Sorry, it's long!
Ive just returned from a two day trip to HK Disneyland, staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We upgraded to the Kingdom Club, which although expensive, was definitely worth it for the convenience and experience! Here are a few of my thoughts about the visit.
The Park: In a nutshell, I really liked the park. Ive only got Anaheim to compare it to, but I loved that it was really a miniature version of that one, although I do think it could do with a couple more big rides. We had two kids with us (5 and 7), and they were able to go on all the rides with the exception of one (RC Racer in Toy Story Land) which only the 7 year old was able to go on. Favourite rides were the Runway Mine Cars in Grizzly Gulch, and Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. My kids are complete rollercoaster nuts so were happy just to ride those over and over again! Mystic Manor was really well done in terms of technology and smoothness, but its not a thrill ride. We rode it once on each day which was enough, unlike the 5x per day each for SM and RMC.
With the park being that much smaller, we could easily move between lands to ride what we wanted without being bound to one area at a time. Fastpasses were only available for Space Mountain and the Pooh ride. We were there mid-week so queues were minimal I think the longest we had to wait for anything was about 30 minutes, which randomly was for the parachute drop ride in Toy Story Land. One thing I did notice was that load times seemed to take longer than in California. They were also pretty strict on the height restrictions, with both kids being measured multiple times for rides both at the entrance of the ride, and also just prior to loading.
We didnt eat too much at the park. The first day we picked up coffee and bakery snacks for breakfast from the Bakery on Main Street. The kids had donuts and we had mini chicken pizzas. Nothing overly special about any of it, but it served its purpose! I find coffee abroad generally weak, so asked for an extra shot. It still wasnt as strong as I normally like, but was otherwise fine. We had lunch that day at the Royal Banquet Hall in Fantasyland. The kids chose spaghetti and meatballs and we had the bento boxes. The kids loved their meatballs, although I found the sauce a little processed (like a jar of Dolmio as opposed to homemade). Nothing wrong with it though! Portion sizes were great, and neither child was able to finish. The bento boxes were ok, great salad but a little on the refrigerated side for the sushi. Not necessarily the best choice to make, but we were both craving something fresh so they ticked that box! The second day we didnt eat at the park at all (huge hotel breakfast and dinner), with the exception of a Minnie Mouse ice cream for the kids. We didnt buy any drinks as we brought some from the hotels
We watched the Paint the Night parade which was spectacular. Definitely worth staying for that. Between the parade finishing and the fireworks starting an hour later, we scuttled off to the Runaway Mine Cars which was virtually empty and did 3-4 back to back rides. Id highly recommend doing this at night if you can, as the dark adds a whole other element to it. Cemented it as my definite favourite ride in the park.
Something weird about the park though was the castle. Only the bottom level of the castle is real the upper level and turrets was a box with the turrets painted on, and the rest of it was painted blue to blend in with the sky. Certainly took away a bit of the wow factor that Disneyland normally has.
The Hotel: As mentioned, we booked into the Disneyland Hotel for two nights, and upgraded to the Kingdom Club. I thought the hotel itself was beautiful, much more spectacular than the pictures on the website make out. We had a seaview room up on the 7th floor (a dedicated floor for the Kingdom Club only). The view was stunning, and we looked out over the maze and main courtyard. There were a couple of weddings on the lawn when we were there which were fun to watch! Our room was a decent size, and easily big enough for the four of us and lots of luggage. It wasnt overly Disneyfied which was nice, just a few subtle touches such as artwork and on the toiletries. A nice touch was the kid sized bathrobes and slippers, and we also had a separate bath and shower. We didnt get room service or anything so cant comment on that.
The main benefit of the Kingdom Club was access to the special lounge. There was always snacks and drinks available, which you can take to the park with you. Big bowls of fruit, sweets, pastries, drinks and snack bars. They will make you coffee in takeaway cups as well! In the evening, they put on canapes which we had for dinner the first night (before heading back for the Light parade). Beer and wine is there if you want it too, and then puddings and hot chocolate / milk for the kids. The cast members that work in the lounge were all amazing. Special mention to Bowie who spent a couple of hours with my kids one evening teaching them a bit of Cantonese and showing them how to write their names in characters. Minnie Mouse came up in her PJs to say goodnight too which was pretty special for the kids.
On the second night we had a character dinner at the Enchanted Garden which I thought was good. The food was excellent, and a huge range from great sashimi through to dim sum, curries, Chinese fish and meat dishes, and a few more western options. There was also good options for kids with pasta, bolognaise, fries, crumbed fish, and a selection of vegetables. The dessert table was amazing, with white and dark chocolate fountains and a huge range of puddings to choose from. Minnie and Mickey made an appearance, along with Duffy and Shellie May. The characters spent ages with us, and kept coming back as well. The restaurant wasnt full which meant we had more time than usual with them, and Mickey was especially great and interactive.
