And we’re back with another trip report! We’ll be continuing our second day at Hong Kong Disneyland, picking up with us finishing our meal at the Explorer’s Club restaurant. There’s still a lot of excitement to be had, so follow along for more!
Before we get into it, if you haven’t read the previous installments of 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 me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Tiktok!
Donald’s Philharmagic
So after having that amazing lunch, we decided we would go ride Mystic Manor again. However, when we got to the entrance of the ride, it showed a 30-minute wait. Given that we had already ridden it twice that day, we decided to skip it for now and head for Fantasyland to do some rides and shows over there. We walked through Toy Story Land (which at this time was unbearably hot) and finally made our way over to the queue for Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Philharmagic is a family-favorite of ours. We always make it a point to do it once or twice a trip because we love it that much. And judging by the line that formed for it while we were there, it was still drawing in the crowds at HKDL. For those of you who don’t know (although if you’re reading this you probably already do) Mickey’s Philharmagic is a 15-minute 3-D show that takes you through scenes of classic Disney and Pixar films with a loose storyline that follows Donald (I know, the title is misleading) as he tries to retrieve the sorcerer’s hat after all hell breaks loose when he uses it. It’s simple, but really effective.
However, with 3-D movies becoming more common nowadays, the novelty of the attraction is beginning to wear off. Disney’s response to this has been to incorporate new scenes into the ride, such as the new Coco scene that can be found in some versions of Philharmagic (HKDL’s version, however, does not have the Coco scene). I would personally love to see it become a randomized experience kind of like Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. But the normal version is fine and is a nice AC break from the oppressive Hong Kong heat.
Upon entering the queue, you encounter posters of other “productions” that have played at the theater. You’re then ushered into the theater (pro-tip: be sure to sit in the middle for the best experience). The show includes scents, water effects, and lighting effects to fully immerse guests into the story of Philharmagic. The actual show is great, although I think the film could use a little cleanup. It goes from the concert where we start to Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Peter Pan, Aladdin, then back to the concert for a finale. Make sure to look up behind you during the finale for a fun surprise.
After exiting the attraction, we made our way over to Fairy Tale Forest which is located adjacent to the Philharmagic building.
A Foray into the Forest
After leaving Philharmagic, we decided to go to Fairy Tale Forest next. In hindsight, this wasn’t the best decision given that it was still blazing hot outside but we thought since we were already in the area, we might as well give it a look.
Fairy Tale Forest is like the Storybookland Canal Boats at Disneyland and merged it with Alice’s Curious Labyrinth over in Disneyland Paris. It’s basically this walk-through, maze like garden that has miniatures of classic Disney movies. The displays are interactive, activated by spinning a wheel at certain designated areas. This attraction was added as part of Hong Kong Disneyland’s 10th anniversary celebration, which meant that we had only experienced this attraction once or twice before. I was particularly looking forward to this because it has a Tangled section (Tangled is my favorite Disney movie of all time).
So we entered the maze and the first area we encountered was the Tangled section. Rapunzel’s tower stood before us and, if you spun the wheel below the book, Rapunzel would peek out from the top of the tower and try to hoist up Flynn Rider, who can be seen dangling from the tower by her hair. A nearby music box played the “I See the Light” scene complete with moving lanterns and Rapunzel and Flynn swaying back and forth on a boat.
Following the Tangled area was an area themed to Snow White. The exterior of the mine featured in the movie could be found here and, when the wheel is spun, a rolling mine cart carrying Dopey moves throughout the display. The music box plays a scene of the remaining dwarves digging in the mines.
Next to that we can see Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast. Upon spinning the wheel, part of the castle turns to reveal Belle and the Beast slow dancing in the famous grand ballroom. The music box for this section showcases the animated household objects dancing to “Be Our Guest”.
Another castle anchors the next part of the forest, this time featuring Cinderella. Nothing notable happens at the castle except for a drawbridge that opens and closes. The music box of this area, however, features a cool optical illusion that transforms Cinderella from wearing her tattered clothes into her fairytale dress.
The final area of this forest is themed to The Little Mermaid. This section is divided into two. The first area showcases Prince Eric’s castle, with a nearby animation of Prince Eric and Ariel in the “Kiss the Girl” scene. Past this, a beautiful waterfall disguises the underwater kingdom of Atlantica which, by once again turning the wheel, the water trickles to a stop revealing the kingdom in all its glory. The music box depicts the fan-favorite “Under the Sea” scene.
After exiting the forest, we decided that we wanted to watch Mickey and the Wondrous Book. However, given that the show was still 50 minutes out and a line was only going to form 30 minutes before the show, we decided to head to Tomorrowland and play Ant-Man and the Wasp again to kill time. My sister once again beat me this time. I seemed to be getting progressively worse (if not that then stagnating) while she somehow figured out how to game the system to get 600,000 points. After defeating Arnim Zola once again, we headed for the Storybook Theater to watch Mickey and the Wondrous Book.
It’s Wondrous
When we got to the Storybook theater, there were already so many people in line waiting for the show that the line extended outside and wrapped around the entrance. We were worried we wouldn’t be able to get in and that the overflow line would be for the last show of the day, which was 2 hours away. I asked a cast member, however, and they told me that everyone in line would get to watch the next show, so that was a relief.
We were then quickly funneled into the theater and surprisingly, we were able to get good seats! We were on the right side of the stage towards the back, but were up against the aisle, meaning we had a semi-central view of the stage. If you speak English, you should sit on the right side of the theater because that’s where the English subtitles are located. For those of you that don’t know, this show is entirely in Cantonese, with Mandarin and English translations found on the left and right side of the theater respectively. After a few minutes, the show began.
