Entertainment
We were so pleasantly surprised by the entertainment here. Both the daytime parade and well-loved (California originated) Paint the Night parade were excellent. We saw Paint the Night twice and both times it was pure magic. Or, put differently, it was well worth the hassle of sitting on a curb for 45 minutes after a long day whilst 6 months pregnant. I mean, look at his face! Parker enjoyed it too 🙂
Let’s talk food
There was a wide variety of food to find at Hong Kong Disney. There were many Chinese options, a decent variety of Asian meals (Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese), and several Western choices too.
Although my default food preferences lean American/Western, we generally try to focus on local food. Sometimes that’s to be authentic & make the most of the experience (less so at an American-inspired theme park)… but in many cases (here included) the local food is just prepared better.
Chefs fare better with familiar cooking techniques & ingredients that are fresh and readily available. IE the Chinese dumplings & noodle dishes at HK Disney tasted better than the sandwiches and salads.
Is it even a trip to Disney without a magically-themed treat? This “Winnie the Pooh” donut was more cute than it was delicious- but that is the story of my life with Asian confectionaries.
Something I LOVE about Asia: these visual displays of (usually) plastic food showing exactly what your meal would look like are so helpful. This display was located outside of the restaurant, too, which spares you the awkwardness of walking into an establishment only to get a better look at the food and decide to leave again.
We enjoyed these Indian Flavors at a restaurant near Mystic Manor. Each restaurant (as you would expect) was themed beautifully, and the food was pretty good for theme park fare.
HK Disney compared to other Disneys
Main Street & The Castle
This Main Street– which is officially named Main Street, U.S.A.– was more familiar to us than the World Bazaar replacement we’d seen in Tokyo, or the Mickey Avenue of Shanghai.
The castle itself is rather small- and very similar to the one in California (more of a sprawling horizontal castle than a towering, vertical structure). UPDATE: NOW IT IS BRAND NEW AND HUGE!
Mystic Manor
Mystic Manor is a notable attraction that’s often compared to Haunted Mansion, and for good reason: it’s a large old house with supernatural elements at play. It’s my understanding that portraying ghosts in a trivial way is considered disrespectful in much of Asia; Haunted Mansion wouldn’t translate well here. Luckily for all of us, Mystic Manor was created! (See the Mystic Manor Ride-Through video on Youtube HERE).
I feel like the comparison to Haunted Mansion is helpful but ultimately does the ride a disservice; Mystic Manor was imaginative and completely unique to anything I’d experienced. Many new rides at Disney rely on IP [Intellectual Property– Disney/ Star Wars/ Marvel characters & worlds we already know], but it’s more impressive to me to start from scratch AND STILL fully engage the audience.
It was the most exciting ride I enjoyed this whole trip (low bar with pregnancy limitations but ya know) and my favorite of the park. We took turns because our toddler thought it might be too scary after being scarred on Jungle Cruise (stay tuned). It can be pretty dark inside and the theming/sounds are intense.
Jungle Cruise
At first glance, the Jungle Cruise boat ride looks and sounds like a copycat of the other versions that exist elsewhere. If we hadn’t ridden it, we wouldn’t have been any the wiser. But whoa baby this ride has been jazzed up! Hold onto your hats.
That happy baby has no idea what’s in store for her. The animals are WAY more realistic than other renditions (I guess HK had a 50 year technological advantage) and the animals’ movements are intense- not jilted and nostalgic. You go through a dark cave (at a surprisingly fast pace) at one point, and there’s water spraying in a violent (not backside-of-water) way. Paul remembers intimidating fog.
It’s just a whole lot of excitement that we didn’t prepare our little guy for. He (not so lovingly) named it “The Scary Boat Ride” and talked about it for a couple of months after. Oops!
Toy Story Land
This is the first and only time I’ve visited a Toy Story Land (although I’m pretty sure they exist in both Florida and Paris now). The theming was great (it felt similar to Bugs Land RIP). Paul loved the RC Racer ride (you can see part it pictured above) and Parker loved taking turns sitting in the stationary version.
Fantasyland
Fantasyland was absolutely magical. The twinkling lights at night were unlike anything I remember at other Disney parks. Because the park is more compact, this Fantasyland feels more like winding paths in a European village than a themed area at an amusement park. Oh, and my son and I could actually ride everything here. 5 STARS.
Pregnant mommas: see if your partner will do you a solid and sub in on the nauseous teacups
In Conclusion:
This park was the perfect size for our family at the time. Yes, it’s smaller than other Disney parks, but what they’ve done– they’ve done well. . Because I was pregnant I missed out a few thrill rides but there were still so many for us to all enjoy together (Walt, you genius).
Of course– this is all within the context of low expectations. We have good things to say about Tokyo Disney & Shanghai…but the weather was extreme and crowds were overwhelming in both of those experiences. The temperate weather and lack of crowds made our overall experience in Hong Kong the least stressful and most enjoyable. Dare I say, our best overall Disney Asia experience??
That’s it!
Have you been to HK Disney?? What’d you think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
[Castle Answers: top to bottom, left to right… Hong Kong, California, Tokyo, Shanghai, Florida, and Paris]
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