I’d been in Hong Kong for over a month, and was saving one site for when Brandon came to visit, Hong Kong Disneyland! We’d been to the original in California numerous times, and we both love everything about Disney. I was super excited to visit the park and see how similar or different it would be from the park in California.

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The first noticeable difference about this Disneyland was the arrival. At home, driving to the park on California freeways and parking in the massive parking structure were all part of the experience. You’re bound to get lost at least once, and forget where you parked at least once. In Hong Kong, we took the MTR and then connected to a special Disneyland train that dropped us off at the entrance of the park. The train was completely decked out as a Disney train from Mickey Mouse windows to bronze statues of Disney characters in every car. Waiting for the automated high-speed train felt like we were entering Jurassic Park.

Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 on reclaimed land on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, and is the smallest Disney Park by capacity numbers per day. The park has seven “lands” located within it; Main Street U.S.A., Grizzly Gulch, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Mystic Point, Aventureland, and Toy Story Land. The park is about 123 acres in size, and has between 8 million and 9 million visitors per year. The park is owned by the Hong Kong government and Disney.

Park entrance fees were much less than Disneyland in California. Also, it is always sunny in California, but as we arrived the sky opened up and more rain than I’ve ever seen fell on the park. We were standing in inches of water, and trying to hide under our umbrellas and Mickey full-body rain slickers we had bought. Luckily, after about an hour, and becoming soaked, the rain stopped.

IMG_1475It seemed like there were more shows/events than actual rides in the park. We rode a few of the rides a couple of times, and there was hardly anyone in the park (scared away by the rain we think.) Grizzly Gulch is a roller coast much like Thunder Mountain, but you can tell it is much more modern. The ride has a surprise reverse in the track direction in the middle of the ride and accelerates using maglev technology.

Mystic Manor was a ride very similar to the Haunted Mansion, but it told a very different story than ghost and spirits. It is very magical instead of haunted because of differences in the way Chinese view spirits, ghosts, and ancestors.

Of course, there is a Small World ride, Jungle Cruise, Tazan’s Treehouse, and tea cups. All seemed very similar to the rides in California, except for the Hong Kong section at the end of Small World.

Instead of snacking on churros and turkey legs, we had the dried/grilled squid being sold from carts around the park. IMG_0927[1]

The resident live performance at the park was a shortened version of the Lion King, Festival of the Lion King, which was so great we saw it twice! There was also Mickey’s PhilharMagic show, Disney Paint the Night, and Mickey’s Wondrous Book show.

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Disney now operates Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, and just opened Shanghai Disney. Visiting the park in Hong Kong was definitely worth the day trip, it was so fun to see all of the Disney stories/rides, but with a Chinese twist.