anyone been to Hong Kong Disneyland

[bespoke]

Havnt been on here for a while.......

Anyway, question:

Hubbie works for an airline, has free return tickets to anywhere is SEA/Pacific region.
We have a 4 year old daughter.
We have decided to go to Hong Kong mainly to go to Disneyland (USA is too far for her at this stage I think).
The trip will be from around 18 to 27 Dec.

Hubbie wants to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, fair enough, it has great reviews BUT he wants to stay at the disneyland hotel for about 6 or 7 days because he reckons we could easily fill in the whole 6 or 7 days at Disneyland!
He doesnt want to change hotels and reckons we wont even go into Hong Kong. To be fair, we have both been to Hong Kong before, before we met,(I loved it, he was there only a couple of days and was working)

He has been to Disneyland in California and thinks it is the same as there and doesnt want to be rushed but Ive read that Hong Kong Disneyland is much smaller.

Im the sort of person who likes to take in the atmosphere, see the sights, he just wants to do the fun stuff.

So............... has anyone been to Disneyland Hong Kong recently?
Was it OK, could I keep myself, hubbie and a 4 year old amused for that long just at Disneyland?
Is the Ocean Park better?

Id like to get on a train to Schenzen (sp?). Went there when I went to HK about 2001 ish and loved the atmosphere and the shopping but I think I'd have BUCKLEYS of convincing the other half to go even if we were childless.

Thoughts? Tips?

Thanks in advance

 

[pennyk]

I havent' been to HK Disney, but have been to Orlando...... which is enormous.
I would stay in the same hotel the whole time, just because its frustrating to have to change hotels, particularly with children.
But I would plan to not spend every day at Disneyland... its easier for the kids to have a day off and do some more low key things in between big days at Disney.
Not sure how their pricing structure works. We bought a 4 day pass for Orlando, and then had a couple of days in the middle off.
From HK, you can also take the ferry over to Macau..... avoid the casinos and go to the Portugese sectors..particularly Lord Stowes Egg Tart store.. well worth the ferry trip.
The other option is to leave him at Disney with the child and you go and do some other sightseeing!
Pen

 

[hobo-jo]

6 or 7 days at Disneyland??

I visited Tokyo Disneyland a bit over a week ago and think 1 day was enough. We were there around 6 hours and managed to look fairly thoroughly through all the "worlds" and went on a few rides. We didn't line up for the rides with the huge 1+ hour lineups, so I guess if you were keen you might be able to stretch it out to 2 days max (or just spend a longer day there). In Tokyo you could spend another day visiting Tokyo Sea also.

Some comments here also that HK Disneyland is only 1 days entertainment:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2452921

 

[morpheusbushy]

Got back from HK a view weeks ago & ocean park is MUCH better, just search for some online reviews

 

[GreenTreeFrog]

I went to HK Disneyland in August. There were two families, between us we had a 7yo, 6yo, 5yo, 4yo and 3yo!

We saw the place easily in one day but it is a big day for the little ones. So with one 4yo, I would say a day would be plenty unless you are the type to want to see and do everything at a leisurely pace. My lot scrambled madly!

It cost the equivalent of AUD$30 per child, plus the same again for a Star Pass that got us into 6 shows/rides without waiting.

It is heaps smaller than LA or Florida.

During my research, I read Ocean World is larger, hilly and spread out.... not so good with little kids but wow it looks amazing.

I can highly recommend staying in Kowloon at this fantastic YMCA right on the harbour. It is surrounded by 5 star hotels, train station is underneath, Nathan Rd next door, brilliant shopping in every direction, restaurants, markets nearby, museums, Harbour right across the road and Star Ferry a 4 minute walk.

http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/main_e.html

This is the location and nearby attractions/facilities:
http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/sales/html/e_location.htm

They have Harbour View rooms including one bedroom suites, laundromat, restaurants, pool, climbing wall and the most helpful staff on the planet. Nothing is too much trouble.

The train is fast and efficient, though taxis much the same price, just quicker! We paid for 6 of us in a cab to Temple St markets one night, the same as what it would have cost us all on the train.

Definitely check out the street markets at night. They are fantastic. We ate at a very scrappy looking outdoor seafood place literally in the middle of the markets and it was unreal. The atmosphere, the food, the chinese beer!

If you do stay in Kowloon, I can recommend a divine Chinese Restaurant. We ate there 4 out of the 5 nights we stayed there! It is a minutes walk from YMCA.

