Tokyo to Da Nang

After taking a few trips where we packed in multiple destinations, we thought we would try out a single one city itinerary over Thanksgiving week.  We also know from recent experience that the girls like a pool/beach-based vacation much more than a city-based one, so we looked for a beach destination.  To keep it simple, we wanted a non-stop flight from Tokyo and preferred it to be to somewhere we hadn't been.

Joe was also looking to use up some of the difficult-to-use Delta miles we have accumulated, so Vietnam moved to the top of the list since Delta partners with Vietnam Airlines and we had never been to Vietnam.  We then checked what hotels Starwood and Hyatt had in Vietnam, since those are our preferred chains.  Nothing great at Starwood but Hyatt had a nice resort in Da Nang, and Vietnam Airlines happened to have 3x weekly non-stop service.

We first checked for availability at the Hyatt Regency Da Nang for seven nights, and there was Points and Cash availability.  6,000 points plus $75 per night was a decent redemption.  We were then excited to find out there was suite upgrade availability so we used a confirmed Diamond Suite upgrade certificate to reserve a suite.  We had heard the property had a nice Regency Club so we were looking forward to the breakfast and snacks there.

Once we had the hotel portion locked down (it was cancellable up until 24 hours before arrival) we tried to find airline tickets on Vietnam Airlines using Delta miles.  We lucked out and there were three coach seats and one business class ticket on the Saturday flights Tokyo-Nartia (NRT) to Da Nang (DAD) on 11/22 returning 11/29, so we grabbed those.  The coach seats were 45,000 miles each plus $40 in taxes and fees and the business class might have been 60,000 miles with the same fees.  Not good redemption values but we were trying to economize on the cash outlay for the trip and were happy to use the Delta miles since they are very hard to use when you need 4 tickets.

With all the planning out of the way, we were ready to go!

We left our apartment at 12:30pm on Saturday, November 22 and made the drive to Narita in less than an hour. We were met by DAD parking at our gate to drop off the car.  After checking in for our flight we made our way through security and headed to the Delta Sky Lounge to enjoy some snacks and drinks while waiting for our flight.

Carrot apple soup, gyoza and veggies in the lounge

Joe also ran and got the girls some chicken nuggets from McDonalds to have for the flight just in case, since he and the girls would be sitting in coach and we weren’t sure if a meal would be served.

I got to enjoy a kid free six-hour flight in Business Class and while Joe warned me it wouldn’t be anything nice, I thought it was great! Nice big seats that reclined about halfway back and had a little footrest.  The food wasn’t anything great but I had a decent meal of a salad, some fresh fruit and a beef fillet with a spicy sauce and steamed rice. The entertainment selection was pretty awful with only a handful of English movies so I ended up just reading the book I had brought with me, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling which had me LOLing most of the way through.

Had a few minutes before takeoff to give Joe a hard time about the awful conditions in coach

Back in coach things weren’t going so smoothly as the brand new pair of children’s headphones we bought were useless since they had a volume limiter on them.  Joe was kicking himself for not picking up an extra pair of Bose noise canceling headphones that we had been looking at the night before at the mall in Tokyo.  Lots of crying and whining went on as the girls had to take turns watching the iPad with the one pair of Bose headphones Joe brought. Poor spoiled darlings. We also forgot to bring water onto the plane (amateur mistake) and because of turbulence couldn’t get any for the first few hours. Since we were delayed on the ground for over an hour it was well past the girls’ bedtimes by the time we arrived in Vietnam - Lizzy ended up falling asleep for the last 90 minutes of the flight and Annie was a tired mess getting off the flight.

It wasn't one of our best flights but the time of the flight made it tough for the girls and the lack of water and headphones made it a lot more difficult than it needed to be.  We have many discussions on whether the premium for sitting in a nicer cabin is worth it.  This one reminded Joe that even with the little legs on the girls, the extra space in a nicer cabin is definitely worth something when having to be on a plane for seven hours with these two little girls.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a main pick of the trip

After a bit of confusion and standing in line for immigration with everyone else we noticed a small window labeled “Visa on Arrival” so went there to pick up our Visas that we had arranged through a third party online agency two weeks prior.  We were required to bring two passport photos for each traveller and decided to try using our leftover photos we had from when we renewed our passports in the US over 18 months ago. Shockingly, they accepted the photos even though Lizzy looked VERY different from her dated photograph. Visas in passports we went through immigration and collected our luggage.

