Fewer things can make twenty-something girls go from completely silent to completely ga-ga compared to the word ‘DISNEYLAND’. Unless someone says ‘Benedict Cumberbatch’, then it’s another story. While we realize not every girl fits into this category, we certainly do — and are proud of it! Long story short, this post tells the story of our one-day adventure at the magical world of Hong Kong Disneyland. We hope you’ll find it entertaining and (somewhat) useful!

START!

Almost any other blog we’ve read state that coming as early as possible is essential. Well, it’s kinda both true and false. Coming as early as possible will of course give you more time to explore the park and hopefully avoid late-risers, but it won’t make any difference when your visit takes place during peak season. Say, near the Chinese New Year? Around early February? When people all across mainland China are coming to Hong Kong for holiday?

Anyway. As it was still early February, the weather was pretty cold and windy — especially for residents of the tropics, namely us. The temperature was around 14 degrees Celsius, and later at night it dropped two points. The sky was also extremely grey, which was not that ideal for taking pictures. But it certainly didn’t dampen our spirits… This is Disneyland, kay? Just in case you forget. 

… Truer words have never been spoken!

But wait. What is that? Do you notice that something is wrong with the castle? 

WELP. The castle was being renovated until the end of May, so it should be okay by now.

LET’S PLAY!

Similar to other Disneyland(s) across the globe, Disneyland Hong Kong is also ‘sectioned’ into areas: Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and the fairly new Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, and Grizzly Gulch.

MAIN STREET, U.S.A. is basically one long road of shops with every Disney merchandise imaginable: dolls, bags, mugs, headbands, keychains, t-shirts, etc. You name it, they have it. Main Street, U.S.A is truly baaaad for everyone’s wallet.

ADVENTURELAND has an overall jungle, safari, and Tarzan-vibe to it; everything feels green and rustic. At one point we even heard one of Indonesia’s traditional songs ‘Es Lilin’ blasting out of the stereo!

Jungle River Cruise: a guided boat ride. I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but expect plenty of real-looking-but-actually-fake animals in the river, skulls that remind you of Calypso scenes from the Pirates of The Caribbean, and some funky fire play.

Festival of The Lion King: to be perfectly honest with you, we found this show to be extremely funny. It wasn’t Timon and Pumba. It wasn’t also not because of the ridiculously cheerful narrator…

IT WAS THE LANGUAGE. 

One minute they talked in English, the next minute they talked in Chinese. English. Chinese. English. Chinese. Repeat. We can’t stress enough how much it made us laugh like crazy! But no one else laughed with us. Humour is dead these days.

Rafts to Tarzan’s Treehouse and Tarzan’s Treehouse: while the Tarzan’s Treehouse looked pretty interesting and elicited an Oh-My-God-How-Did-They-Build-That response from us, it kinda felt meh once we climbed through it. But we’re sure you’re going to want to try going anyway, so just ignore what we said.

FANTASYLAND

Long queue for Dumbo the Flying Elephant. We skipped this one.

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh: Pooh fans wouldn’t want to miss this one. Do consider using a Fast Pass, because the queue is long and the ride is short.

And it’s not a day at the theme park without one ride at “it’s a small world”, Disney style.

TOY STORY LAND

Toy Story Land is arguably the area dedicated to adrenaline seekers. While it still doesn’t have Battlestar Galactica-esque roller coaster nor one of those thrilling rides at Ocean Park, Toy Story Land offers a couple of fast-paced, heart-racing rides.

Toy Soldier Parachute Drop: this one is not as scary as it seems. Nice view from the top. Single rider option is available. 

RC Racer: swing it like a pendulum! LOVED IT.

Slinky Dog Spin: queue was too long, didn’t have time to give it a shot. Maybe next time!

TOMORROWLAND

Oops. We.. DIDN’T TAKE ANY PICTURES IN TOMORROWLAND! Oh, the blasphemy. How did this happen? Anyway we hopped on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Space Mountain, and watched the uber cute Stitch Encounter. These three are a must-go! 

Honorable mentions also go to Mystic Manor at MYSTIC POINT and Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars at GRIZZLY GULCH . We especially love the Big Grizzly Mountain roller coaster! It was the last ride that we rode at around 07:30 PM; the moon was up and everything was perfect for a last hurrah at the magical world of Hong Kong Disneyland.

DISNEY PARADE

Finding a good spot to watch the Disney Parade is almost as hard as toilet-training your dog. Not impossible, but difficult. We’d say 30 minutes before the parade is enough to secure a spot. 

This member of the Green Army Men was particularly energetic and flirty. We could’ve sworn he waved at every girl in his view. Cheeky. 

The night parade was beautiful and sparkly! It resulted in some gorgeous black-and-white shots. It was bloody freezing though.

And don’t miss the event that would be your last memory at Disneyland: the fireworks.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Opening Hours: 10:00 AM - 09:00 PM

Ticket Price: approximately HKD 499 (adult) and HKD 355 (child age 3-11)

How to Get There: Click Here

Practical Information:

* Always check the official site and the weather forecast before visiting the park. In case of typhoons, the park may be closed earlier. 

* Do consider purchasing ticket meals at the official site; it would save you some money to buy merchandises.