Originally Posted By alisserae I am flying to Hong Kong for a quick visit (4 days/3 nights) since my husband is working out there for a couple months. Since we'll be at the HKDL Hotel, i'll make time for HKDL. The question is, how much time? Is it a half day or full day experience? I'm planning my itinerary, and just want to know how much time I should alot. Thank you!
Originally Posted By leemac alisserae - it really depends if you are a show person. If you are then you will need a full day to see The Golden Mickeys, Lion King, Stitch Encounter, parade etc. Also try and take lunch at the Plaza Inn - it is a beautiful restaurant and the Cantonese cuisine is delicious. If you have concierge try and see the fireworks from the lounge balcony - it is one of the greatest spots in any Disney location. Please promise me you will eat at the Crystal Lotus in the HKDL Hotel. The food is exceptional and the decor wonderful especially some neat WDI R&D tricks that are in the entrance, bar an dining room.
Originally Posted By Roger55 For me, I do like to take in all the entertainment and also take a lot of pictures. I fould one and a half days suffcient.
Originally Posted By SuperDry One full day should be enough. I did every last thing in the park including all attractions, shows, and parades and had hours to spare. This was before Stitch and Autopia, so there is more to do now, but I would be surprised if you could not fit everything in during an entire day.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Yeah, even with It's a Small Whirl comin' on board, I'll betcha can still git ev'ryting done in a day--just like SuperDry went an' said up there.
Originally Posted By irishfan If your staying at the HKDL I'd recommend what I did. Was at the park for opening, left around 1pm, went back to the Hotel for a swim and a rest, and went back to the park for 3.30pm until closing. The only major attraction I missed was the Legend of the Lion King.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara I can't imagine that a day isn't more than enough. The only thing you might want to do twice is Space Mountain.
Originally Posted By Mr X A day is more than enough. I wouldn't try to squeeze it into a half-day though, even though it IS doable. Take your time, relax, and see everything. Plus since your staying there you can always go back to the hotel for a swim or a rest mid-day if you wish. Have fun!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Personally I would do most of the attractions more than once quite happily. In some ways, I imagine HKDL could be a really relaxing weekend. I am planning on 2 days when we eventually go. How does HKDL fare in the live entertainment/streetmousephere department?
Originally Posted By Mr X Dave, which attractions would you repeat? Space Mountain, Buzz, and Jungle Cruise, sure. Philharmagic is repeatable (actually that's the only attraction I DID repeat), but you've already experienced that at WDW right? After that, what? Pooh? Ride the cars more than once? Spin around on Dumbo or Astro-jets a few more times? I think you would be bored spending two days there. A day and a half I think would be max...I was bored after four hours frankly (and I'm the kind of guy that could spend DAYS AND DAYS just hanging around Epcot or DisneySea...but not HKDL!). The only live entertainment we caught was the extremely sub-par Jammitors group, which rather than being a bunch of Americans with drum corps experience as in all of the other parks, was a bunch of Chinese guys who frankly didn't know how to drum. FWIW. They were mildly entertaining and enthusiastic, I'll give them that...as and WorldDisney can attest they had trouble performing a good show with so many rude guests (kids and adults alike!) walking right up to them and ruining things (a very unique Hong Kong phenomenon, I think). But I think they missed the memo when it came to Disney trash can drummers actually being GOOD DRUMMERS as a part of the appeal. Those guys just sucked. Didn't catch anything else except for the Hong Kong Disneyland Band which was god awful (but, in fairness, the Tokyo Disneyland Band is also god awful).
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well 2 days would consist of attractions, shows, shopping, leisurely meals, swimming, and remember my son loves the tea cups, we have been known to ride 10 times in a row at Paris. Same with Buzz and if short line, Autopia. And although I am not a pooh fan, the kids loved doing it 4 times in a row while mom and dad rode Splash at DL.