We had checked our MacLaren stroller and even though this ended up being the ONLY time we used it during the entire trip, I’m glad we had it! Annie was SO tired and immediately climbed in and almost fell asleep.  We headed through customs and out of the airport to find a nice Mercedes R300 from the Hyatt waiting for us. The round-trip Hyatt-provided airport transfer was about $90, probably 4x the price of taking a cab.  It definitely felt worth in on the way to the hotel since everyone was tired and it decreased the stress in figuring out what to do. On the return trip, we felt a cab would have been fine, so we may only book a one-way next time and see how it goes.

It was dark when we arrived to hard to get any real first impressions of Vietnam but because of the abundance of motorcycles it had a bit of a similar feel to Bali, though much more developed. Da Nang was a much bigger city than I expected (not surprising since I knew nothing about it) with some modern architecture, a few large suspension bridges and some pretty big skyscrapers. Even though motorcycles greatly outnumbered cars everyone drove slowly and carefully and it didn’t have the chaotic feel of being on the roads in Indonesia. The Hyatt was a 20 minute easy ride from the airport and Annie quickly fell asleep on me in the car. 

Upon arrival at the Hyatt we were taken to the Regency Club Lounge to check in and then escorted to our room which had an anniversary cake, bottle of wine, sweets and fruit platter set up on the table. It was a great suite and I’ll write more about it in my next post all about the resort. The girls were, as always, super excited to be in a hotel but eventually fell asleep around 10:30pm Vietnam time, well past midnight in Tokyo! It was probably the latest they had ever stayed up.  Despite the busy day of travel and the late bedtime, they were up and ready to go at 6am the next morning.

Woke up to this gorgeous view

Hong Kong Disneyland

The forecast for our time in Hong Kong was pretty rainy most days, but since things looked clear on Saturday we decided to risk it and try Disneyland. Originally we had planned on going on Monday to avoid any weekend crowds, but it ended up not being an issue. We didn't wait longer than 5-10 minutes for anything! 

Getting to Hong Kong Disneyland from the W Hong Kong couldn't have been easier. We walked to the station in the adjoining Elements Mall and Joe bought us some Octopus Card for the subway system. We had a bit of confusion trying to buy the passes, but ultimately it was a billion times easier than trying to figure out the public transportation system in Tokyo. 

Headed down to the subway

There are airline check in counters at the train station! You can check in for your flight and drop your bags here

One way trip to Disneyland for 2 adults and 1 child was a little under $7 USD. Children under 3 ride free

Waiting for the train! Station was spotless and I liked the glass partition between the platform and train

You can dress her up but you can't take her out

We had to do one transfer onto the Disneyland line (monorail) and the total trip time was about 20 minutes. The park was a short walk from the station and after a bit of confusion about tickets (we were using our Silver Passes) we made it into the park.

Walking up to the park - felt so tiny and empty!

Even though we had wanted to get there right at opening we got there about an hour after and it didn't make any difference. We immediately headed back to Fantasyland to do some of the kid rides there while Joe walked to the other side of the park to try to get Fast Passes for the newest atttraction, Mystic Manor. Turns out Mystic Manor didn't have Fast Passes and there was no line whatsoever. After making the rounds in Fantasyland we rode Mystic Manor which ended up being Annie's favorite ride of the day and we rode it several more times.

Strutting her stuff in her new Minnie Mouse sunglasses

The weather turned out to be perfect that day - sunny and warm but not too hot.  It was warm enough for the girls to enjoy the splash pad in Tomorrowland where we had flashbacks of our trip to Universal Studios Singapore as a ton of people wanted to take pictures of the girls. It really doesn't bug me, as long as it doesn't bother the girls and people aren't too aggressive, but I do wonder what in the world they do with all these pictures of strangers' kids.

