Hong Kong in a Day and Solo

hasabigrock

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
So I was passing through Asia for work and did Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disney over the weekend.

My objective for HK Disney was to ride as many rides as possible before I had to leave for the Airport at 5PM for my flight to Hyderabad, India.

I flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong late Saturday night and stayed at the Marriott Hong Kong Skycity. I'm a Marriott Platinum member so they upgraded me to a junior suite. 1 night cost me HK$2090 ~ $270. The room came with lounge access so I had breakfast in the lounge, checked out and had the front desk get me a cab to the park.

The hotel offered a shuttle service to the park at 10AM, but given the park opened at 10:30 AM I wanted to get their sooner. So I got in a cab at 8:15 AM. Ride too 20 minutes and cost me HK$123 ~$16.

The taxi and bus drop off was quite a ways from the park entrance, about a 1/4 mile. I arrived with my backpack (with laptop) and my roll-along luggage. The luggage storage is on the far left side of the park entrance. I didn't realize it at the time, but it is accessible without having to go through security.

I stood in line with all my luggage in the security line which opened at 9:17 AM. This is when I figured out that luggage storage was outside, but luckily the security line by luggage was non-existent so it didn't slow me down too bad. I did have to open my rollalong for security. Luggage cost was HK$90 ~$11.61 per bag. They gave me a ticket stub for each bag that I returned at the end of the day.

Prior to leaving home I had bought my park ticket and printed out the confirmation number. I took that paper to a ticket window and they converted it over to a paper ticket. I took that and stood in line at the turnstiles. There was one turnstile for hotel guests on the left side that opened at 9:48 AM and they picked a first family to open the park.

Turnstiles for the general public opened at 10AM allowing people into Main Street. The rope drop was at the end of Main Street and they let people past that at 10:30 AM.

I went to HK Disney with the expectation that it would be hot. I'm from Austin, TX and am acclimated to 100+ degree weather on a daily basis during the summer. I found Hong Kong to be hot, damn hot. And humid.

I brought an umbrella for the sun and if I hadn't there was no way I would have survived the rope drop. Most people waited in the shade along Main Street until right before the rope drop.

So when the rope dropped I ran and no one stopped me or told me to slow down.

I ran straight for Grizzly Gulch and missed my turn (first time in the park and being at the head of the pack). A little Chinese girl had a lead on me while I double backed, but in the end I out ran her. I was the first rider on Grizzly Gulch. This is a combination of Big Thunder and Everest and was a fun ride.

Next I walked on to Mystic Manor, which is the same ride technology as Winnie the Pooh in Tokyo and Remy in DLP. Then it was a walk on to Toy Story Parachut Drop, waited one ride cycle for Slink, then a walk on to RC Racer. On the day I went Toy Story land and Mystic Manor were set to close at 4:30 PM so I wanted to get them out of the wait.

Next I did a light jog through Fantasyland to Hyperspace Mountain and swiped my Fastpass. Note that only Hyperspace Mountain and Pooh had Fastpasses. Next I walked on to Buzz (same as Disneyland California) and when I got off it was 11:30 AM, park had been open for 1 hour.

Next I waited 20 minutes for Orbitron, waited one ride cycle for Tea Cups, had a couple minutes before it was time to swipe the next fast pass so I went to a shop and bought a few pins. Hong Kong has decent merchandise, and unlike Disney Tokyo, you can buy pins, hats, tshirts, whatever you like.

I swiped my Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh, then waited for 15 minutes at the Command Post to get my picture taken with Chewbacca. Its now 12:17 PM.

I used my fastpass to ride Hyperspace Mountain and it was a rough ride. Rougher than the Space Mountains at Disneyland California, WDW, and Tokyo. I did like the effects of the lasers shooting. I'm 46, in good health, but had no inclinations of getting on that ride again. Besides, my goal was to ride on as much as possible. Hyperspace mountain sits 2 to a row and the cars are like those in Disneyland California.

Next it was a 10 minute wait for its a small world. The outside façade was covered in drapes for refurbishment and the queuing area was not as elaborate as other versions. Then I walked through Villain's Gardens (no villians were present), and then swiped for Pooh again although I only planned to ride once. I then used my fast pass for Winnie the Pooh (considered passing a bad fast pass, but decided against it). The Pooh ride was in English and was the same as the WDW version, even down to the Mr. Toad sign. One difference was that they take your picture in the Happy Birthday room.

Next I walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle to Snow White's Grotto.

Then I went to the Jungle Cruise where you have your choice of 3 lines. They said they were all the same length. I waited 15 minutes for the English tour guide. Similar to Jungle Cruise at other parks except at the end there is some pretty good fire effects. I did think it was very poor taste that the tour guide was cracking jokes about the crocodiles and how they love to eat children. I dropped a message to Disney on that one.

I got off the Jungle Cruise and crossed a bridge to the 2PM showing of the Lion King arriving just 10 minutes early and there were plenty of seats available. I had packed some snacks with me and used the show to cool off and get some food. Did I mention Hong Kong is freaking hot? I had a water bottle with me and refilled each time I went past a drinking fountain.

After the show I waited one ride cycle to take the rafts over to Tarzan's Treehouse, which is the same as the Disneyland California version, then took the rafts back over. It's kinda cool that the tree house is on its own island.

I went back to Geyser Gulch and Garden of Wonders across from Mystic Manor and then took pictures on my way back to Fantasyland. Waited 10 minutes for Cinderella's Carousel then arrived at 2:50 for the Magic Book show, but was turned away because it was full.

Next, I waited 40 minutes (longest wait) for Dumbo, walked through Fairytale Forest (which is like Storybook Canal boats without the boats), then walked into Mickey's Philharmagic (same as everywhere else).

I had planned on then riding the train, but the Fantasyland station was closed. The Halloween parade was heading up Main Street so I finished my shopping and exited the park. I picked up my luggage, and made my way back to the taxi stop and left at 5PM.

My plan was to get to the airport 3 hours before my international flight, which I easily did.

I hit everything except for the Disneyland Railroad and the Magic Book show.

Overall I found the park to be very charming, very Disney, and the cast members were friendly. The crowds were light to moderate with the longest wait being 45-minutes. The biggest hurdle was the heat. A cast member told me that it cools off in the evening.
 
Thanks for the report, especially for the rope drop procedure and times.
 
Wow - you really had a busy day at HKDL! We'll be attempting something similar next summer when we have 3 days in the city (but will be visiting HKDL for 1 of these days).

Thanks for the tip about bringing an umbrella for shade - I'm sure we'll need one.
 


Thanks for sharing. I'm brushing the cobwebs off my DIS account because I will be doing HKDL solo in a few weeks myself. Hopefully it will be *slightly* cooler.
 

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