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, of course you COULD spend two full days if you wanted to (especially if you're staying there, which I would not recommend only because Hong Kong proper is so much of a better place to be). It all comes down to priorities, I suppose. I wouldn't want to waste a second day at HKDL, frankly, with nearby Hong Kong and Macau just beaconing with wonders great and small...when one day is perfectly enough for the place... But that's my take, anyway. When people ask the same about TDR, I have a tough time but I still err on the side of "less Disney, more city", though I could EASILY recommend four or more days at the Tokyo resort. Not so with Hong Kong. One day just seems like more than enough to me. In any case, might I recommend (depending on your schedule) that you enjoy a day in the park relatively early in your trip, then spend a couple of days in the city and see what a wonder it is and THEN decide if you really want to go back to the park for another day? That'd be my recommendation, anyway. Honestly, even if Hong Kong Disneyland didn't exist I would recommend to ANYONE that they should experience Hong Kong anyway, so I have no doubt you'll have a great time in any case!
Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<Personally I would do most of the attractions more than once quite happily.>> I personnally like doing that myself, but at HKDL, that idea begins to test you actually as after you have done your 5th trip on Buzz Lightyear by then just to look at your watch and realize it's only 3:00, you realize there are just SO many times you can do SM, Philharmagic, JC before you just realize you are stalling for time. Like Mr. X pointed out and he's been in the Tokyo parks with me along with this one, I can EASILY spend days in a Disney park. I actually take a book with me when I go to TDS and DL sometimes and just find a spot and read, when I'm by myself I mean. But HKDL, I don't know, its just something about it that doesn't draw you in even if you don't want to ride anything like the other parks. I just get so bored there so quickly after I do the ride and the shows. And I would also follow Mr. X advice, DEFINITELY spend the 1st day there and do everything, take as long as you need, but I wouldn't do a second day automatically. I mean, you really can do and see everything in HKDL in less than a day easily. Since I been there, a few extra things have opened up like the Stitch show, the cars and now IASW, but even then, even if you tack on an extra hour to stand in line and do those attractions, the park is still a half day experience. The first time I went, which was with Mr. X, I made it **my** purpose to spend the entire day in the park, to see and possibly do everything and with the exception of the spinners I did. I spent a few more days after that hanging out with Mr. X in the city, he left so then a few more days on my own and on my last day I ended up going back to the park for litterally a few hours and I was SO bored lol, after 2 hours I was really ready to go. I covered everything so well the first time around and besides Philharmagic, I just didn't really care to ride these attractions again just a few days later. Hell, I rode Buzz just 3-4 times with Mr. X before, did I REALLY want to ride it again? That's what I realized about this park and why its lacking. That second day for me wasn't about seeing anything new or something I missed while riding a few of my favorites again like the other MK parks, Epcot, TDS, etc, I litterally did everything I could do on the first day. There was NOTHING left over for the second trip, I didn't have to. I exhausted everything already, so on my second day, I looped the park, which litterally takes around 10-15 minutes. Good luck of doing that at EPCOT lol. I did SM again, Buzz and Philharmagic (the ONLY thing I really wanted to see again--and this was after doing it 3 times the first day, two times with Mr. X) and maybe JC and was just ready to go. I would've done Pooh again, but it was a 60 min wait and yeah, Pooh is just not that good after you done it once. Once again though, an hour wait for an attraction when everything else was maybe 20 mins or less that day showed that people were craving that Disney magic that was missing in so many of the other attractions and I guess why IASW is opening next month lol. I didn't want to see the shows again because I saw them all just 3 days ago. I might've jumped on the rail road to kill time, but I don't remember. All in all, I was there maybe a little over 2 hours before I left and I realized it was a mistake to go back. With all that said though, if I was staying at one of the hotels on property, then sure it might've changed my outlook about it somewhat, because I guess on that second day, I could've shown up around, say 4 pm, had a nice dinner at the ONLY sit down restaurant, did a few of the rides and catch the fireworks show. But it still comes down to the fact I wouldn't have needed that extra day for me, just something