And by golly, we are gonna check out that Frozen Village!
Hong Kong Disneyland seems to have strange park operating hours.
On this particular day, which was a Monday, the Park opened at 9:45 a.m.
We asked the Hotel Front Desk to see if they let people inside the gates early for a "rope drop" like they do here in California. The Cast Member told us that they open the gates at the start of the operating time. And the only time they open it up early is if there is a huge demand at the gate before the official Park operation hour
We get there around 9:30 a.m. and wouldn't you know it, they were already letting people in. So by the time we got inside the gate, it was already close to 10:00 a.m.
Since I can walk/run faster, I went ahead to get in line for the Return Pass for Frozen Village. And like previous day, the line snakes back towards the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. In retrospects though, the Frozen Village is pretty much next door to Grizzly Gulch.
After about 30 minutes in line, we are almost at the distribution booth
There's the distribution booth for the Frozen Village.
The queue on the left is for those who are waiting in the Stand-By for the later performances.
Yes! Was able to get our Frozen Village Reservation Pass
Granted, it's for the 2:40 p/m. showing, but we didn't care.
The Hong Kong Disneyland foldout map has everything that one must know about all the offerings inside the Frozen Village.
Knowing we have a lot of time to spare, we visit the rest of the Park.
Big Grizzly Mountain Runway Mine Cars has a "splash down" like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
But the splash down is tiny.
When you are on the ride, you can easily miss it, if you didn't know exactly where it is.
Heading towards Toy Story Land
Guests enjoying the spectacular views from the Toy Solider Parachute Drop
Many Guests hold on on the RC Racer
Decided to catch a ride on the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad.
But we decide to catch it at the Main Street Depot
Mickey and Minnie greeting Guests in the Town Square gazebo
Looking towards the Main Entrance to Hong Kong Disneyland from the Main Street Depot
Space Mountain in between a tree and a giant hill
Getting on board the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad
As you can see, unlike many of the other Disneyland railroads that have open cabins, these cabins only allow you to look forward.
So anything built beyond the railroad tracks like "it's a small world", and the three newest lands, you can't just turn your head and view it. Nope!
All aboard!
As we travel along this bridge, we are looking at Adventureland.
If you were to walk underneath this bridge, it would take you towards Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land
The Rivers of America .... I mean, the River of the Jungle Cruise
Static wild animals
Just a couple of minutes ago, these Guests were inside Toy Story Land.
As we travel above this bridge, this leads to a "fork"in the road.
Behind the tree branches, you can see Pixie Hollow photo op
To the left, it leads you into Fantasyland, next to PhilharMagic
Around the corner of Pixie Hollow, it leads you into Adventureland,
During our trip, we could not get a grand circle tour of Hong Kong Disneyland aboard the Disneyland Railroad.
If you got on at Main Street, everyone had to disembark in Fantasyland.
And if you go on from Fantasyland, everyone had to disembark at Main Street.
No matter what the demand looked like.
I didn't really care for that.
The Disneyland Railroad just left the Fantasyland station
Iron Man Experience construction
Gonna ride Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
I wish Disneyland had a sign like this
A projection of Planet Z can be seen spinning in the background
Something that Disneyland in California doesn't have
It's to give the illusion that Zurg is loosing control of his spaceship
Although we had Winnie the Pooh FastPass, the return line was quite long.
Knowing that our Reservation Time for Frozen Village was about to start, I decided not to ride Winnie the Pooh. My friend, on the other hand, did.
It's now time to go visit the Frozen Village
Walking through the Reservation Return Queue
The queue under the umbrellas are the Stand-By Guests
Gonna be walking up the ramp shortly
The ramp leads us to a long hallway
Looking to our right, we can see the Frozen Courtyard
Guests can get on a sled and slide down the small snow covered hillside
Olaf will soon greet Guests here
Looking back outside
Monitors in the hallway to keep Guests occupied while they wait
The previous show had just let out and Guests can experience the Frozen courtyard
Now it's our turn
The theater is relatively small
We are here for the Winter Snow Fest
Anna states that the Snow Festival is going to be the best day ever!
Almost as great as the first day they opened up the Castle gates for Coronation Day
Break into "For the First Time In Forever"
Anna has a crazy idea
Getting the audience prepared for Elsa's favorite words "Let It Go"
But first, to get the audience prepared for Elsa's appearance, they must practice singing.