This show is basically similar to the former Mickey and the Magical Map show that used to play at Disneyland, except this one follows Mickey and Goofy as they try to get Olaf back to his proper story inside the Wondrous Book, a tome containing the stories of all the Disney animated movies. As with most Disney theme park shows, that loose plot is just used as an avenue to string together scenes from various Disney movies. And Wondrous Book is probably the best contemporary version of that concept, possible being tied with Mickey and the Magician (although the music sequences in Wondrous Book are far superior). The costumes, sets, effects, and performers are just top-notch and you can tell they put a lot of thought and care into crafting the best show possible.
The show starts with two singers singing the theme of the show. After seeing the book, we’re introduced to Mickey and Goofy. Mickey opens the book and Olaf jumps out. Unable to identify where in the book he goes, Mickey decides to enter the book and find Olaf’s rightful place in the book. The first sequence of the show is The Jungle Book and features King Louie dancing and singing his famous song “I Wanna Be Like You”. Jungle foliage overtakes the stage as dancers groove to the beat of the song. Afterwards is the Princess segment of the show that features Ariel, Rapunzel, and Merida singing a medley of their songs such as “Part of Your World”, “When Will My Life Begin” and “Touch the Sky”. This is one of the standout parts of the show and the actresses do an amazing job of capturing the essence of each princess.
Following that is an Aladdin scene where a singer playing the role of the Genie performs the song “Friend Like Me” with Aladdin and Jasmine appearing at the end of the performance. The Genie then tells Mickey to follow the music as it will lead him to what he seeks. Mickey flips the page and is transported to a Louisiana Bayou for the Princess and the Frog scene. This is my personal favorite number in the show. The choreography is top notch, it incorporates a very talented trumpet player, the actresses playing Tiana always knock it out of the park vocally, and the arrangement of both songs featured here (“Dig a Little Deeper” and “Almost There”) are very catchy and memorable.
After this scene, Mickey is able to find the Frozen section of the book and is able to reunite Anna and Olaf. Of course, a Frozen section wouldn’t be complete without a number by Queen Elsa herself as she sings “Let it Go”. Mickey then leaves the book and the cast members reunite on stage for the finale number that features scenes from other Disney movies appearing in the book such as Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Confetti signals the end of the show and the audience streams out after that.
This is probably my favorite theme park stage show in the world (with Festival of the Lion King, also at HKDL, coming in at number two) mostly because it incorporates a lot of the songs I love and features movies and characters that I’ve formed an emotional connection with. I remember when the previous show that was in this theater, the Golden Mickeys, closed to make way for this show, I was pretty upset about it. But after seeing Wondrous Book with my own eyes, it just became an instant classic for me! You cannot miss this show when you come to Hong Kong Disneyland.
After watching Mickey and the Wondrous Book we decided to hightail it over to the castle to watch Follow Your Dreams. But AGAIN, we were denied that opportunity as the show was once again modified due to unforeseen circumstances. With nothing else to do, we decided to head for Tomorrowland, where we would spend the rest of the day before Momentous later that night.
A Tomorrowland Evening
We started our evening by riding Ant-Man twice. Like I said, my family loves the shooting rides so we went on this one again and again. My sister beat all of us AGAIN and missed scoring 700,000 by 3,000 points, the closest any of us got to that number. I really don’t know what it is with her and this ride but she’s just naturally good at it.
After riding it twice, my parents wanted to ride it a third time. Seeing that we had only ridden it once so far, I told my sister that I wanted to ride Hyperspace Mountain. She then said she’d accompany me so we went to ride it again. It was posting a 15 minute wait at the time but we were on in about 10 minutes. This ride keeps growing on me the more I ride it. While I prefer the version of Space Mountain with the Michael Giacchino score, this one was just as exciting and thrilling. And getting to fly past TIE fighters and X-wings will always be cool.
We met our parents afterwards at Starliner Diner. It’s a tradition in our family to eat dinner there after riding Astro Blasters multiple times to close out our evening before the fireworks, so we knew we had to keep the tradition alive. I had the cheeseburger and it was still as good as I remembered it being. After eating, my sister and I decided that we wanted to ride Orbitron as the wait was just ten minutes while my parents rode Ant-Man one more time. We agreed to meet at the exit of the Ant-Man ride once we were done.
Orbitron was akin to other parks’ Astro Orbiters, only this one has you riding on Flying Saucers. The whole thing is elevated as well, giving you a particularly high bird’s eye view of a big part of the park. We rode at night but if you happen to ride in the morning, you’ll get to see even Tarzan’s Treehouse on the other side of the park. My sister and I both sat in the front of our saucer (there are two rows per saucer) and like always, we pilot our saucer to the very top and leave it there. We circled the huge and beautiful looking contraption-like sculpture that forms the center of the ride, complete with swirling planets and galaxies. We could also see the Castle of Magical Dreams, which was already lit up with projections for that night’s showing of Momentous. After descending, we met up with our parents and staked out our spots for Momentours, arriving about 20 minutes before showtime.
Momentous was just as good as the night before. Despite my taking videos of this performance for my tiktok and instagram, it still managed to make me cry. The story, the music, the arrangement, the projections, the theme song, all of it combined just makes it so magical. It really is up there with Wondrous Journeys and (I’m assuming) Happily Ever After. Just writing about it makes me miss it so much. I hope I get to go back soon and witness this masterpiece once more.
After the show we decided to do some shopping, but we didn’t stay for long as we still had one more park day ahead of us! We exited the park, walked to the Transportation Interchange, got on a bus headed for the Explorer’s Lodge, and called it a day. It was a long, hot day, but every moment was worth it. We have one more day at Hong Kong Disneyland to go through and after that it’ll be the end of our Hong Kong Disneyland adventure (well…for now at least).
Thanks for reading Part Four 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 Two: Humidity, Monkeys, and Magical Dreams
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