When Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL) opened on September 12, 2005, it was the last of the Eisner Era Disney theme parks to open. The Eisner Era was named after Michael Eisner, the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Eisner, while credited with reviving Disney’s animation studio, saw the parks decline under his leadership. 

His Euro Disney project failed to meet expectations, which then resulted in a slate of theme parks that were built on the cheap because of the company’s fear that they too would be financial failures: Disney’s California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Hong Kong Disneyland is the only castle park on the list, and arguably the most disappointing one of them all. 

Klook.com

HKDL opened with 11 rides. Its only Fantasyland dark ride was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It only had 4 lands, and didn’t even have an original castle as it had a copy of California’s castle when it opened. Reviews from park guests were discouraging, with most guests complaining that there was just nothing to do at the park. If you think about where HKDL started, and where it is now, that change could not be more dramatic. 

HKDL now has 20 rides, almost double its initial ride count, including two original attractions in Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars and the imagineering masterpiece that is Mystic Manor. It also added Toy Story Land, It’s a Small World, Iron Man Experience, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle, the Castle of Magical Dreams, World of Frozen, and the nighttime spectacular Momentous. 

Suddenly, the “worst” castle park became a crown jewel in Disney’s pantheon of parks. And it continues to grow every single year, with all its developments culminating in the 20th anniversary celebration beginning this year. 

HKDL is a special place. It was my original home park and continues to be my favorite Disney Park. But something interesting has been happening with Hong Kong Disneyland recently. Or rather, something is happening to the other Disney Parks that makes it look like HKDL is the one that’s changed. But if you’ve been a frequent visitor to HKDL and the other parks over the years, you’re bound to have noticed these changes, and I’m not talking about the different rides that have opened over the years. 

I’m talking about the number one thing guests at Disney Parks now stare at constantly: their phones.

If you’ve been going to Disney Parks since the pandemic, you’ll know what I mean. It seems like every single thing you can do to improve your day at Disney is inexplicably tied to your phone. Booking Premier Access and Lightning Lanes, ordering food, looking at attraction wait times, getting virtual queues, and even shopping can all be done on Disney’s myriad of apps for each resort. 

There comes a point, however, when being on your phone constantly detracts from the theme park experience. Gone is the sense of adventure and discovery that comes with exploring a new theme park for the first time. Instead, it’s been replaced by the need for efficiency. Guests are caring less and less about the theming around them and are more concerned with if they can do everything they set out to do in one day. 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Wanting to maximize your time at the parks to make sure you’re getting your hard-earned money’s worth is something every family should want when planning a Disney vacation. The issue is that Disney’s systems for making sure you get everything done have people running from attraction to attraction, buried in their phones trying to get the next Lightning Lane instead of taking the time to be present and appreciate where they are. 

This, admittedly, is mostly because of the new Premier Pass or Lightning Lane system Disney has implemented. When the Fastpass system was still in place, after getting a Fastpass but before you could get a new one, you basically couldn’t do anything but wait. This encouraged exploration. You had to fill your time somehow, so guests were encouraged to wander the parks, discover new attractions, and just be immersed and transported by the amazing theming. 

There was still planning that needed to be done, but guests who just showed up at the gate could just wander and still have an amazing time. Granted, back then a one-day ticket to a park was substantially cheaper than what it is now, so there was a lot less pressure to have a “good day” and get your money’s worth. 

Now, however, Disney is charging exorbitant prices for nearly everything, leaving families scrambling to make sure they do everything they can to make the most out of their day. This inevitably means staring at your phone, looking at wait times, or trying to refresh the Lightning Lane page on the app to get an earlier return time so that you can get another Lightning Lane sooner rather than later. 

I recently experienced this on a visit to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. I decided to take my friend on his first visit to Disneyland in 9 years. However, while he had a good time, I was so focused on making sure everything in our day went according to plan that I was just constantly glued to my phone, checking Lightning Lane return times, making selections, and checking wait times. 

My friend even called out my obsessive phone use that day, but how could I explain that I needed to move up our Indiana Jones Lightning Lane to make space for our Bengal Barbecue Mobile Order so that we could use our 4-5pm window to go on Haunted Mansion. Every aspect of a Disney Vacation has become so planned that it’s eroding any spontaneity we could possibly gleam from the experience. I could write a whole other post about how planning is eroding the Disney theme park experience, but that’s for another time. 

