• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Hong Kong Disneyland: General Discussion

That is shockingly short. I thought there might be some sort of dark ride section a la Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Sure it looks lovely, but as a coaster it's more kids coaster than family coaster.
 
Turns out it is a Vekoma Junior Coaster, which I had not realised. Certainly the world's best themed Vekoma Junior, I'll give it that. I just had it in my mind that this was going to be a slightly larger scale family coaster.
 
I recently visited HKDL and I have to say that Frozen Land wildly exceeded my expectations.

Frozen Ever After uses much larger boats than its original version in Florida and although the ride circuit is basically a clone, it runs much more efficiently. It also uses actual animatronic faces rather than those awful projections that Florida uses.

The coaster, Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs, although short is a very fun coaster. The theming in the queue line is exceptional and none of the guests seemed to mind or be surprised about the coaster’s short length.

The area itself looks beautiful and the backdrop of Lantau Island’s real life mountains really adds to it, something which I’ve always thought is one of HKDL’s biggest strengths. It adds to the immersion in the case of Frozen Land, and it is very much a land in its own right, as opposed to just a corner of the park with a couple of rides in.
 
In recently released annual finical report, they have had a great good year and record breaking revenue/profit for the resort and have seen a significant attendance boost, with the new Frozen land being a key driver. They have also said that they have spent 50% of the money allocated for their expansion plans they announced in 2016 so far. They also said they are ready to continue with this expansion and move forward with the previously announced Marvel expansion/project. Although the ride is likely to have changed from the original plan and rumoured to likely be the same E-Ticket multiverse ride that's been announced for California.
 
This is amazing news, I’ve always been a huge cheerleader for Hong Kong Disneyland and genuinely believe that it’s one of the best Disney parks out there.

If only 50% of their 2016 expansion budget has been spent, then I can see some really positive investments going forward. The new castle is just beautiful, Frozen Land as I previously mentioned is exceptional. The Marvel rides are alright, but that area does need a major Marvel e-ticket and then it could become an area in its own right, separate to Tomorrowland. If you look on Google Earth, the area cleared by Autopia’s removal still has loads of vacant land.

I’ve heard that HK’s government have favoured the expansion of the current park ahead of a second gate (a much wiser move than what Paris did if you ask me), and with how much HKDL has developed, this could be the first Disney castle park with two rings of lands circling the castle. They’re actually almost there. All that would be required would be to link up Toy Story with Frozen Land and then link It’s a Small World with Marvel.

If this happens (which I think it will) and the new attractions are of high quality, I’d go as far as to say HKDL could rival Shanghai as my favourite castle park, giving HKDL its much needed selling point ahead of the other Disney resorts. Sadly at the moment there isn’t really anything that HKDL does best out of all the Disney resorts, except for maybe its natural beauty/ surroundings, and the fact it gets super short queues.
 
I have a day off in Hong Kong with work. Is there anything at this park that is exclusive or not available elsewhere?

Frozen seems like it will be the same as Paris (except the coaster but I gather that’s a bit rubbish).

I’ve never been to Hong Kong so I sense my time would be better spent exploring than visiting a lesser Disney park…
 
Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain are both completely exclusive to HKDL, and the former is undoubtedly one of the best dark rides in the world, as well a clear inspiration for Symbolica. It's a nice park, but in my opinion, you’d have as exciting a time just exploring the markets in Hong Kong, or even sailing to one of the city's bays for seafood and a swim. Of course, you can sail to Disneyland, too! Another individual quirk of the resort.
 
Plastic Person said:
Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain are both completely exclusive to HKDL, and the former is undoubtedly one of the best dark rides in the world, as well a clear inspiration for Symbolica. It's a nice park, but in my opinion, you’d have as exciting a time just exploring the markets in Hong Kong, or even sailing to one of the city's bays for seafood and a swim. Of course, you can sail to Disneyland, too! Another individual quirk of the resort.
Click to expand...

Interesting. They do look cool. How are queue times? Seems it's literally 20 min from my hotel so could potentially pop in for a few hours just to do those two...
 
Just be careful not to go when it’s busy. I must of picked the only two busy days of the year. 😅

No crowd control on entry meant a scrum to get through security which took over an hour. Another hour to get through the ticket barriers whilst fighting through a scrum of people and people trying to get through without tickets, creating bottlenecks whilst arguing with staff.

Queues for rides (or scrums) with levels of queue jumping that would make the Spanish blush.

It was the most unpleasant experience of all the parks visited on my recent trip.

Shame as the Resort Hotel was fantastic.
 
Vik said:
Just be careful not to go when it’s busy. I must of picked the only two busy days of the year. 😅

No crowd control on entry meant a scrum to get through security which took over an hour. Another hour to get through the ticket barriers whilst fighting through a scrum of people and people trying to get through without tickets, creating bottlenecks whilst arguing with staff.

Queues for rides (or scrums) with levels of queue jumping that would make the Spanish blush.

It was the most unpleasant experience of all the parks visited on my recent trip.

Shame as the Resort Hotel was fantastic.
Click to expand...

Oh dear!

Well according to crowd calendar the day i'll be there is around 60% expected of capacity then seems to pick up a lot more from the following weekend when schools break up. I think i'll just play it by ear, if i go that'll be nice but if i don't i won't be devastated.
 
Bowser said:
Oh dear!

Well according to crowd calendar the day i'll be there is around 60% expected of capacity then seems to pick up a lot more from the following weekend when schools break up. I think i'll just play it by ear, if i go that'll be nice but if i don't i won't be devastated.
Click to expand...
60% is nothing at HK Disneyland. I’d predict most queues will be less than 30 mins. It’s generally a very quiet park.

I’ve visited four separate times over the years, with one of my visits being on a Saturday during Hong Kong’s Christmas holiday week and I’ve never seen the park anywhere near as busy as the other Disney resorts can get.

Honestly, I really wouldn’t worry about crowd numbers. You’ll be absolutely fine with 60%. Even if not, you can buy fast track, but I’m 99% sure it won’t be busy enough for you to need to.
 
Last edited:
Hmm, park was predicted to be quiet today at 45% but queues currently range from 60-90 minutes. It's a Friday which would be same day i'll be there.

Are there any single rider lines? Can you buy one shot Fast Track rides?
 
Bowser said:
Hmm, park was predicted to be quiet today at 45% but queues currently range from 60-90 minutes. It's a Friday which would be same day i'll be there.

Are there any single rider lines? Can you buy one shot Fast Track rides?
Click to expand...
Yes, one shot fast track is available for most rides. Just go, you’ve got a free day, you might as well. What have you got to lose?
 
Definitely go, even if just for a few hours.

I went on a Friday in February earlier this year (the 21st) and loved it. It was the most chilled-out Disney visit I've ever had.

Manageable queues, clean, well-maintained; generally just a pleasant vibe.

All it lacked was one true stand-out attraction!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top