There is much more to HK than Disneyland.

http://www.noahsark.com.hk/eng/index.php
http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng/front/index.asp

This is a terrific tool for planning your itinerary while in HK. Check it out!
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/planner/eng/

Here is a pic of my daughter after Disneyland, we went to our fave Chinese restaurant.

 

[Shaneelastic]

You need two days for it if your have kids.
I went for one day at age 23 and ran out of time in one day.
2 nights i think is all you need there.
The rest of the time you should stay near the harbour or on nathan road in kowloon.
Disneyland is just too far away from the action in hong kong. Your kid will enjoy kowloon, but you will too. Its east meets west, its great.
plenty to do in kowloon, and hk island.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hi

HK disney u can get trhough in 1 to 2 days easy peasy.

Orlando I can easy spend 2 weeks

ta
rolf

 

[Monty Burns]

If you're going through HK get an Octopus card. This is what we need over here but the State Govt keep trying to reinvent the wheel.
Basically it is a small payment card used on public transport and to buy small things like Maccas, newspapers drinks etc.

The other good thing is there is free wireless on ferries etc. Although you must remember that you are in China and may not want to use the wireless over there.

 

[nww]

If you're going through HK get an Octopus card. This is what we need over here but the State Govt keep trying to reinvent the wheel.
Basically it is a small payment card used on public transport and to buy small things like Maccas, newspapers drinks etc.

The other good thing is there is free wireless on ferries etc. Although you must remember that you are in China and may not want to use the wireless over there.

X2 on the octopus card.

You should also book accommodation now as it gets dearer the longer you
leave it to arrival in HK.

 

[bespoke]

Thanks for the replies so far, all very useful.

Green Tree Frog, I expect the picture of your daughter is EXACTLY how mine will look after the first day.

Ive checked out the YMCA web site and the rooms look fantastic for the price. We are trying to find somewhere that has a seperate room for my daughter as she goes to bed around 7.30 and we dont want to sit in the dark or silence until we are ready for bed. We may have to work on the "wear her out during the day" approach. She is also still having a nap during the day, cant quite make it all day without one so I dont know how we will go with that!

Spoke to hubbie last night and he has agreed to only spend 3 nights, 2 days at Disneyland (depending on when the flights get in).

I think Ive convinced him that staying in Kowloon will still be exciting for our daughter. We live in a semi rural area so being in a busy crowded bustling city will be a big eye opener for her. She is used to people living on small acerages, horses, cows and furry native animals hopping across the road. Hubbie will get to try all the local food although he's probably more into Indian food.

If anyone has any more tips, I'd be grateful to hear them.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hiya

YMCA has some great upper level one bed suites to do exactly that.

Same views as the Peninsula but at half the price.

They have a great climbing wall gym too

ta
rolf

 

[Ozziespur]

HK Disney is 1 to 2 days max. It's not nearly as big as the US Disney's (Anaheim & Orlando) and then lines aren't nearly as long for each ride/show so staying at Disneyland Hotelin HKG for 6-7 days is probably a bit much.

Also recommend the Octopus card as invaluable, but you would be aware of this having been before.

With the YMCA, be warned the rooms as fine (basic but more than adequate) and the location is excellent HOWEVER unless you book months in advance you'll be hard pressed to find availability (unless you're very lucky).

 

[Rixter]

We took the kids to Disney Land HK 18 months ago.

Our kids were 8 & 10 and we took them out of school to go.

We did it easily in 1 day. The ques were basically non existent which was fantastic because we could get off the rides and get straight back on again without any stuffing around wasting time.

If you are going I suggest doing it outside of school holidays.

 

[Y33]

Tokyo Disney Land is a 1 or 2 day prospect depending on what time you go.

Anyone thinking of doing LA and Disney should also visit Universal studios and Magic Mountain/ 7 flags.

Haven't done HK Disney but friends reckon it is good for 1 or 2 days if not too crowded.

 

[G_Man]

Hi Bespoke, I'm going there in about 3 weeks so I'll let you know what I think.
We are taking our 3 yr old and I'd imagine 1 day would be more than enough for him and us

As for staying out at the resort for 6 days, if you look on google maps you can see where it is (out near the airport on Lantau) so if you only spend 1-2 days at Disneland then you'd be spending a lot of the other days commuting back and forth to the island or Kowloon.
Also to get the train to shenzen you would have to backtrack from Lantau, then change somewhere (Kowloon?) then get on the train up to shenzen.
See the MTR map here: http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/train/system_map.html


From what I've found there are also some reasonably priced places on the Island around Wan Chai and also HK Island West.


Cheers,
G.

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