Disney Parks have essentially become giant digital checklists that need to be done before the park closes or else money was “wasted” on that day. Unfortunately, that means phones at Disney Parks are more vital to the guest experience than ever. I know phone addiction isn’t Disney’s fault alone, but they certainly aren’t making it any better with the policies and programs they’ve implemented. So it seems that gone are the days when people could just blissfully wander through a theme park, no gadget in hand, and just enjoy their day without looking at their phone. 

Or so we think. 

Enter Hong Kong Disneyland. Now on a normal day (which for HKDL happens more often than not), Hong Kong Disneyland’s longest wait is for Toy Soldier Parachute Drop in Toy Story Land, which will usually command a 30 minute wait. The rest of the park, even the headliners, usually have posted wait times of less than 15 minutes. Sometimes, it’s even shorter than that. Because of this, not that many people buy Premier Access (which you can learn more about here) which in turn makes the standby lines even shorter. 

It’s very easy to do the entire park in a day. Since lines are predictably short, you don’t have to do that much planning. You still need to make sure you get everything done, but the relatively low crowds compared to the other Disney Parks means that there’s less pressure on families to do everything on their checklist and plan every aspect of their day, especially considering how much more affordable a day at HKDL is compared to the US Disney Parks.

It’s no wonder why many Disney Parks fans around the world love coming to HKDL, the amazing attractions and stunning scenery aside. It’s the last bastion of the old Disney Parks experience. An experience where you were more concerned with fun than your checklist and a time when phones at Disney Parks were only used to snap pictures 

But what will it take for Disney to copy the HKDL experience in their other parks? Phones at Disney Parks are here to stay, but how can Disney encourage guests to look up from their phones? They could reduce the capacity of the parks which, let’s face it, they’re not going to do. They could build more capacity, which is expensive. 

Or they could do what I think they should do: limit Lightning Lanes to a select few by pricing them higher and remove return times. By making Lightning Lane a higher premium, it will discourage people from buying them, making the standby lines shorter. Lightning Lane guests are usually prioritized in queues so removing a large portion of them will make standby go faster. This will result in lower waits that improve the guest experience and allow guests to be more spontaneous. 

Getting rid of return times will also lessen the amount of time those who avail of the Lightning Lane service will spend on their phones because they are guaranteed to ride the ride whenever they want, eliminating the need to refresh the app to get an earlier return time. It should be noted that HKDL’s Premier Access service already does both. It charges a premium for skip-the-line services and removed return times, allowing passes to be used throughout the day instead of at a specific time. To Disney’s credit, we can start to see this with Lightning Lane Premier Pass, but more changes need to be made to combat this issue. 

Disney Parks can be like HKDL again. If they wanted to, they could improve the guest experience. HKDL doesn’t have to be an outlier. If Disney is willing to make the changes, it can be the norm. Whether they will or not remains to be seen. 

I hope they do, because the more convoluted and rigid the Disney Parks experience becomes, the less likely that the kids of today will become Disney fans when they grow up. Disney has built its brand on the nostalgia and memories Disney fans have of the parks. Take out those memories and that entire fan base will be gone in 20 years. 

For now it isn’t a problem, but in time it could be. Hopefully Disney can make every park like HKDL and integrate phones at Disney Parks in a way that doesn’t detract from the guest experience. Because if not, it may lead to a world of trouble. 

If you enjoyed this Disney Parks opinion piece, consider subscribing to my newsletter and bring the enchantment of Disney parks, resorts, and cruise lines straight to your inbox. Whether you’re planning your first magical trip or you’re a seasoned Disney pro, my newsletter is your ultimate guide to creating enchanting memories.

🌟 What You’ll Get:

• Expert tips for navigating Disney parks and skipping the lines.
• The latest updates on new attractions, events, and dining experiences.
• Insider secrets to make your visit extra magical (and budget-friendly!).
• Personalized itineraries, seasonal guides, and hidden Disney gems.

From Walt Disney World and Disneyland to Disney Cruise Line and the international parks, we’ll help you plan the trip of your dreams with less stress and more pixie dust!

👉 Subscribe below and let the magic begin! 🏰✨

Klook.com

SUGGESTED READING: