Hong Kong Disneyland is not just for the kids I can assure you that. But why four reasons to visit? Because that’s as many as Mickey can manage on one hand.
1.Location Location Location
Family on tour
FUN FACT: Hong Kong Disneyland is the nearest Disney Park to Australia. It’s closer than each of the offerings in California, Florida, Tokyo, Paris, even the latest incarnation in Shanghai. Getting to Hong Kong is an absolute snap. Take your pick of carriers from every major gateway in the country, even Hong Kong Airlines direct into the Gold Coast for goodness sake.
The shorter journey is a bonus for families looking to make the most of their precious school holiday time, and for those whose littlies turn into monsters at 40,000 feet.
Oh, and Hong Kong is quite simply one of the world’s great cities.
2. Seven lands and growing
Toy Story land
When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 it was just a pup of four lands – Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Main Street USA. It opened with enough iconic Disney experiences (Space Mountain, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Jungle River Cruise and the Disneyland Railroad to name a few) to give visitors a taste of the magic but perhaps left many still feeling hungry.
But with the subsequent addition of three lands in recent years, these days it’s an absolute feast.
Explore Toy Story Land, Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch and you’ll find fun aplenty. Mystic Point’s Mystic Manor is an absolute delight of real and imagined motion, and Grizzly Gulch’s effortlessly named Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars rollercoaster is a hoot.
And you want magic? Our 11-year-old lost his prized Bangalow Rebels Rugby Club truckers cap in Fantasyland and found it again in Toy Story Land. Spooky.
3. Speaking of spooky
We arrived right in the middle of Hong Kong Disneyland’s annual festival of villains and spine-tingling thrills – Disney Halloween Time. Halloween Time runs from mid-September until 31 October and, as you might expect from Disney, it’s not done by half.
We’re greeted by a huge Mickey Mouse pumpkin at Town Square, and all the way up Main Street we see street lights and shopfronts bedecked in Halloween-y embellishments. There are trick-or-treat booths in Fantasyland’s usually serene Fantasy Gardens, and step inside the Market House Bakery on Main Street and you’ll find even the baked treats have been tricked up with a spooky flourish.
Halloween goes to the next level at The Nightmare Experiment, a mind-bending dreamscape of laboratory, tunnel and labyrinth inspired by the darker side of Disney lore.
Step inside and you’ll be led into the nightmarish realms of the Pirates of the Caribbean, the mutant toy box from Toy Story, and the Mad Hatters lunatic asylum. Never fear, ‘The Professor’ is there to guide you out of the nightmare. Just remember, once inside there’s no going back.
As night falls, Halloween creeps into every corner of the park. Spirits of society ladies relive one hour of their lives over and over again in a particularly disturbing, unending loop of time at Mystic Point. Ghosts of prospectors return to haunt Grizzly Gulch, even the normally whimsical Jungle River Cruise is transformed into a voyage of terror. On Main Street villains from dozens of Disney stories move in, casting spells on the night-time spectacular and leading the Villains Night Out cavalcade. A rare gathering of baddies indeed.
4. Jedis, Wookies and Droids. Oh My!
When The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm in 2012, Star Wars fans totally freaked out. Since then we’ve seen an excellent new movie – The Force Awakens, and elements of the Star Wars universe make their way through a galactic wormhole and pop up at Disneyland. Right now, Hong Kong Disneyland is experiencing a total Star Wars Tomorrowland Takeover – the first of its kind in Asia.
As a bit of a Star Wars tragic, I entered Tomorrowland with what turned out to be unfounded trepidation. The Star Wars takeover is terrific. Space Mountain is now – pinch me – Hyperspace Mountain, complete with every Star Wars cue imaginable. And after a mission briefing by Admiral Ackbar (and an absurdly short wait), we feisty rebels took off in Space Mountain darkness for Jakku.
The takeover extends to a Command Post where no Jedi mind trick could keep us from finding the droid we were looking for – the utterly charming R2D2.
There’s a Wookiee, too. You’ll very likely bump into Star Wars characters like the menacing Captain Phasma and her Stormtroopers on patrol around Tomorrowland.
There’s also Jedi Training in full robes for the littlies (‘Trials of the Temple’ for kids 4-12), and a fleet of Star Wars treats like the Darth Vader Burger, Yoda Soda Slush and Millennium Falcon Fried Rice: delicious victuals from a Galaxy far, far away.
About Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau Island with easy access to Hong Kong via the city’s super efficient MTR train network, buses and taxis. Trains run from Sunny Bay Station to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort from early in the morning until late. Trains typically run every few minutes or so.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort offers culturally distinctive Disney experiences for guests of all ages and nationalities. The magical kingdom theme park is home to seven diverse lands, first-of-a-kind attractions and entertainment.
Visitors can add another dimension to their Disney experience by staying at either of the resort’s luxurious hotels: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.
Check with your preferred wholesaler for ticket prices and hotel rates.