Rules required shoes

She couldn't believe her good fortune that mom let her have some frozen Coke

Strategically moved further and further away from me

"Just gonna finish this off"

Her funny bottom baby teeth are especially noticeable here

After finishing up at the splash pad we headed over to Toy Story land which was just adorable! The girls loved riding the slinky dog ride, which just went around and around, and we also rode a green army man parachute ride. That one brought you up really high - high enough to see the city in the distance - and then quickly dropped you down. It wasn't a super fast drop but Annie got REALLY scared.  Lizzy was just fine, although I am kind of surprised that they allowed kids as little as ours to ride this one!  It certainly made my stomach a little queasy.

Afterward we stopped at a snack window for a Pizza Cone and a Dole Whip.

Snack break!

Toy Story Land - I bet this looks really cool at night

Mango Dole Whip, Sprite and mango boba bubbles

We left Toy Story Land and headed back to Mystic Manor to ride it again when we were stopped by some workers who did a fun little activity with the girls.  They were shown a sample necklace and asked to make a matching necklace with big colored beads. This was right up Annie's alley since she is currently very into patterns. Afterward both girls received certificates with their names along with their thousandth stickers of the day. Hong Kong Disneyland employees are VERY generous with sticker distribution - it felt like every five minutes someone was handing Annie and Lizzy a stack of stickers!

After a few more rides and snacks, Annie finally crashed in the stroller. We only had one stroller that day so Lizzy didn't nap, but I'm sure if she had the opportunity she would have as well. Joe and I grabbed a few things from a bakery on Main Street and rested on a bench near the entrance while Annie napped. It was around 4pm by that time and we decided to head back to the W with the intention of coming back another day before our visit to Hong Kong was over.

Disney-ed out for the day

Maybe the only good family picture we've ever gotten on a trip! Notice how small the castle looks in the background.

We had plans to also visit Ocean Park on another day but ended up just going back to Disneyland since the girls had so much fun and it was so easily accessible. I usually have to psych myself up to visit Tokyo Disneyland so in comparison Hong Kong Disneyland felt super relaxing.  Since we plan on going back to Hong Kong sometime in the future we weren't too upset about not getting to Ocean Park this time around.

We took a day to explore Hong Kong Sunday and went back to Disneyland on Monday.  The weather again cooperated and crowds were again not bad at all! We pretty much did most of the same rides, but by far the highlight of the visit for Annie was her encounter with a talking garbage can robot.  She talked about it for days after! The highlight of this for me was seeing the Disney employee who was the voice of the garbage can robot dressed in plain clothes sitting nearby talking on his phone discreetly. I felt like a detective who had cracked a big case.

Another day, another Dole Whip

Unappetizing plastic food displays just like Tokyo

Space Mountain wait time: 5 minutes.  Proof it wasn't Tokyo

Adorable little graduates

Before leaving the park we let Annie pick out one small present. We are not big souvenir people but I had promised her a prize since she had been doing very well on staying dry overnight. She ended up choosing a miniature Lotso Huggin Bear plush toy, and since returning home she has completely reverted to wetting her pull up every night. Nicely played, Annie. 

We had a great time at Hong Kong Disneyland and are already looking forward to our next visit. We had heard from other people that it was super small and you could only spend a few hours there, but we had no problem staying the entire day. There is definitely enough to do and see plus the short lines mean you can ride your favorite attractions multiple times. The girls have now been to every Disney park except for the two in Paris - hopefully we can get there in the next few years.

Action shot

See you next time, Hong Kong Disneyland!

W Hong Kong

We hopped a quick flight from Taipei to Hong Kong with a flight time of just under two hours.  We flew coach on a Cathay Pacific A330 which was great for the short flight.  I sat in one section of three seats in the middle of Annie and Lizzy and Joe sat across the aisle from us.  The girls were really well behaved coloring, watching shows and eating the surprisingly decent in flight meal of beef curry with rice.  After we deplaned Joe waited for our luggage with Annie while I took Lizzy to figure out the cab situation, which was very easy.  Joe and Annie met us at the taxi stand and we took a ~40 minute ride to the W Hong Kong which is on the Kowloon side. The cab ride cost about US$40 and once again Lizzy slept for the entire ride. 

