To all who come to this happy blog, welcome! I’m excited to be writing my first official trip report, and I’m glad that it’s about my personal favorite Disney theme park: Hong Kong Disneyland ! I love doing these kinds of posts because, as I mentioned in my previous post, I get to reminisce and think about all the fun I had on these trips, and I get to share really important information about enjoying these parks with you. So welcome to this trip report series! I hope it’s as entertaining and informative as it was fun to write. 

Before we get into it, if you haven’t read the introduction post for this trip report series, I suggest you do so before reading this. Click here to access part one of this trip report series. Also, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Tiktok!

Starting Slow and Airport Woes

Our Hong Kong Disneyland adventure started at 2:30am on June 3rd. Our flight from Manila to Hong Kong was scheduled to leave at 7:25am, and given that there were some things I haven’t put in my suitcase yet, such as my gadget chargers and extension cord cause I needed to use them the night before June 3rd, I decided to wake up early to pack them in my bags and give myself enough time to change and get ready. Well, my body woke me up at 1am, mostly because I was just so excited to go back to the parks again! This would end up coming back and biting me later on, but at this moment I didn’t care. I was headed to Hong Kong Disneyland, or as I fondly call it “HKDL”, and I was pumped.

I quickly finalized my packing and, after double checking that all our things were accounted for, we swiftly loaded up our van and made our way to the airport. Luckily, I live relatively close to the airport and we were there in less than 15 minutes. We left at exactly 4am and arrived at the airport at 4:15am. Since we were flying Cebu Pacific, we headed for Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Upon arriving at the airport, we got a cart for our bags and made our way to the check-in counters. When we got to the counters for our flight, we noticed that the online check-in line was longer than the normal check-in line. There was also just one counter for the online check-in line while the regular check-in line had three. So, even though we had already checked-in, we decided to line up at the regular check-in line. We waited two minutes before we were called. Soon we sent our bags away and went to the immigration line…

…which was incredibly long. It felt like there were 200 people ahead of us. We prepared for this, however, which is why we got to the airport early. And we were lucky that, right as we thought we would wait forever in that line, they opened a second line that was originally reserved for Overseas Filipino Workers. We quickly made our way there and after about 40 minutes we got through both immigration and security.

We had about an hour until our boarding time so we decided to chill at a lounge at the airport. We also had not eaten breakfast yet and our tickets did not come with food so a lounge visit seemed like a good idea. The food at the lounge was presented buffet style and, while it wasn’t the most expansive buffet, their selection was still pretty good. I had some dimsum and we lounged around until ten minutes before our boarding time.

Boarding was easy and relatively quick, but this was where the frustration started for us. Our plane sat at the boarding gate for 50 minutes beyond the time we were supposed to take off because some documents that the pilots needed were missing. But that was just the start of it. Afterwards, when the plane finally pushed back from the gate, we were delayed another 40 minutes because of heavy traffic on the tarmac A.K.A. many planes were all trying to depart at once, which could’ve been avoided if they had the documents on time.

We had planned to be in HKDL by 11:30am because we should’ve arrived in Hong Kong by 9:30am but after all the delays we arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at 11:00am. It’s a good thing the flight was relatively uneventful. It also helps that the flight was short. I just listened to Disney podcast episodes I had downloaded on my phone for the entire 90 minute duration of the flight. After touching down we headed for immigration, which only took five minutes, got our bags and entered the arrival hall.

Touchdown Hong Kong!

Upon entering the arrival hall, we made our way to desk A13 to pick up our sim cards. I found a deal on Klook, a website I would highly recommend you check out, for a deal on sim cards. You can find the details of the deal here. It included 80GB of data and over 1000 minutes of calls. All you had to do was show your Klook booking confirmation and then show your passport and you’ll be issued your sim cards. Klook also sells Hong Kong Disneyland tickets and coupons, so they’re worth checking out and seeing if their deals are cheaper than those coming from Hong Kong Disneyland itself.

After claiming our sim cards, we went to the taxi area and headed for the Blue Taxis or the Lantau taxis. The taxi area is actually near the Airport Express train station. You just need to head towards the Airport Express and then make a left before reaching it to get to the taxi area. We tried to fit into one taxi but, with all of our luggage, the driver told us we needed two taxis. So we piled into the taxis and headed for the resort. My mom and I were in one taxi while my sister and dad were in another. The ride to the Explorers Lodge took about 15 minutes. HKDL is really close to the airport (they’re actually on the same island) which makes it really easy to travel there.