Breakfast was included with our room, which was in the Crystal Lotus restaurant. Standard fare, both western style and traditional dim sum. Was pretty good, although watch out for the breakfast sausages as my husband said they looked undercooked (chicken).
The outdoor pool was closed for the winter, but we swam in the indoor pool which was really nice. They provided little life jackets for kids as its 1.2m deep throughout. Spa/Steam/Sauna is in each of the male and female changing suites very luxurious, and lots of amenities available too.
We figured out pretty quickly that it was easier and much nicer to walk to the park down the promenade as opposed to getting the shuttle bus. From the gates to the park, it was a 300m walk to the bus stop, but only a 700m walk in total to the hotel much faster to walk than wait for the bus! The promenade is beautiful, with lots of trees and water features, and the obligatory piped Disney music. Especially pretty at night too.
In terms of getting to the park itself, we travelled in from Kowloon on the MTR. Had to make a couple of changes, but the trains we needed were directly on the other side of the platform so no need to lug our bags through the stations. Was incredibly easy and took about 45 minutes all up from the middle of town. Not entirely sure how much it cost as we had Octopus cards. Would have been less than HK$20 per person though. When we left the park we were going directly to the airport, so just caught a taxi. There are always cabs at the hotel waiting, and the valets will call one up for you. Cost was HK$170 which we rounded up to $200 as we had lots of luggage. The $170 included the charges for bags so if you are travelling lightly, then it should be less than that. Took about 15 minutes from the park to the hotel, so really quick.
So overall we had a really great time. Two days was definitely enough for a park of this size one day to do all the rides, and then a second day to take it easy and go on your favourites and take in a couple of shows / parades. Id recommend upgrading to the Kingdom Club if your budget allows and you are staying on property. It was just nice to not have to worry too much about buying yet more food at the park, and overall the money we saved from this would have made a sizeable dent in the difference for the cost of the KC. The extras such as private check in / check out, fireworks from the balcony, the amazing lounge staff etc all were well worth it also. We also bought a Platinum Magic Access pass in my sons name so we had a decent discount to apply to the rates. The cost of the pass was more than offset by the discount. If you buy one in a childs name it is cheaper, but you still get the exact same discounts!
Happy to answer any questions if I can help anyone else!
Ive just returned from a two day trip to HK Disneyland, staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We upgraded to the Kingdom Club, which although expensive, was definitely worth it for the convenience and experience! Here are a few of my thoughts about the visit.
The Park: In a nutshell, I really liked the park. Ive only got Anaheim to compare it to, but I loved that it was really a miniature version of that one, although I do think it could do with a couple more big rides. We had two kids with us (5 and 7), and they were able to go on all the rides with the exception of one (RC Racer in Toy Story Land) which only the 7 year old was able to go on. Favourite rides were the Runway Mine Cars in Grizzly Gulch, and Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. My kids are complete rollercoaster nuts so were happy just to ride those over and over again! Mystic Manor was really well done in terms of technology and smoothness, but its not a thrill ride. We rode it once on each day which was enough, unlike the 5x per day each for SM and RMC.
With the park being that much smaller, we could easily move between lands to ride what we wanted without being bound to one area at a time. Fastpasses were only available for Space Mountain and the Pooh ride. We were there mid-week so queues were minimal I think the longest we had to wait for anything was about 30 minutes, which randomly was for the parachute drop ride in Toy Story Land. One thing I did notice was that load times seemed to take longer than in California. They were also pretty strict on the height restrictions, with both kids being measured multiple times for rides both at the entrance of the ride, and also just prior to loading.
We didnt eat too much at the park. The first day we picked up coffee and bakery snacks for breakfast from the Bakery on Main Street. The kids had donuts and we had mini chicken pizzas. Nothing overly special about any of it, but it served its purpose! I find coffee abroad generally weak, so asked for an extra shot. It still wasnt as strong as I normally like, but was otherwise fine. We had lunch that day at the Royal Banquet Hall in Fantasyland. The kids chose spaghetti and meatballs and we had the bento boxes. The kids loved their meatballs, although I found the sauce a little processed (like a jar of Dolmio as opposed to homemade). Nothing wrong with it though! Portion sizes were great, and neither child was able to finish. The bento boxes were ok, great salad but a little on the refrigerated side for the sushi. Not necessarily the best choice to make, but we were both craving something fresh so they ticked that box! The second day we didnt eat at the park at all (huge hotel breakfast and dinner), with the exception of a Minnie Mouse ice cream for the kids. We didnt buy any drinks as we brought some from the hotels
We watched the Paint the Night parade which was spectacular. Definitely worth staying for that. Between the parade finishing and the fireworks starting an hour later, we scuttled off to the Runaway Mine Cars which was virtually empty and did 3-4 back to back rides. Id highly recommend doing this at night if you can, as the dark adds a whole other element to it. Cemented it as my definite favourite ride in the park.
