While Hong Kong has many unique experiences for visitors, there was no way I was going to omit Hong Kong Disneyland from my itinerary. Hong Kong Disneyland may be Disney’s smallest park, but my daughter and I were thoroughly entertained during our two days there. If you are even remotely a fan of Disney and you’re in Hong Kong, I recommend you allocate at least one day at Hong Kong Disneyland for the following reasons.
Castle with Mountain View
Hong Kong Disneyland is the only Disney park that has real mountains behind the castle. How cool is that?
The castle was reimagined in 2020 and now includes elements from over a dozen Disney princesses and heroines.
World of Frozen
World of Frozen opened in late 2023. Exploring the town of Arendelle during the day and night was a fun experience.
Through the park’s app, we could see enhanced scenery at night, including the Northern Lights and snow:
While other Disney parks have a similar Frozen-themed boat ride, Hong Kong Disneyland is the only park with Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs ride.
Unique Rides and Shows
The park has a few other rides that its international counterparts do not have, including an Ant-Man and the Wasp Ride and Mystic Manor dark ride. Mystic Manor is nothing like the Haunted Mansion!
What a trip it was to watch Mickey and the Wondrous Book show and to hear Mickey speak in Cantonese!
Twists on OG Rides
Of course, Hong Kong Disneyland has some of the classic OG rides of the U.S. parks. But, we enjoyed seeing some of the differences. For example, it’s a small world ride looks similar to the California version. But, we noticed the goodbye signs at the end of the ride were more skewed to Asian languages compared to the other versions.
Jungle Cruise ride featured a wider river with jokes in 3 languages, plus a surprise ending.
And while the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars ride looks almost identical to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the ride has a big twist I was not expecting. My local friend could not stop laughing at me over my shocked reaction.
Photo Ops and People Watching
Hong Kong Disneyland features more instagrammable photo spots than other Disney parks I’ve visited. The Fairy Tale Forest trail was swamped with influencers in the wild.
Some guests were dressed up a lot more than average guests in U.S. parks, so it was interesting to people watch.
Size and Convenience
Hong Kong Disneyland is a more compact park compared to its international counterparts, so it’s not overwhelming to get around. It’s also super convenient to public transportation and the airport. During our visit in November, I appreciated that we didn’t have to pre-plan our visit like I would have had to pre-plan a visit to Disney World in Florida.
Overall Thoughts
My daughter and I had a great time at Hong Kong Disneyland. Two days was the perfect amount of time for us to soak it all in. If you are even remotely a Disney fan, a visit to this park is worth it.
However, if you are an adrenaline ride junkie, Hong Kong Disneyland is not the right park for you. There are only a few thrill rides, and you’d get bored after a few hours.
Also, if you only have one day in Hong Kong on a layover, there are other attractions that will give you more of a taste of the scenery and culture of Hong Kong. I recommend prioritizing Ngong Ping Cable Car to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.
Is Hong Kong Disneyland on your bucket list?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
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*”Great breakdown! Hong Kong Disneyland looks like an amazing experience with its unique attractions and cultural charm. Curious to know—how does it compare to other Disney parks in terms of crowd size and overall experience? Thanks for the insights!”*
Thoughts on Momentous? We will only have one day and thinking about buying the buffet/Momentous package but not sure my family will make it to 8:30PM in the sweltering heat of June so wanted to have some flexibility to just walk up if it’s not too crazy to find a spot.
@Wendy We were there at such an off-peak time that we had no trouble finding a spot on the curb on Main Street just a few minutes before the show. But June will probably be a whole different story. To be honest, I enjoyed the earlier drone show more.