Originally Posted By leemac <<The guests milling around and hanging out in the lobby were mostly westerners, and from what I gather, mostly WDC/WDI types from California.>> What time were you there SuperDry? We were sitting in the lobby around lunchtime. The humidity was just ghastly this morning too. Quite disgusting.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I was there around 3pm I would guess. When I saw it was mostly westerners, I was on the lookout for you, figuring that you might have been there, but didn't see you (based on what I remember you look like from the 17th). Regarding the heat and humidity, it really was amazing. I was so glad to get into the hotel lobby just to cool off. I kept ordering more iced tea. When I left, it was a bit cooler, but still plenty hot. I'll be glad to be staying there starting tomorrow, so that I can go back to the room right after the park to drop stuff off and cool off. And the pollution when I arrived early this morning (2am) was atrocious. As we were landing at the airport, you could see it hanging in the air, visible like a fog even at close range to a light. When I stepped out the door of the airport, it hit me like a brick wall, practically making me gag and wonder how long I could hold my breath, let alone make my eyes water. I don't think I had been in smog that bad since I was a kid in Los Angeles prior to them having the pollution controls they do today (everyone: don't let anyone tell you that pollution controls are nonsense - they've really turned LA around in the last 30 years). If I had to pick a time to visit Hong Kong, it would not be during the summer. I've been in November before and it was much more pleasant.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 SuperDry, thanks so much for your account so far! You do a great job of explaining the "feel" of the place. I hope the rest of your trip is wonderful!
Originally Posted By Jakijajah <<the Chinese definately like taking pictures in front of a Mickey-themed train, pictures inside the train, pictures of the mini-statues in the display cases, etc.>> Not unlike some LP memebers
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Well, seeing as how I couldn't be there, your report is the next best thing. Thanks, and I am waiting to hear more! Curious... even though tickets were supposedly sold out long in advance, you didn't even try to get into the park?
Originally Posted By Tiggirl SuperDry, I'm so jealous of you right now! How exciting to be there. Thanks for the updates as well. ~Beth
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt I have to admit it: I'm hooked. I can't wait to read the next installment!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Curious... even though tickets were supposedly sold out long in advance, you didn't even try to get into the park? >>> They had an extra security perimeter set up for the day, such that you couldn't even get to the ticket booth area unless you already had purchased a ticket. Prior to leaving for HK, I ran down every lead I could possibly think of, including a friend-of-a-friend who works for WDC and has been in HK for the last 3 months working on the opening, and was told it was more likely that I'd win the lottery than be able to get in the park on Opening Day at that point. I'm not too disappointed, as the tickets wouldn't even let you into the park until after the opening cermony, which was by invitation only. Now if the tickets had included the ceremony, that would have made them all the more valuable, but I don't know what I could have done more than I did (other than not being asleep at the switch a few months ago when they went on sale on the Internet).
Originally Posted By leemac We were heading back to the park by 3pm. It was nice to escape the chaos of Main St USA and get to the hotels to relax. We got into the park so early yesterday morning and it was a long wait for us to get our seats. I've never seen armed police in a Disney park before!
Originally Posted By leemac Very true. I'm never a fan of hearing a politican speak at these Disney events (Arnie speaking at July 17 was a disaster for the park's PR in my view) but it was okay. The show was incredible.
Originally Posted By SuperDry BTW, any of the HK local LPers are invited to drop me an email (superdry@attglobal.net) - it would be great to meet some of y'all.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I'm signing off for now - I'll talk with all of you on the other side of my first day in the park. I plan to be there when it opens at 10am.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Great report thus far SD . Can't wait to hear about the park and the hotel itself.
Originally Posted By SuperDry Alright - my first day in the park is over (almost 24 hours now). I've been too tired and spent my LP time responding to other threads, so I didn't get around to my reports until now. I'll just post things here as I have time.
Originally Posted By SuperDry HKDL Hotel: It's a wonderful property. The room smells so fresh and clean - after all, I'm perhaps the second person to stay in it. I've never checked into a hotel on Opening Day before, so I've noticed lots of things that are still being worked out and are rough around the edges. I'll just share a little fun item that you might find interesting. It's how I got totally creeped out on the way to my room the first time. It was late when I got back from the park. My room is on the second floor, which means going DOWN one storey because the entrance is on the third floor (but the entrance appears to be at ground level from the front). So, there's this sensation of going into the basement a bit. Getting off the elevator on my floor, something struck me as just not being right. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but I got this creepy feeling. I had taken the most obvious turn off the elevator, and found myself in what appeared to be a service hallway of some sort, with no obvious next way to turn. It was getting creepier. Let me say that in some respects, I can find the whole Victorian theme very disturbing if done the wrong way (I'm relating something personally, not something about the HKDL Hotel). Then, what popped into my mind was the possibility that around the next corner might be a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for ME! Not quite literally of course, but I think you get the feeling I'm trying to convey. Then, I realized where this theme came from, and it made me laugh at the irony of where this would hit me out of the blue. Anyway, the cause of this confusion was that the devices that hold the fire doors open in the elevator lobby on my floor are broken, so the doors are closed as if the fire alarm is going off. It's a bit hard to explain architecturally, and there's this very strange secondary hallway of sorts that adds to the confusion. When I saw how it SHOULD look by going to another floor, it all made sense.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney LOL, interesting dude . Sounds like the hotel is a real beauty too. Okay, I'm a little confused though (I'm always confused though ), are you saying that your room is underground? If so, what exactly is that view like?? I'm not trying to sound like a complete moron here, but its the only picture I'm getting in my head.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 It sounds to me like the room is not ondergound from the backside of the hotel. The front entrance is on the third floor, but in the back of the hotel, the ground is where it should be. I've seen lots of buildings like that, and it makes it seem much larger on one side than the other. It looks less imposing form the front entrance, but when you're in the gardens or looking at it from the South China Sea, it must look much bigger.
Originally Posted By leemac SuperDry that very loud noise we heard in the lobby when we were chatting was the large metal bar falling off in the caged elevator! It was hanging off when we went upstairs! Good to meet you too! Lee
