park. They also had some meetings with princesses near the castle throughout the day. We went to the main character meeting square which was 5 gazebos with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and Winnie Pooh.
4. Paint the Night parade – This is a great parade and is almost identical to the version at Disneyland. Lots of floats, lasted around 25 minutes and was a great way to end the night!

We ended our night leaving before the fireworks in order beat some traffic to get on the subway back to downtown Hong Kong.

I am really excited to get back to Hong Kong at some point in the future to see all of the updates taking place to this theme park!