Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Sadly I would love to disagree finding the MK in Florida to be a horrific rip off, trying to be the epitome of the Disney experience when it is wanting in almost every facet. HKDL does not try to be the best Disney park ever. But it appears that what is there is quality. Sadly though, with the exception of the Jungle Cruise, everything else seems to be generic rides found in parks around the globe. and for that point, I must sadly concur with your view. Beautiful location, lovely hotels, nice design choices in some ways. But it does have to go in the "What were they thinking" pile.
Originally Posted By Mr X **Sadly I would love to disagree finding the MK in Florida to be a horrific rip off** I think "horrific" is a bit much. Besides, Epcot was built soon after.
Originally Posted By sherrytodd We've started planning a trip to Thailand in 2009. I'm trying to plan a sidetrip to Tokyo on the way out there because I HAVE to go to TDR. Last night we were looking at flights around Thailand we could take since we also want to head to Cambodia and noticed that we could fly over to Hong Kong for cheap. My husband said, "So, I suppose you'll be wanting to go to Hong Kong Disneyland too." And I said, "No, not really." Doesn't feel worth it to take time out of our trip. And since you posted this to lure out WD and I don't think anyone is going to really argue with you, I could really use some help with our Thailand / Tokyo trip.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Depends Mr X - the MK stunk big time when we went. I was slightly disappointed with my trips to the MK in the 80's and 2000, but cleanliness and live entertainment made up for it. But our trip in 2006 was aweful. Bad cast (except for the wonderful streetcar driver - she was great, and Micheal in the Barber shop who remembered us from when he worked in Paris), filthy streets and restaurants, bad maintenance, poor crowd control, little live entertainment (suppose they were saving it up for the rubes buying tickets to the Christmas rip off party), poor restaurant choices, bland shopping experiences, aweful hours. DLP was head and shoulders above it (and that is saying something given Paris's iffy past) and Disneyland has always exceeded the MK in almost every way in my experience. I wouldn't mind if people didn't think the MK was THE Disney park, but seriously, if it were not for Wishes, Carousel of Progress, the TTA, Hall of Presidents and the only chance to see the Country Bears in english, I would not care to ever step foot in there again.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo sherrytodd, if going with little ones, be extra diligent in Bankok - there is a human trafficing trade, and caucasian children are very popular. It is not an OTT situation, but it is one city I will not take my children to until they are teenagers. Phuket is great for families, and Marriott's Spa there has been voted in the top 10 global spas.
Originally Posted By sherrytodd >>>sherrytodd, if going with little ones, be extra diligent in Bankok - there is a human trafficing trade, and caucasian children are very popular.<<< Not that I'm getting any older, but he'll be 11 and we've alrealy fought off the organ doner stealers in Guatamala. Actually, the only time we'll probably spend in Bangkok will be in pretty popular tourist areas. Will spend most of our time out of the city.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris "be extra diligent in Bankok - there is a human trafficing trade, and caucasian children are very popular." Indeed. Why anybody would want to go to these places is completely beyond me. I actually really and TRULY do NOT understand this.
Originally Posted By sherrytodd >>>Why anybody would want to go to these places is completely beyond me. I actually really and TRULY do NOT understand this.<<< Thailand has a lot more to offer then the human trafficing trade. My niece and nephew came back from Thailand just fine and we will too. Yes there is trouble if you go looking for it, but we know how to travel safe and have done it many times.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I didn't realize we had members of the Bangkok Visitors Bureau on LP.com! Yikes!
Originally Posted By Bob Paris ^^ On THAT we CAN agree! I know how you feel Sherry re:going there. I live in Perth and I have a friend who is a big Disney fan who asked me if I wanted to save up and go with him to share the costs. At that point I had been to DL, WDW and TDR. I think I shocked him with the vehemence of my "NO WAY!". I then explained that say if DL had 50 attractions(he has been so he can envision that). I told him in comparison, HKDL has like 3 or 4. They even list City Hall as a damned attraction, they are THAT desperate! I then showed him some of my six hours of TDR footage I filmed and he started to understand that going to Japan may be a more "Disney" experience. Likwise for my upcoming TDR trip, I am going with a theme park nOOb and he asked if we might want to stop off in HK. I gave him the same treatment. If we're stopping off anywhere it will be Singapore. Funny isn't it that HKDL is one of maybe only two parks in the world that when real Disney fans are even offered the ability to go there will ACTUALLY PASS IT UP!!!
Originally Posted By kennect What I don't get is the idea they got the hotels right but not the park itself...
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle What I hate about HKDL (from my infinite wisdom having never been there but having seen a park map) is that everything there can be found at Disneyland (or WDW, or the Cruise Line as far as the live shows goes) and even the attractions being planned are all clones, aren't they? I'd just love at least one or two unique attractions ... >>(suppose they were saving it up for the rubes buying tickets to the Christmas rip off party)<< Hey! I'm one of those rubes!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros For what it's worth, even if it is cloned from the Cruise Line, The Golden Mickeys is the best stage show that I've ever seen in a theme park. It blew me away, and I was more than disappointed with the Lion King show, especially after all the hype for it. I don't think I would ever see it on the cruise (don't have any plans for a cruise any time any near ever), so it was the perfect placement, IMO. Sure, it's not completely unique, but it was unique for me, which in the Disney Empire, is pretty difficult to do, especially with a clone.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney LOL, Mr.X done went and did it, huh? Leave it to him to further my hatred ;D. Thanks dude, made my night lol. As far as the whole Thailand 'stealing white baby' thing. Guys, I been to Thailand a few times, its FINE and just as safe as any of the western countries all you people live in. Yeah, just like ANY place you have to be careful, but its pretty safe place. It's not Myannmar . And trust me on this, if there was ONE White kid EVER abducted in Thailand, just one, it would be all over CNN and BBC and you can say buh-bye to Thailand's tourist industry, their number one industry by the way. Trust me, these people would keep us safe 100 times over before their own citizens. They don't want all the tourists being driven out of the country. So SherryTodd, yeah, worry more about the gem scam they got going on there then your kids being abducted and sold to the black market . And you got PM too.