A Homecoming Celebration

I still remember so clearly seeing the welcome sign again after 7 years. We took an overpass and ended up in the resort proper. After driving on a roundabout, we saw the sign ahead. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it. Finally, after everything that’s happened the past few years, I was finally back at my happy place. And not just any happy place, but the happy place I grew up with. It was a homecoming seven years in the making, and I smiled all the way to the Explorers Lodge. I had actually been to the Explorer’s Lodge in 2018 when I went to Hong Kong with my family, so this wasn’t my first time seeing it. But my jaw still dropped all the same.

From the street you could see the orange, green, and yellow patterns adorning the outside of the building towering over their surroundings. The whole hotel had an exciting yet comforting feel to it. They nailed the exploration and discovery theme down to the lights they used on the ceilings. As you arrive, you’re greeted by wooden decor that gives the whole hotel a nature-feel.

Afterwards, you enter the six-story lobby, adorned with bamboo that shoots up to the ceiling and incredible, makeshift-like chandeliers. To the right of the lobby you’ll find bell services and check-in desks while to the left you’ll see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy’s travel trunks that contain trinkets and keepsakes from their journeys around the world. Overall, the lobby is incredibly well-themed and set a high standard for the rest of the hotel, which we would find out would meet every single standard it set.

Upon arriving, we left our bags at the baggage storage located to the right of the hotel entrance as it was too early to check-in into the hotel. We then lined up at the check-in counters and got our room keys, which would be activated after 3pm, paid our room deposit, and received our park tickets. My sister and I would be visiting the park for three days while my parents visited for two. So for our first day, we ended up splitting up. My parents went to the city to go shopping while my sister and I headed for the park. By the time we were ready to leave for the park, it was close to 1pm already. We were a full hour and a half behind schedule, all because of the flight. But we wouldn’t let that faze us! We were finally at Disneyland and we wouldn’t let anything get in our way of having the best time ever.

We were in high spirits as we waited for the bus to take us to the park. Hong Kong Disneyland offers complimentary shuttles to and from the hotels and the park. They come every few minutes and usually fit a lot of people so there isn’t usually that long a line. After waiting about 5 minutes, we entered a bus and were on our way to Park Promenade.

Live the Moment

The bus stopped at the transport interchange and soon enough we were on Park Promenade. For those of you that don’t know, Park Promenade is kind of like the Esplanade of Hong Kong Disneyland. It’s this long stretch of walkway that leads to the park entrance and, if you walk past the park, it leads to the Hong Kong Disneyland resort hotels. The area of Park Promenade that’s near the transport interchange also is home to the Hong Kong Disneyland MTR station. My best guess is that about 70% of guests arrive at HKDL via the subway.

So after walking out of the interchange, we were greeted by the iconic “Welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort” arch that you usually see on Instagram. At this point, my family split up as my parents headed for the train station while my sister and I headed for the park. We snapped some pics in front of the arch and made our way to the front gates.

After walking down Park Promenade we ended up in front of the other iconic HKDL landmark: the fountain of Mickey surfing on a whale’s spout. It’s a cute photo op but we had other things to do and we were already behind schedule so we headed straight for the park. It’s worth mentioning now that it was scorching hot. We knew beforehand that the real feel would be about 39 to 40 degrees celsius, but we weren’t prepared for how humid it would be. We hadn’t even stepped on Main Street and I was already working up a sweat. We lined up for security, had our bags checked, lined up at the turnstile reserved for hotel guests, and entered the park.

A Castle of Magical Dreams

After entering the park, we quickly went under the tunnel on the right that leads to Main Street. When we saw Main Street, I couldn’t help but smile. Finally I was back in my home park, and there were so many new things to try out and explore. One of the things we were looking forward to the most was at the end of Main Street. As most of you probably know, HKDL’s castle and hub went through a huge renovation the last few years. Construction was started to increase the height and size of the castle, with construction finishing in November at which time the castle was unveiled to the public.

