2020 Oct Trip Report

[Asa]

Quick trip report

I have just been to HKDL on 19 Oct. Here is a quick report.

FIrst of all the park hours are shorter than before, from 10:30 to 19:30 only. That is 9 hours and if you take lunch for 1 hour, you have only 8 hours in the park.

Secondly many restaurants in the park were closed. Comet Cafe, River View Cafe, Tahitian Terrace, Clopin's Festival of Foods, Explorer's Club Restaurant were all closed. Disney was selling lunch coupons at a discount rate, which now can only be used at Royal Banquet Hall. With the HK govt's capacity restrictions, that makes it even more crowded at lunch time, my sister and brother-in-law didn't get to eat until almost 3pm.

Thirdly the closure of the pathways through the castle means longer walks between Fantasyland and Main Street. We had a table booking at Main Street Corner Cafe. We were called when we were at the entrance of Philharmagic. We had no choice but to abandon the queue and walk through Adventureland to reach Main Street which took about 10 min. It would have been an easy 2 min walk through the castle in the past (and future).

Fourthly, where did all these people come from? Why were there so many kids on a Monday in the middle of October? The park was actually crowded even at 50% capacity. We had to queue at 17:30 for the 18:15 Mickey and the Wondrous Book show.

That's all that came to mind for now. I will write more later.

[Asa]

Here is a longer one.

18 Oct

We booked a Disneyland Hotel Kingdom Club room stay for 4 people. We are doing this trip as a staycation, since we are not able to visit any overseas territories and we do have holidays to spend. The Disneyland Hotel was having promotional offers, we figured if we book two rooms it would cost more or less the same as booking 1 larger Kingdom Club room, which would include more services and meals.

We arrived at the hotel at about 2pm. We initially queued at check-in but I also ask my wife to ask the floor manager. The manager then led us to 7th floor to check in at the Kingdom Club lounge. We were served by a cast member called Best who took care of us, made our swimming pool, evening snacks and breakfast bookings, then he led us to our room. He also gave us Priority Passes for rides in the park when he learned that we would visit the park the next day. The room was clean and tidy with everything we expected. Mini Bar was free but refill was not. Soon someone came to deliver fruits to our room. My sister took a packet of popcorns from the lounge and she said it tasted great.

Due to COVID-19 the swimming pool has limited capacity of 80 people each hour. Guests must book beforehand. We already booked at check-in so we proceeded to the swimming pool at 3:30pm and had a good time. There was a water slide which I tried for the first time. It is actually very fast if you lie down flat. But the weather was getting cool and I think people who got in the pool after us would find it a little cold. After the pool we hit the gym for another 45 minutes of exercise before heading back to the room for showers.

We then went to the Kingdom Club lounge for evening snacks and wine. Actually the snacks served was more like a meal. It was delicious and my wife and I had our fill. The waitress asked if we wanted seconds but we declined. After this we went to the hotel shop. When we paid for our merchandise the girl said there were discount coupons in the room so I went back to get them. After this we went back to our room and retired for the day.

19 Oct

Next morning we went back to Kingdom Club lounge for breakfast. There were American or Chinese set breakfasts. We all went for American. The waitresses also served us bread, yogurt and fruits. We asked for a second serving of bread and we were all very full.

Then we went downstairs for tai chi class. The class was full as almost everyone in the hotel joined in. Then Goofy came and took his turn to teach us. After the class we went to the garden for a morning stroll before checking out. The girl in the lounge arranged for our luggage to be transported to the park exit, so we can collect them after our visits to the park, which is a very good service.

We then took the hotel shuttle bus to reach the park. We made our ways to the turnstiles even though the park is not supposed to open until 10:30. We were allowed in and got as far as the roundabout in front of the new castle. We took photos there with the new castle and I think it is indeed a better castle for this park. Then at 10:30 it is rope drop and almost everyone went for Tomorrowland. We did too and the first ride we did was Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle. It is almost a walk-on. One change I noticed is that you don't control the direction of the ride vehicle anymore. Losing control of that is a little disappointing. It is still fun though. Next up was Iron Man Experience. It is still not a great ride but it is not bad.

The other rides we did that day was Hyperspace Mountain, It's A Small World, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and then we went to Adventureland for Moana: A Homecoming Celebration. It is not a great show but it kinda works and actually I found that it is kind of popular, it is always full when I pass by during later shows.

My sis and bro-in-law then wanted to take lunch so we went to Grizzly Gulch for the mine cars ride. Then they said they couldn't get a table so they are now at Mystic Manor. We went to join them and met them at the exit. They said they have to wait until about 2:30. So we went to Jungle River Cruise. After that they went to Royal Banquet Hall again and we went to Main Street Corner Cafe because we want to try the Duffy and Friends Afternoon Tea. At the door the waiter said there are 40 tables (!) ahead of us. My wife figured most of them won't show up so we decided to wait. The waiter said he will send us an SMS when our table is ready and we should return within 15 min.

