home > Hong Kong Disneyland Resort > Trip Reports > April 2015 Day 5
April 9, 2015 - Day 5 - Hong Kong Disneyland

Started off the morning playing catch up on some blog posts and was on my way to the Disneyland Line Station by 9am.  We went to see the Big Buddha which meant a short subway ride (literally the next stop after transferring off the Disneyland Line) and then a 25 minute cable car ride through the fog.  Hiked up the 268 steps to see the Buddha up close then back down.  Walked back to the cable car and returned back through the fog.  Ended up grabbing lunch at McDonalds in the shopping center before hopping on the MTR back to Disneyland.  Walked to the park and roamed around Main Street visiting the Animation exhibit in the Opera House and then taking some exterior pictures.  Walked out to it’s a Small World and went for a cruise to get some video.  Then found a spot for the Flights of Fantasy Parade nearby.  After the parade walked through Tomorrowland and the parade crowd on Main Street on my way to the shuttle bus.  Took it to Disney’s Hollywood Hotel and went for a tour of the hotel and grounds then walked back to the Disneyland Hotel to drop some things off before returning to the park for the evening.  Walked back to Disneyland and strolled along Main Street USA to the hub.  Walked around and then through the Castle to Fantasyland.  Took some pictures of the area and visited the Fantasia Gardens.  Then walked back to Main Street to rejoin my group who was arriving for the evening.  Walked out by it’s a Small World for some after dark pictures then found a spot for Paint the Night nearby.   After the parade quickly walked through Tomorrowland and down Main Street and caught a second viewing of Paint the Night before walking back to the Disneyland Hotel.  Watched the fireworks from our room and then called it a night.



Thoughts & Observations
  • Because of weather concerns we swapped our Friday plan to this morning.  It not overly cloudy and was not raining so decided to pay a visit to the The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.  To reach this we took the Disneyland Line to Sunny Bay and then the Tung Chung Line to the end of the line away from the city (which was only one stop from Disneyland).   Then we boarded the Ngong Ping Cable Car  for a 20 minute ride.   Unfortunately as the morning went on the weather became worse with more clouds.
  • At Tung Chung there is a shopping center/mall area with several stores and places to eat.  It was nice to see some familiar names Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonalds.   We ended up grabbing breakfast at McDonalds.  Interesting note most of their breakfast choices, like hot cakes included a very tiny drink.  If you did not want it you only saved around 30 hong kong cents.. so next to nothing.
  • The Disneyland MTR station was more crowded this morning with guests coming into the park.  We were later than Tuesday so maybe that had something to do with it.  The outgoing was still very empty as you would expect at this hour.
  • The cable car ride was interesting.  We had an acceptable view for the first ¼ to 1/3 of it then we were in the clouds/fog the rest of the time till the end.  At several points we could not even see the car in front of us.  This was rather eerie to travel in silence through the fog.
  • The Ngong Ping was a tourist place for sure. They even offered free wifi to share your pictures back home.  When we first arrived you could see the Buddha and a little of the surrounding area.   I decided to hike up to the Buddha first thing before the weather got worse.  The rest of the group opted to save their legs and not go up the 268 steps to the top of the mountain.  I got up there took my pictures and looked around a bit as the fog/clouds started to get thicker I headed down.  By the time we arrived back at the Cable Car terminal you could not even see the Buddha anymore.
  • I thought the Buddha was very impressive and the view was great, even in the fog.  I was a little surprised by hour geared toward tourist the area was.  It seemed fairly commercialized compared to the other sites we visited.
  • We opted to return to Tung Chung for lunch before returning to Disney.   I ate at McDonalds and this turned out to be my only hamburger from McDonalds all trip..  for anyone curious it tasted more or less like the burgers here.. not drastically different and definitely better than what I had in the park yesterday.  The fries were regular McDonalds fries and tasted the same to me.
  • When we returned it was earlier than planned so we headed to Disneyland for a couple hours and roamed around.  We had seen most of the attractions by this point so it was time to just enjoy the park and fill in some of the attractions we missed and double back to some to get video.  Also I wanted to see the parade again to try for some better pictures so we found a spot along the parade route

  • This afternoon I had arranged for a tour Disney’s second hotel in Hong Kong,  Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.    This hotel is located just down the road from the Disneyland Hotel and features an art deco style and pay homage to Hollywood.   The grounds of this hotel were great to look at.  I really enjoyed the classic cars in the garden area.  There is a quick service/grab and go food option here that the Disneyland Hotel does not have.  The hotel is at a slightly lower room rate than the Disneyland Hotel and it shows in some of the room amenities and size of the room, just as in WDW comparing a Moderate to Deluxe Resort.   

  • My goal this evening was to see the Disney Paint the Night Parade and as luck would have it the weather held out and I was finally able to see the parade.  This was my only time in 4 nights that the parade ran as scheduled.   I opted to watch it near the beginning then moved quickly through the crowd to Main Street to catch it a second time.  Since they only run it once per evening that was the best I could do.

  • I enjoyed Paint the Night.  It is a bright and loud parade.  Much more up tempo than the Main Street Electrical Parade.   I thought the elements worked and the mix of traditional Disney characters and Pixar characters worked.  I am not a huge fan of show stops in the parade and this features one, just as the daytime parade does.   One advantage of the show stop is because of it most guests do not line up in Town Square which meant I was about to get a front row space to see it roll by a second time.   The technology/lights in the parade are definitely a leap forward from any of the night time parades I have seen (MSEP, Spectro Magic, Light Magic) before this trip.  The Tokyo Disneyland Dreamlights parade has a couple elements that are similar but I think Paint the Night is still slightly ahead, especially when looked at as a whole.  The performer costumes are integrated into the units well with lights and special effects.   We all walked away happy to see it and eager to see the additions when it comes to Disneyland in Anaheim for the 60th Anniversary celebration.

  • Decided to head back to the room and catch the Disney in the Stars Fireworks from there. I was curious how they looked and the thought of an earlier evening (even if it was only half an hour or so) sounded good.   Got back to the room with time to spare and stood out on the balcony to watch the show.  They have the audio on a TV channel but those inside did not want the door open so I had to listen to the muffled park audio.  They were not overly impressive from this angle.  As with most shows they worked better from in the park and straight on.

Pedometer Stats
Miles 9.0
Steps 23,859
Moderate Steps 14,106
Moderate Steps/Time 128
   
Pictures

Part I: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel

Some random pictures of items I picked up, our room, and then the Ballroom arear of the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel before boarding the MTR to Tung Chung.
Part II: Ngong Ping & the Big Buddha

A quick look around Tung Chung then a cable car ride into the fog to Ngong Ping on our way to the Big Buddha. Then back through the fog to Tung Chung to return back to Disney.

Part III: Flights of Fantasy

A few hours in Hong Kong Disneyland including a cruise on Small World and a closer look at the Flights of Fantasy Parade.

Part IV: Disney's Hollywood Hotel

A look around Disney's second Hong Kong Hotel including a check of the rooms, gardens, and more.

Part V: More Hong Kong Disneyland

A check of Fantasy Gardens and a walk around the park

Part VI: Disney Paint the Night Parade

An extended look at the parade including full video, video clips, and pictures from Fantasyland and Main Street.



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