First Time Visitor’s Guide to Hong Kong Disneyland

The 2023 debut of the world’s first Frozen theme park land has brought renewed attention to Disney’s smallest international resort; however, traveling to China can seem intimidating for many American visitors. I recently took my first trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, and although one brief visit was barely enough to scratch the surface of what that area has to offer (much less become an expert), my adventure did provide some eye-opening insights that may help smooth the way for fellow first-time visitors.

Keep in mind that I traveled to Hong Kong as a media representative for Attractions Magazine, and was hosted by Disney at the hotel and theme park in order to cover the World of Frozen dedication ceremonies. However, I arranged and paid for my own air and ground transportation, and had time to experience the resort as a ordinary guest outside of the private media events.

Getting to and around Hong Kong Disneyland

If you live in America, your largest expense when visiting Hong Kong will likely be airfare. I purchased my tickets about a month before traveling, and paid over $2,000 for a round-trip coach seat from Orlando (your mileage may vary). At nearly 24 hours in each direction, it was by far the longest plane trip I’ve ever experienced — dwarfing a direct flight to Dubai — and adjusting to the 13 hour time difference was certainly a challenge.

The good news is that customs and baggage retrieval is fairly efficient at Hong Kong International Airport, and no special visa is required for American tourists staying under 90 days, so you should be on your way to Disneyland shortly after arriving (the same cannot be said upon returning to the United States through San Francisco or LAX, where long lines for immigration make a Global Entry membership worth its weight in gold.)

To reach the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, you’ll need to use either public or private transportation. Hong Kong boasts a terrific train network, which includes a high-speed express line from the airport direct to downtown, and another train line dedicated to Hong Kong Disneyland. However, even though they are both on Lantau Island there is no direct rail route from the airport to Disneyland, so getting there requires a transfer and may take almost an hour.

A better option is to open the same Uber app you use at home to call a rideshare or taxi, which should cost under $25 and take less than 15 minutes to reach the nearby Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Signage is posted in both English and Chinese throughout the airport (as it is everywhere in Hong Kong) but finding a designated ride share pickup area can be confusing. From arrival hall B, I suggest selecting the Car Park 1 pickup point, and following the GPS map in the app to make your way outside.

Communication and Currency in Hong Kong Disneyland

Of course, in order to use that Uber app, you’ll need a functioning smartphone. Fortunately for AT&T customers like myself, their $10 per day International Day Pass service worked perfectly, and I was able to use my iPhone and Apple Watch without any problems throughout the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and the city proper (other cell providers offer similar options). All services from Google, Meta, and other Western providers are fully accessible inside Hong Kong, which is not blocked behind mainland China’s internet firewall.

My Apple Watch and iPhone came in particularly handy when paying for things in Disney’s stores and restaurants, as tap-to-pay is accepted nearly everywhere throughout the resort and city. On the few occasions I had to pull out my physical Visa card, it also worked perfectly.

For vending machines and smaller vendors outside the Disneyland resort, the easiest way to pay is often the Octopus app for Apple devices. There is a special version for tourists that lets you load credit from your American Visa or Mastercard on a virtual card that is accepted virtually anywhere in the city; physical Octopus cards can also be purchased if you lack an iPhone.

Finally, if you do need cash the easiest way is avail yourself of the ATM at your hotel. For the record, $100 Hong Kong is worth exactly $12.80; just make sure your bank doesn’t impose any additional international transaction fees.

Hotels at Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong proper is host to some of the world’s finest hotels, but if Hong Kong Disneyland is your primary destination, you’re probably interested in staying in one of the three onsite hotels currently operating on the resort’s property.

The crown jewel of the property is the Disneyland Hotel, which closely resembles the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. Though somewhat scaled down from its American inspiration, the hotel’s soaring lobby will seem instantly familiar to Orlando veterans, and the topiary maze in the rear garden makes for a charming photo backdrop.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is home to convention and ballroom facilities, as well as the resort’s finest restaurant, Crystal Lotus, where you can indulge in adorable Disney Character dim sum dumplings.

Disneyland Hotel is also where high rollers can stay is a suite themed to Frozen or Cinderella, as well as find a fully outfitted concierge lounge with activities like character greetings.