I remember rounding the corner and seeing it for the first time. When I saw it, my jaw dropped to the floor. It was huge! A lot bigger than the old castle, maybe double in height. It was also very thin, but looked majestic all the same. I needed to get a closer look at it, so down Main Street we went. While walking, we noticed that the Main Street Cinema was converted into a Duffy meet and greet spot. This would be a preview of how huge Duffy is in the Asia parks. We’ll talk about that more later on.

So as we got closer to the castle, we decided to do Mystic Manor first as it just had a 5 minute wait and it was our favorite ride in the park. But before heading out to Mystic Manor, we just had to stop in the hub for a bit to admire the castle. It looked a lot more elegant than before and thankfully didn’t block out the mountains behind it. Even though we were kind of far from it, we could see the spires of the castle, each of which represents a different Disney princess. We saw things like the Tangled flower, a spiral symbolizing Moana, and Mushu representing Mulan. It was such a pretty sight and throughout the trip we would go back to the castle to take photos in front of it because it was just so darn beautiful.

A Manor Comes Alive

After enjoying the view of the castle for a few minutes, we made our way over to Mystic Point to ride Mystic Manor. We passed through Adventureland to get there as the expansion lands were over on the other side of the berm next to Adventureland. The north and south parts of the land have entryways that lead to these other lands and we decided to take the south route, passing by Grizzly Gulch to get to Mystic Point and Mystic Manor. We entered Adventureland and immediately I forgot just how big this land is. Because it’s supposed to be a combination of Adventureland and Frontierland, this area of the park is actually two lands in one, with the Rivers of Adventure taking over the Rivers of America and Tarzan’s Treehouse replacing Tom Sawyer Island.

After walking under the Adventureland arch, we made a left to head to Grizzly Gulch, passing by the cart that sells fried squid (we would have some later on in the trip) and the Festival of the Lion King theater. We then went under the archway and entered Grizzly Gulch. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, HKDL’s version of Big Thunder Mountain, was under refurbishment until the second day of our trip, meaning we could only ride it on our third and last day. After passing by it, we ended up in Mystic Point and quickly got in line for Mystic Manor. 

If you don’t want to hear about Mystic Manor to avoid any spoilers, I would recommend skipping the next few paragraphs. 

Mystic Manor is, quite frankly, one of the best Disney rides in the world. It’s an opinion many die-hard Disney fans share, and rightfully so. The queue, the pre-show, the technology behind the ride, the narrative, the music, the animatronics, the characters, everything is just pitch-perfect and dialed up to a T. It has quickly cemented itself as a classic Disney attraction and one of Imagineering’s modern marvels. 

After entering the Mystic Manor queue, you end up in the Mystic Manor tour entrance. As you walk through the indoor portion of the queue, pictures of Lord Henry Mystic, the man who owns Mystic Manor, and his monkey sidekick Albert, adorn the walls.

This is where you’re introduced to S.E.A. or the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. For those of you that may not know, S.E.A. is a society that connects various Disney rides, restaurants, and attractions around the world. Lord Henry Mystic is a part of that society, and throughout the queue you can see pictures of other S.E.A. members such as Harrison Hightower (who bares a striking resemblance to former Imagineer Joe Rohde) from the Tower of Terror attraction at Tokyo DisneySea and Mary Oceaneer of Disney Cruise Line fame.

Once through this section of the queue, you enter the pre-show. This is where Lord Henry Mystic introduces you to his collection and manor, shown through some pictures he flashes on a screen with a projector, and where he also shows off his latest acquisition: an ancient music box that supposedly can bring inanimate objects to life. His companion Albert seems to be very taken with the music box, and that’ll play out later in the ride. This is where we get a taste of the animatronics that are present in this attraction, with an animatronic Albert appearing for a bit as the pre-show goes along.

After the pre-show, we are taken to the loading area where we get on the trackless Mystic-Magneto Electric Carriage for a tour around the manor and its collections. The tour goes awry, however, when in the first room Albert opens the music box, unleashing the magical music dust that brings everything in the house to life! We pass room after room of creative sight gags such as a bunch of musical instruments that start playing by themselves, a venus flytrap that attacks us, a canon AND crossbow that shoot at us, a bunch of tikis that fire their darts at us, and in the final room, a jade monkey that comes to life and destroys a part of the manor.