The cab dropped off right in front of the hotel and we were met by a bellman who took our luggage and pointed us towards the elevator bay.  Check in is on the 6th floor and the lobby was crowded on this busy holiday Friday afternoon.  We found the SPG Platinum desk and were welcomed by a nice woman who made some friendly small talk while she processed our reservation.  Check in seemed to take a long time and Annie was getting fairly antsy - later when I was reading reviews for the hotel I noticed that a lot of people complained of inefficient check in. At least we were using the SPG Platinum Desk - the regular line was super backed up. 

We were very excited to be upgraded into one of their "Fabulous Suites" and this is another reason why we are fairly loyal to our two main hotel brands.  This suite was going for just under $1,000 per night during the Golden week holiday weekend we were there, so it made our points redemption feel even better than originally planned.

We were then offered our Platinum amenity, which was either 500 Starpoints, a W Hong Kong baseball cap, or breakfast each morning for our stay.  In what was perhaps the easiest decision we have ever made, we took the breakfast.  We wondered if anyone in the history of the world has turned down a week's worth of expensive breakfasts in lieu of a baseball cap. 

Our room number was 3801, which was on the top floor for rooms.  The hotel also uses Floors 73 (gym) and 76 (pool) but the rooms stop at 38.  We were very happy with the amazing room they gave us and it really helped make the stay in Hong Kong a great one.

Entry hallway

Living room overlooking a working harbor

52" LCD TV, perhaps the largest hotel TV we have seen

Looking into the bedroom from the living area

VERY comfortable W bed, slept like babies every night

Shower, bath and TV: lots of cartoons watched in here

Bathroom

Desk with phone to call for Annie's self proclaimed favorite food, "Room Service"

Bath amenities, with nice things for the girls

The included breakfast buffet was amazing, almost on par with our experience at the W Singapore.  The restaurant was on the 6th floor next to the lobby and had a great spread all four mornings we ate there.  It had pretty views out to the working harbor and was surprisingly crowded throughout our stay.  To say I love breakfast buffets is an understatement. If we didn't have the girls I could probably sit there for a few hours enjoying myself - eating, drinking coffee, chatting, reading the paper and planning the day.  While meals out with young kids are by no means relaxing, I will say that it's definitely getting easier for us as the girls get a bit older.  

Lot and lots of watermelon each morning

Good bacon, which is a tough find in Tokyo

Pretty sure this was Joe's plate each morning - breakfast of champions

Breakfast dessert

We love buffet breakfasts

Interesting decor throughout the restaurant

Giant communal kitchen table - giving this restaurant its name, "The Kitchen"

Different gummies each morning

Love the cute little bottles of juice and milk

Cereal station

Fruit and fresh pancakes and waffles all the way to the left

A few of the hot selections - mini quiches and lobster eggs Benedict

We were amazed at how kid-friendly the W Hong Kong was despite its trendy appearance.  Both girls loved the kid-sized robes the hotel provided, even if they were still about 4 or 5 years from fitting property.  High chairs and plastic tableware was provided at breakfast, there was a yummy and reasonably priced kids' room service menu, and a hotel employee even came and placed rubber corner guards on all of the sharp edges of our furniture.

Some of the nicest features of the hotel were the pool and the gym. The pool was the highest pool we had ever been to, but lacked the amazing surroundings of the slightly lower Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.  And as remarkable (and high) as the pool was, it was hard to believe that just in front of it is the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong which also has a rooftop pool, but we couldn't even see the top most days because of the clouds.

Looking up at the Ritz Carlton, from our 76th floor pool.  That is a tall hotel!

Made lots of use of the hot tub because it was pretty cool with the wind

We used the fitness center a couple of nights and it had some great views which were very hard to photograph, especially with my iPhone.

Spa in the women's locker room

In addition to the impressive hotel amenities, the location was nice for us as it was co-located with a huge mall called Elements which had a subway station with a connection to Hong Kong Disneyland. The hotel also offered a complimentary shuttle to a number of key tourist locations nearby which was great because everything seemed to be under construction and it didn't seem like there was any way to walk with a stroller.

We would happily come back to the W if we find ourselves back in Hong Kong.  For a first time trip, we would highly recommend it to just about anyone.