During my trip, I stayed at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort’s mid-range hotel option, the Disney Explorers Lodge. The hotel’s theming combines the best of Florida’s Animal Kingdom Lodge with Hawaii’s Aulani.

Fans of the Adventurers Club and S.E.A. will spot some clever Easter eggs hidden among the lobby decor, which also features steamer trunks of equipment belonging to Mickey and friends, and steampunk fixtures inside the elevators.

Although priced like a moderate, the Explorers Lodge offers amenities and service similar to a Walt Disney World deluxe hotel, and boasts breathtaking views of Hong Kong bay that easily bested the most expensive rooms in Orlando.

Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is Hong Kong’s least expensive on-site option, but it outdoes properties like Pop Century or All Stars with indoor hallways, and an appealing Marvel-inspired lounge outfitted with Infinity Stone artifacts.

The hotel’s grounds sport goofy scaled-down tributes to iconic Los Angeles locations like Mulholland Drive and the Hollywood Bowl; if Disney California Adventure’s extinct Superstar Limo attraction was a hotel, it would look like this!

No matter which onsite hotel you’re staying at, there are an array of resort activities (both paid and free) to take advantage of, and you’ll receive first-class service that’s reminiscent of the Walt Disney World Resort circa the 1980s. You might not even want to leave the hotel grounds, but when you do the park gates are only a brief bus ride away.

There’s also a shoreline walking path that take you from the rear of the hotels to the park in 20-40 minutes. Along the way, you’ll enjoy postcard-worthy views of the waterfront, before passing through an empty promenade that would appear to be an ideal spot for Disney Springs-style shops and restaurants, something that the resort sorely lacks.

Admission and Entry at Hong Kong Disneyland

After circumnavigating a large fountain and passing through a standard security inspection, I approached Hong Kong Disneyland’s gates, and did my first double-take at how closely the park’s entrance resembles the original in Anaheim, down to the floral Mickey planter and classic railroad station.

I then did a triple-take upon spotting the prices posted at the ticket booths, which are far cheaper than American park goers are accustomed to. Like the U.S. parks, Hong Kong uses a tiered pricing structure with date-specific tickets, but single-day tickets start around $80 and peak around $110, with discounted senior rates as low as $13. Two-day tickets are around $140, and annual passes range from $190 (Silver pass valid most weekdays only) to $600 (Platinum pass with no blockouts).

Be aware that, while there are no Covid test or vaccine requirements to enter Hong Kong Disneyland, a pandemic-era park reservation system similar is still in place.

The easiest way to purchase tickets and find your way around Hong Kong Disneyland is to download the park’s smartphone app (available in the U.S. app stores) and create an account on the hongkongdisneyland.com website. If you receive paper tickets, hold onto them, because there are no MagicBands here, nor conveniences like Mobile Order or Mobile Checkout. PhotoPass is available through a standalone app, but I struggled somewhat getting it to access my images.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s app also allows you to purchase Disney Premier Access, which grants on-demand expedited entry to up to eight participating attractions and three shows for an additional $100 per day, or about $13 per ride when purchased a la carte. The system is pricier than Genie+ but provides highly prioritized service without significantly impacting the standby queues. However, you may find it isn’t necessary unless visiting during a busy holiday period, because wait times never exceeded 30 minutes during my off-peak season visit.

Rides and Attractions at Hong Kong Disneyland

That relative lack of crowds at Hong Kong Disneyland — which saw on 3.4 million guests in 2022, compared to 12-17 million visitors at each of Disney’s other Magic Kingdom-style parks — is crucial, because this park lacks the major attractions to accommodate more attendance. Putting aside the impressive new World of Frozen — which includes an upgraded Frozen Ever After boat ride and Wandering Oaken kiddie coaster — Hong Kong Disneyland is a somewhat janky jumble of unique E-tickets with off-kilter copies of familiar favorites, resulting in an interesting but uneven lineup of attractions.

After emerging from Main Street U.S.A. — a superficial clone of Anaheim’s original, with shallower shops and a drawing class where Mr. Lincoln would be — Hong Kong Disneyland guests originally had only three lands to choose from. Unfortunately, each compares rather poorly with their Californian namesakes in terms of density of rides.