to justify staying at one of the Disney hotels versus spending that day in the city which DOES take a few days to see if you never been. I know I use to be very hard on this park, but I been there 3 times already and each and everytime I was ended up being bored throughout the day. Even in DCA, the 2nd worst Disney park in my book, I can honestly say I was never 'bored', just not as interesting or fun as DL, but I could at least fill up my time at DCA in a day without riding Screamin 5 times (but HAVE done that as well ). Truth is, you CAN spend a day at DCA if you decide to do everything, the problem is most of those attractions just aren't very appealing to do them all with many guests. The opposite is true for HKDL, what's there is very appealing or should at least belongs there, but there is just so few attractions you end up repeating them so many times, you get sick of them unfortunately.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Big diff though guys, we would be with 2 little ones. We take 2 hours for our main meal. So I would stay on site, enjoy a day and evening in the park, next day get up, go for a swim, enjoy an evening in the park. I'd be happy. I have been to HK before, other than ocean park and getting on the water, not much to do with rug rats - shopping and clubs have little appeal.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Oh yeah, forgot about the kids . Still, one day is more than enough. Can you stretch it out, sure, but like I said in my post, its so easy to see everything in the first day and what's there just isn't all that much appealing overall, its hard to justfy two days straight unless you just want to do the hotels and that's understandable. And have you been to the other islands outside of HK island? I think your kids would LOVE that experience, they are just great for walking and getting a different/quieter side of HK. I don't know why, but very few people who visits Hong Kong ever go to the outlaying islands. That's the BEST part about HK to me when you done the malls and seen the waterfront. I tell people all the time that if they never been to Lautau or Penang islands among a few others they are really missing a great experience there.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Big diff though guys, we would be with 2 little ones. We take 2 hours for our main meal. So I would stay on site, enjoy a day and evening in the park, next day get up, go for a swim, enjoy an evening in the park. I'd be happy. >>> So, it sounds like you're asking more about the resort as a whole, rather than just the park. Well, for one, please realize that the "resort as a whole" just means the two hotels plus the park. Well, there is a municipal park with a lake nearby. Other than that, there literally is nothing else to the resort: no DtD, and as far as I remember, not so much as a vending machine outside of the park and the hotels. But, I think you could manage to fill up two days, if you include spending time for leisurely meals, pooltime at the hotel, and so on. But certainly not more than that.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< [Jamminators] had trouble performing a good show with so many rude guests (kids and adults alike!) walking right up to them and ruining things (a very unique Hong Kong phenomenon, I think). >>> I think that's more of a mainland Chinese thing rather than something the locals would do, but with some 40% of the guests being from mainland China, and with the sense that they're still within their own country, this is probably not uncommon at HKDL as compared to the other parks.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney ^^Yeah SD, that's why I don't think I would ever really stay at the hotels. If I had a family or a girlfriend that was into DL like I was, sure, but going alone, I would be bored to tears, especially when if you stay 30-40 minutes away you are in the middle of an exciting city that never really 'closes'. Again, if you have family or just have to do the hotels, fine, but for **me** HKDLR is unfortunately a dull place to be. Besides a half day park, you go to the hotel and its really just a pool and a few sparse stores, nothing else.
Originally Posted By Malin I'll be visiting in May and I plan to do atleast one day, with the possibilty of two days at this park. Some may feel I'm pushing it with two days but I'm the kind of guy who enjoys doing things more than once. I also like taking pics and videos, and checking out the smaller stuff like the merchadise. I don't visit a Disney park with a agenda, I like to visit without a plan, and go from there. Unless I'm at TDR than I visit with a plan in place, due to the insane FastPass System in place at that Resort.
Originally Posted By alisserae Hmm, so now the husband may have to relocate elsewhere in HK as the HKDL hotel may be overrun with executives for Small World. I think I would prefer this since I plan to spend a good portion of my time shopping. Either way, I am ALWAYS happy to get out of Orlando, so no complaints.