Throughout the attraction you will see all the care and detail that the Imagineers peppered throughout the attraction. From the amazing musical score to the funny and creative sequences on the ride, the ride truly feels unique and stands on its own while also paying tribute to the rides that inspired it, such as the Haunted Mansion. The result is one of Disney’s most entertaining dark rides and one that should be considered a modern classic by now. This ride undoubtedly inspired the other trackless rides that succeeded it such as Rise of the Resistance, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. It’s my favorite Disney ride in the entire world and, after getting a chance to experience it again for the first time in seven years, it was the perfect way to start off our Hong Kong Disneyland trip. 

A Royal Feast

After riding Mystic Manor, we realized that we were hungry as it was almost 2pm and we had not eaten lunch. We decided, because we had meal coupons that day, to eat at Royal Banquet Hall in Fantasyland. I would highly recommend buying the meal coupons for your visit. As of this writing, they’re still available in the Hong Kong Disneyland website. They’re called the “3-in-1 Park Meal Voucher”. It costs HK$ 280 and with the voucher you get two meals (lunch and dinner) at any of the five quick service restaurants in the park (Comet Cafe, Starliner Diner, Royal Banquet Hall, Clopin’s Festival of Foods, and Tahitian Terrace) valued at max HK$ 150 and a snack of either an ice cream or popcorn valued at HK$ 45.

Assuming your food costs HK$ 150 for both meals and you avail of the snack option, you would save about HK$ 65 per person! So unless you plan on eating at one of the sit down restaurants for one of your meals, I would recommend getting this voucher! Also, you can always order something that’s above the HK$ 150 limit and you would only have to pay the difference.

So my sister and I, after deciding that we wanted to eat in Royal Banquet Hall, headed over there by passing through Toy Story Land. Toy Story Land, while popular with the general public, draws the ire of the Disney fanbase because of its “cheap” attractions and theming (of course this doesn’t include the one at Disney World which is by far the best Toy Story Land). My personal gripe with it is that it has no shade, so we walked in the blazing heat to Royal Banquet Hall and it was just awful. We arrived at the restaurant completely drenched in sweat and feeling tired.

When we got there too, it didn’t help that there was a line extending outside the restaurant. That would become a theme in HKDL for this trip. HKDL used to be known for short lines and light crowds. But ever since Momentous debuted at the park in June 2022, it’s become pretty packed. Of course that’s a good thing but for people like me who’ve been coming to HKDL for years, you kind of end up missing when the park used to be much less crowded. But I digress.

The line, we found out soon enough, moved quite fast. I think we were only waiting about ten minutes outside before we were let in. We were told to find a table first before ordering food and we quickly found one in the back of the restaurant. This area was probably overflow seating for when there were too many people like today. After finding a table, I went to go get our food. Royal Banquet Hall is divided into three sections: Entrees Royale, International, and Grill. Each of the three sections had their own kitchen and queue to line up in. It was a good thing we both wanted items from the international menu cause if not I would’ve had to line up in two different lines. I quickly got our food, which consisted of a Meat Lover’s Mickey Pizza for me and a Plant Based Truffle Pasta for my sister, paid using our vouchers, and went back to our table. I was able to secure one of those carts they have in the restaurant so I could deliver both meals to our table.

My food was just ok. It was a standard pizza, nothing overly special aside from its Mickey shape. My sister’s pasta, however, was very good. It was really creamy and you couldn’t tell from the taste that the meatballs were plant based. The serving sizes were a bit bigger than I expected and I ended up not finishing the pizza and instead helped my sister finish her pasta as it was the superior dish. Our location was nice as well because we were beside the walkway that the various princesses meeting in Fantasyland would take to go backstage, and we were treated to seeing some princesses pass by as we ate. After finishing our meals we decided that we wanted to ride Hyperspace Mountain as my sister had never ridden it before and I had only ridden it in California. However, as we would quickly learn, the Disney Gods had other plans for us that day.

Thanks for reading Part Two of my Hong Kong Disneyland trip report series! If you’d like to read the other parts of the series, they are linked down below:

Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report 2023 Part One: Introduction

Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report 2023 Part Three: Lines, Birds, and a Momentous Celebration

Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report 2023 Part Four: Spaceships, Cruises, and a Feast for an Adventurer

Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Report 2023 Part Five: Music, Forests, and a Wondrous Book