Originally Posted By robbalvey TPR's Return To Asia - Day Two: Hong Kong Disneyland! Ok, onto our day......first off, as we've said before the "rumors" you've heard about the place are NOT TRUE! It's nice, it's clean, it's friendly, and the people visiting the park are 100x nicer than your typical Saturday clientelle at most So Cal parks! Let me get the "downers" out of the way first, because to be honest there aren't many. Tomorrowland leaves a lot to be desired, IMO. It's not that the rides aren't good, because I think both Space Mountain and Buzz are better than the DL counterparts, it's just that the area is small and really doesn't "look" all that great. The Castle - WTF??!?! The lamest Disney castle ever gets copied at HKDL. I just don't get it! And if that's not enough the natural mountains behind it dwarf it even more. Oh well, it just means MORE CASTLE JOKES!!! The only other "downer" is that the park, at the moment, is missing a lot of Disney "Signature" rides, leaving not that much to do, especially if you're a seasoned Disney theme park visitor. That being said, the park is REALLY nice. In fact, the entire resort by far exceeded my expectations. I'm going to make this brief since we're at the hotel and need to be on a flight to Tokyo in about 3 hours, and I have about 100 photos to post (I'll do half today and half tomorrow) so here's a breakdown of what we did. Space Mountain - For one, I had low expectations. I had heard it was a 'crappy version' of the new California version. What we got was a BETTER version than that! The ride is even smoother than the new "smooth" CA version. And it certainly "feels" a lot faster. There aren't any of those jolty tranisions, which I personally like and I think it adds speed, or at least the feeling of speed to the ride. You really do "whip" around some of those turns! And I really liked the added FX. The star field was much more pronounced, you flew past asteroids, there was what looked like a "hyperspace tunnel" during the "drop" and all the lift effects were "new", unlike the the revamped CA version which were just updated versions of "old" effects. The stataion was tiny, yes, and that was a downer, but what was there was at least "nice" Buzz lightyear - Basically looked like a clone of the Tokyo version, which means it's also a clone of the CA version, but less "claustrophobic." Jungle Cruise - It's like a souped up riverboat cruise with a "Catastrophe Canyon" ending. Fun ride. Very similar, but with more fire! =) Mickey's Philharmagic - Fun 4D movie! This was the first time we had seen this, and other than Donald being the star (we're not big Donald fans!) the music, effects, and movie were pretty good. Not a "Muppets-beater" IMO, but fun! Tarzan's Treehouse & Rafts - Picture Tarzan's Treehouse from DL on Tom Sawyer's Island and there you go! =) Winnie the Pooh- WDW's Pooh. Which is WAY better than CA's dumpy version, but is NOTHING compared to Tokyo's orgasmic dark ride. Other flats - Astro Orbitor, Tea Cups, Dumbo, Carousel - traditional Disney stuff. Looked nice, but you're familiar with these already. Basically, as you can see, there's not a lot to do at the park, and that is the one major downer. But like I said, the park exceeded our expectations and I think as the expansions are built, this park will give the others a run for the money! For photos from today including a POV video of Space Mountain with LIGHTS ON click here: <a href="http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21216&start=46" target="_blank">http://www.themeparkreview.com /forum/viewtopic.php?t=21216&start=46</a>
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Rob.. glad you are having fun at HKDL and staying at the Hollywood. Great hotel...I loved it there! Hunny Hunt at TDL... "orgasmic"? Yup! LOL!!! Have fun in Tokyo as well (like "hello?" it's TDR!!!) Keep the pics coming.
Originally Posted By gardabble I'd like to add some comments about HKDL castle. First off during the day, the castle looks small why? Because you can see the mountains in the background and it shows how small the castle is. But during the night (around fireworks time), you do not see the mountains. You just see all the lights shined on the castle and it actually looks big. Also I should also note about the castle, during the night it constantly changes colors and you'll see it glitter allot on every color change.
Originally Posted By wildghostz Why the lights were all on in Space Mountain??? Isnt it less fun to have all lights on?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Probably the ride broke and had to be stopped, reason why the lights comes on. It has happened to me numerous times at WDW's rickety Space Mountain ride.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN You should say... "Maintain with Care". It's up to Disney's maintenace crew to keep these rides in good condition.
Originally Posted By Bradley DLC I've just seen the video, and Space Mountain looks un - freakin' - believable!
Originally Posted By robbalvey We have just added Part Two of our HKDL photos, over 100 photos total: <a href="http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21216&start=94" target="_blank">http://www.themeparkreview.com /forum/viewtopic.php?t=21216&start=94</a> Enjoy! --Robb
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: So, robbalvey, duckling--let us get this straight. On the one hand you seem to be saying the park is better than many others have stated. Yet--in your very own post--you point out the very same things about this newest Disney park that others have mentioned, which have led to the conclusion that it's not such a great place to visit. Which rumors were you referring to, when you said they aren't true? ORWEN: If you ask me, a glass that's half empty or half full is still just half a glass. ORGOCH: Don't try goin' smart on us, sister! I ain't a workin'!
Originally Posted By Megara Thanks for the great photos and comments. I was laughing at your comments, how do you come up with this stuff ? It was very funny.