First, we sing "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"
Next we sing "Love Is An Open Door"
Just then Kristoff enters and sings Reindeers Are Better Than People"
Now we sing "Let It Go"
The audience really gets into this song
And many start to sing
It's now for Elsa to make her appearance
I love you Anna
I love you too Elsa
Elsa heard the audience as they practicing and was impressed with their singing
Thank you everyone for making this the best Winter Snow Fest ever!
Another reprise of "Let It Go"
Now it's time to enjoy the Winter Snow Fest in the courtyard
Here on Main Street, Refreshment Corner (Coke Corner) is on the opposite side.
What it looks like on the opposite side
No rules or regulations here
Heading into Adventureland
Because the Jungle Cruise doesn't have a "backside of water" gag like it does in the U.S. and Japan, the backside of water is a photo op here
This photo op is just to the right as you enter Adventureland
The light towers to illuminate Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars
Riding Mystic Manor again
No one on the ride!
A kiss goodnight from Hong Kong Disneyland
As we leave, we look at these Emporium Window Displays
You'll notice that the Main Street Emporium windows only have three lands displayed. That's because Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland (along with Main Street) were the original lands of Hong Kong Disneyland.
I wouldn't be surprised if these have not changed since opening day
At the time of this post, it has been a month since visiting Hong Kong Disneyland. And I kind of miss it. I wish I had more time.
You know, I had more fun this time around at Hong Kong Disneyland than I did back in 2006 for it's 1 year anniversary. Back then, the only new attraction was Autopia. And the whole park could be done in like a couple hours. Hong Kong Disneyland was kind of pathetic little Park. I was in no rush to return. But after this trip, I can't wait to go back..
That will conclude our trip to Hong Kong Disneyland.
Thanks for stopping by and checking it out
Feel free to leave a comment
Until Next Time...
Glad you got to see Frozen Village. It doesn't really appeal to me, but I can see how you would want to see the hottest attraction there if you were spending four days.
ReplyDeleteThe mini-splashdown on Big Grizzly Mountain is a smaller version of the one on the Big Thunder Mountain rides elsewhere? Is it a fake splash like the Big Thunder ones, where water is pushed out of pipes whenever the train goes by? I always thought it was a neat effect, but when I found out the train didn't really make a splash it felt like a cheat.
Did you notice if the Disney princess characters only speak English? I assume they hire Americans or Europeans living abroad. I'm wondering, how do they interact with the Chinese (Mandarin?)-speaking visitors if they only speak English?
In the photo of the young people climbing on the walls and posing for photos, I notice that the brickwork in the lower sections of the castle looks a lot darker than Anaheim's. I believe I saw photos of the castle in Tokyo Disneyland that looked similarly darker. Is there something common to the Asian parks that they want the brickwork to look darker or more realistic? I think it looks nice, and wonder why they don't do it here in the states.
Imagine a puddle of water on the side of the road. A car comes down, hitting the puddle and sending a big splash on the side walk. That's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
DeleteImagine the same puddle, but instead of a car passing through it, it's a bicycle. It's not going to create a dramatic effect in the same way the car did. That bicycle... is Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mince Cars.
As far as I am aware, the Disney Princesses speak English. I wonder if Mulan is the only exception. I am sure they interact the same way when non-English speaking Guests visit Disneyland or Walt Disney World. They continue to speak in English and do their best at using hand gestures.
As far as the Castle stone wall, and it appearing darker than the States, now I don't know for certain, but my first thought was that we get a lot of sun in California. Enough to easily fade the colors faster.
The Frozen Show looks like in California with Same Props with the Muppet Projector Booth and Balcony.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm going to HK Disneyland next week on Sat and Sun. If they don't follow the standard park opening hours, what time would you recommend that I show up? Trying to get passes for Anna and Elsa meet. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I got there 15 minutes before scheduled Park opening and people were already being let inside the gate. So if I were to do it over again, I would probably get there 30, maybe 45 minutes before schedule Park opening. I'm somewhat a patient person under certain circumstances. So me waiting 45 minutes wouldn't be a problem. But that's just me. I would just suggest get there 30 minutes before hand.
DeleteNow I can't guarantee that my experience will be the same as yours. And that by getting there 30 minutes before hand will get you inside the Park before scheduled opening time. :)