We walked around Main Street for a bit then we went to Toy Story Land. We were able to meet Woody but the rides were all very busy. So we decided to go to Philharmagic. We were at the very front of the queue when I got an SMS from MSCC. So we left the queue and walked through Adventureland to reach MSCC. We were seated quickly and it was nice to have a rest and a cool drink finally.

After that we did go back to Philharmagic. Then we joined the queue for Mickey and the Wondrous Book and told my sis and bro-in-law to join in since it was already quite crowded. They were among the last to join the queue. We saw the 18:15 show and my sis, who saw it for the first time, said it was a pretty good show. Then all 4 of us went to do Ant-Man and the Wasp once again. We then proceeded to the shops.

At 19:30 we realized that the "We Love Mickey" projection show was coming up. This was not listed in the HK Disneyland app so I didn't know it was happening. Anyway we stayed on and watched the show. It is really not bad and Mickey appearing on a stage near the end add more value to it. After that we left the park quite exhausted. We collected our luggage outside the park at the luggage storage. It normally costs $120-130 to store one piece of luggage there but as hotel guests we didn't have to pay.

Overall a very enjoyable experience. But actually I found we kinda ran out of things to do later on in the afternoon. That should not be a problem when Arendelle opens next year. Also we actually did not do anything in Toy Story Land (wait times too long) and we missed The Festival of the Lion King (just not the right timing). I told my cousin in America that I don't think she can do everything in HKDL in one day unless he/she can run fast.

[mclubber]

Any opinion on the new castle? any side entertainment on the lands like the parades and dapper dans?

[Asa]

Any opinion on the new castle? any side entertainment on the lands like the parades and dapper dans?

I already said I think it is indeed a better castle for this park.

We didn't see any as we weren't on the Main Street area much.

[Sukie Norman]

Quick trip report

I have just been to HKDL on 19 Oct. Here is a quick report.

FIrst of all the park hours are shorter than before, from 10:30 to 19:30 only. That is 9 hours and if you take lunch for 1 hour, you have only 8 hours in the park.

Secondly many restaurants in the park were closed. Comet Cafe, River View Cafe, Tahitian Terrace, Clopin's Festival of Foods, Explorer's Club Restaurant were all closed. Disney was selling lunch coupons at a discount rate, which now can only be used at Royal Banquet Hall. With the HK govt's capacity restrictions, that makes it even more crowded at lunch time, my sister and brother-in-law didn't get to eat until almost 3pm.

Thirdly the closure of the pathways through the castle means longer walks between Fantasyland and Main Street. We had a table booking at Main Street Corner Cafe. We were called when we were at the entrance of Philharmagic. We had no choice but to abandon the queue and walk through Adventureland to reach Main Street which took about 10 min. It would have been an easy 2 min walk through the castle in the past (and future).

Fourthly, where did all these people come from? Why were there so many kids on a Monday in the middle of October? The park was actually crowded even at 50% capacity. We had to queue at 17:30 for the 18:15 Mickey and the Wondrous Book show.

That's all that came to mind for now. I will write more later.

A lot of kids? What happened to the safety protocols against covid?

[mclubber]

A lot of kids? What happened to the safety protocols against covid?

Knowing how HKDL runs things. I doubt there is any protocols as long as there is no reports of further infection, HKDL will stick to HK govt guidelines. So far daily infections has mainly been single digits during the month of Nov 2020.

[Sukie Norman]

Knowing how HKDL runs things. I doubt there is any protocols as long as there is no reports of further infection, HKDL will stick to HK govt guidelines. So far daily infections has mainly been single digits during the month of Nov 2020.

But still HKDL should not be complacent about it, though it is accepted that they are sticking the HK Govt guidelines. Praying that these single digits wont go higher.

[mclubber]

But still HKDL should not be complacent about it, though it is accepted that they are sticking the HK Govt guidelines. Praying that these single digits wont go higher.

Since the Covid cases rose, the HK Govt told HKDL to close shop until further notice. Since early Dec. til now, the park has been shutdown due to HK Govt response. Besides, the HK Govt is a majority shareholder in HKDL so they can dictate Disney opening and closing in HK

[DairyShcam]

Since the Covid cases rose, the HK Govt told HKDL to close shop until further notice. Since early Dec. til now, the park has been shutdown due to HK Govt response. Besides, the HK Govt is a majority shareholder in HKDL so they can dictate Disney opening and closing in HK

That's a nice move especially that the new strain of the virus already entered HK. Parks and leisure can wait. Health and safety are priorities.