Something weird about the park though was the castle. Only the bottom level of the castle is real the upper level and turrets was a box with the turrets painted on, and the rest of it was painted blue to blend in with the sky. Certainly took away a bit of the wow factor that Disneyland normally has.
The Hotel: As mentioned, we booked into the Disneyland Hotel for two nights, and upgraded to the Kingdom Club. I thought the hotel itself was beautiful, much more spectacular than the pictures on the website make out. We had a seaview room up on the 7th floor (a dedicated floor for the Kingdom Club only). The view was stunning, and we looked out over the maze and main courtyard. There were a couple of weddings on the lawn when we were there which were fun to watch! Our room was a decent size, and easily big enough for the four of us and lots of luggage. It wasnt overly Disneyfied which was nice, just a few subtle touches such as artwork and on the toiletries. A nice touch was the kid sized bathrobes and slippers, and we also had a separate bath and shower. We didnt get room service or anything so cant comment on that.
The main benefit of the Kingdom Club was access to the special lounge. There was always snacks and drinks available, which you can take to the park with you. Big bowls of fruit, sweets, pastries, drinks and snack bars. They will make you coffee in takeaway cups as well! In the evening, they put on canapes which we had for dinner the first night (before heading back for the Light parade). Beer and wine is there if you want it too, and then puddings and hot chocolate / milk for the kids. The cast members that work in the lounge were all amazing. Special mention to Bowie who spent a couple of hours with my kids one evening teaching them a bit of Cantonese and showing them how to write their names in characters. Minnie Mouse came up in her PJs to say goodnight too which was pretty special for the kids.
On the second night we had a character dinner at the Enchanted Garden which I thought was good. The food was excellent, and a huge range from great sashimi through to dim sum, curries, Chinese fish and meat dishes, and a few more western options. There was also good options for kids with pasta, bolognaise, fries, crumbed fish, and a selection of vegetables. The dessert table was amazing, with white and dark chocolate fountains and a huge range of puddings to choose from. Minnie and Mickey made an appearance, along with Duffy and Shellie May. The characters spent ages with us, and kept coming back as well. The restaurant wasnt full which meant we had more time than usual with them, and Mickey was especially great and interactive.
Breakfast was included with our room, which was in the Crystal Lotus restaurant. Standard fare, both western style and traditional dim sum. Was pretty good, although watch out for the breakfast sausages as my husband said they looked undercooked (chicken).
The outdoor pool was closed for the winter, but we swam in the indoor pool which was really nice. They provided little life jackets for kids as its 1.2m deep throughout. Spa/Steam/Sauna is in each of the male and female changing suites very luxurious, and lots of amenities available too.
We figured out pretty quickly that it was easier and much nicer to walk to the park down the promenade as opposed to getting the shuttle bus. From the gates to the park, it was a 300m walk to the bus stop, but only a 700m walk in total to the hotel much faster to walk than wait for the bus! The promenade is beautiful, with lots of trees and water features, and the obligatory piped Disney music. Especially pretty at night too.
In terms of getting to the park itself, we travelled in from Kowloon on the MTR. Had to make a couple of changes, but the trains we needed were directly on the other side of the platform so no need to lug our bags through the stations. Was incredibly easy and took about 45 minutes all up from the middle of town. Not entirely sure how much it cost as we had Octopus cards. Would have been less than HK$20 per person though. When we left the park we were going directly to the airport, so just caught a taxi. There are always cabs at the hotel waiting, and the valets will call one up for you. Cost was HK$170 which we rounded up to $200 as we had lots of luggage. The $170 included the charges for bags so if you are travelling lightly, then it should be less than that. Took about 15 minutes from the park to the hotel, so really quick.
So overall we had a really great time. Two days was definitely enough for a park of this size one day to do all the rides, and then a second day to take it easy and go on your favourites and take in a couple of shows / parades. Id recommend upgrading to the Kingdom Club if your budget allows and you are staying on property. It was just nice to not have to worry too much about buying yet more food at the park, and overall the money we saved from this would have made a sizeable dent in the difference for the cost of the KC. The extras such as private check in / check out, fireworks from the balcony, the amazing lounge staff etc all were well worth it also. We also bought a Platinum Magic Access pass in my sons name so we had a decent discount to apply to the rates. The cost of the pass was more than offset by the discount. If you buy one in a childs name it is cheaper, but you still get the exact same discounts!
Happy to answer any questions if I can help anyone else!
