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!