Originally Posted By deephil We are planning our hols this year and thought we might do Tokyo & Hong Kong together, however on investigating the prices for a flight between Hong Kong & Tokyo are more expensive than our flight from Uk to either Tokyo or Hong Kong why??? So we are now deciding to do just one or the other. But we do not know which one to go to first now so any thoughts and info would be greatly appreciated we are looking at 2 weeks as a long way to go so we need to do other stuff as well as Disney. I will also be posting this in Hong Kong section as well. Many thanks in advance for your help.
Originally Posted By Mr X You said you don't know which to go to "first", does that mean you're planning a trip to the other city in the not too distant future? If so, I would say Hong Kong first. It's a great city anyway, and you can enjoy HKDL on its own merits (having seen the Tokyo Disney Resort before will only make the place seem more disappointing honestly). However, if you're choosing just one for now and are not sure when or if you'll get back to Asia...Tokyo, no question.
Originally Posted By Anatole69 I tried to do the same thing as you only to find that airfare between tokyo and Hong Kong is unreasonable expensive, for some weird reason. So I went to Hong Kong, took a train to Shanghai, and then a boat to Osaka and that was slightly less expensive than a trip direct from TK to HK... go figure. If you have to choose one over the other, it's Tokyo, no question. - Anatole
Originally Posted By Hats and Wands When we went for the 15th annv of Tokyo Disneyland - we wanted to go to HK too. Only airfare we could find was the same cost or more then our trip to Japan & we only were going to HK for a few days. We finally went to a Japanese Travel Co & they found us airfare for half the cost, but we only got to spend less then 36 hours on the ground in HK. It was worth it as we left most everything in our hotel in Japan & just carried backpacks to HK. We used the trip to HK to split up our 2 weeks in Japan & now we don't have to go back for the next 4 or 5 years & when we do, HK will be bigger. (We are going back to Japan in 2011 for DisneySea's 10th annv.) If you are only going to resort, but do plan to do both eventually, I would have to agree with Mr.X that you'll regret going to Japan first. It's incredible. If you can fit both resorts in the schedule, that's great. If not, you will be very unhappy if you spend time in Japan & then make your next trip HK unless you're planning to see much more then just the HK resort. Picture HK Dland as what the original Disneyland would have seemed like in the late 50's or early 60's. Small & compact. Not alot of attractions, but yet...there's just something magical about seeing the same Main Street as we have here (same colors, design, etc.)but with a mountain behind it.
Originally Posted By Malin With choosing Hong Kong you can add on a couple of days in Macau which is fast becoming the Vegas of Asia. But beside the Mega casino's, fine dining and shopping, Macau has a lot of history to offer, as you can expect from this former Portuguese colony. Tokyo is a dynamic city but Hong Kong offers a lot more in my opinion special once in a lifetime experiences. The city skyline in both day and night is an incredible sight, and taking the cable car at Ocean Park offers an amazing view, plus traveling around Hong Kong using the Metro is much easier than the complicated system that Tokyo uses. Well I say its complicated, but if your a local its very simple. Anyway both are city's I love and would visit tomorrow, but for a first time Hong Kong gets the vote.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I would ordinarily agree that for a first-time visit to Asia, Hong Kong is a better choice than Tokyo (unless a Disney resort is near the top of the priority list of things to do). But, the OP says they're planning a 2-week trip. I think two weeks is too much time to spend in Hong Kong, Macau, and surrounding areas. Visiting Tokyo not only gives you a Disney resort that can absorb a 4-day visit with ease, but Tokyo is 5x the size of Hong Kong with proportionally that much more to see, plus you have the rest of Japan. I'd say the OP would be well served by a new nights at TDR, a few in Tokyo, and then a 7-day JR Rail Pass to see other things in Japan.
Originally Posted By karlg I went to HKDL in November and TDL/TDS in December. I was on business on both trips so I had to squeeze the Disney trips in my spare time (which wasn't much). If you are really after a complete Disney experience, then there is so much more at TDL/TDS. But you have to take into consideration how much time you have to spend at Disney and the time of year (and when during the week you can go). In December TDL/TDS were “slammed” and I got very little done. I was able to go one rainy evening and got more done than on a whole Saturday at the MK. On the other hand, HKDL in November was not crowded at all. I got a half afternoon Saturday and half day on Sunday (netting close to 1 full day between the two days – I had a morning business meeting and Saturday and flight on Sunday) and in many ways had a better time. HKDL certainly has few attractions and is missing all but a few “E-Ticket” class attractions, but I enjoyed what they had there. I also enjoyed the déjà-vu of HK Disneyland versus DL in California (it is eerie at times). I got to see and enjoy everything at HKDL where at TDL/TDS it was good that I have been to both of them multiple times before so I could pick and choose just a few attractions at each. My point/conclusion was that for squeezing in a little Disney on a trip, HKDL worked out much better for me than TDL/TDS. Now if you want a BIG Disney experience then obviously TDL/TDS is the way to go but if you can’t get to the parks mid-week and/or in the off times of year, then TDL/TDS is a tough way to go. Even it you get to TDL/TDS during a less crowded time of year and/or go mid week, it is very hard to see the two parks in less than 3 days (1 day for TDS and 2 days for TDL). I really felt like I had a more “complete/satisfying” experience at HKDL than at TDL/TDS. But one again, it depends on what you are after and how much time you have to spend.