Adventureland’s only headliner is the Jungle River Cruise, which doubles as the park’s equivalent of the Rivers of America, circumnavigating the Tom Sawyer-esque island housing a Tarzan’s Treehouse walkthrough (which was closed during my visit).

Although originally this Jungle Cruise clone offered guests the option of English, Mandarin, or Cantonese narration, now skippers must recite every joke trilingually, which means they get to be unfunny in three different languages simultaneously.

This version’s only real features of note are the unrepentantly un-PC natives that remain along the route, and the Catastrophe Canyon-style fiery finale that is exclusively found here.

Fantasyland shockingly opened with only one dark ride, an exact clone of Walt Disney World’s Winnie the Pooh, without the interactive queue.

it’s a small world was an early expansion to the park, and is most similar to Anaheim’s version of the classic boat ride, albeit with even more blatant placement of Disney characters amid Mary Blair’s international dolls.

Second-class copies of Mickey’s Philharmonic, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Cinderella Carousel round out Fantasyland’s rides, which leaves a lovely little Fairy Tale Forest walkthrough of music box miniatures as the area’s only truly original attraction.

Tomorrowland perhaps fares worst of all, starting with a less-smooth clone of Disneyland’s Space Mountain. It feels odd to walk directly into the side of the mountain, rather than up or down a ramp, and the permanent Hyperspace Mountain Star Wars overlay is plagued by overly-bright projections that unveil the coaster’s supports.

Marvel characters have taken over Tomorrowland’s rear corner, but don’t expect another Avengers Campus. The Iron Man Experience is just a by-the-numbers Star Tours-style 3D flight simulator starring a Robert Downey Jr. sound-alike, whose best feature is preshow’s Stan Lee cameo.

Next door, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano-Battle started life as a Buzz Lightyear Astro Basters, but was downcycled into the most bland, boring shooting ride in Disney’s repertoire. The guns are lightweight and responsive, but the sets are largely static with repetitive targets and little sense of progression.

An IP-free Orbitron flying saucer spinner completes the land’s short list of operating offerings, since the park’s opening day Autopia tracks are sitting abandoned.

In keeping with the general theme, this park’s Disneyland Railroad doesn’t compare with its ancestors in terms of sights. While it will get you off your feet, you’ll only spot a handful of barely-mobile creatures along the grand circle tour, and certainly no dinosaurs.

Happily, Hong Kong Disneyland quickly realized the park was underbuilt compared to its brethren, and began to construct a quartet of new lands beyond the berm, crowned with the new World of Frozen. Between 2011 and 2013 Hong Kong opened three side-by-side expansions built around a pair of E-Tickets that hardcore Disney devotees might consider to be worth the whole trip all by themselves.

First and least, Hong Kong’s Toy Story Land predated Orlando’s by nearly seven years, but sadly instead of a Slinky Dog launched roller coaster, here he’s just a Himalaya-style carnival ride.

Slinky isn’t the only one with more bark than bite; the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop is just DCA’s jumping Jellyfish in camouflage, and the RC Racer shuttle ride doesn’t accelerate up it’s U-shaped track fast enough to generate much zero-G airtime.

Grizzly Gulch is Frontierland-esque Gold Rush ghost town dominated by Big Grizzly Mountain Railroad, a multi-launch “story coaster” with adorable ursine animatronics that blends the best of Big Thunder Mountain and Expedition Everest.

It’s mostly a terrain coaster without big drops or loops, but the back row has some serious snap; be sure to ride after dark, when it feels even faster!

Finally, if you love dark rides in the tradition of the Haunted Mansion, you’ll want multiple rides on Mystic Manor, a trackless dark ride filled with animatronics and projector-based illusions.

Your tour of S.E.A. member Lord Henry Mystic’s artifact collection begins with a museum-like queue and animated preshow, but quickly goes awry after boarding your free-roaming ride vehicles.

Albert, the ride’s mischievous monkey protagonist, is the park’s breakout star, which makes it a shame they offer so little merchandise for him in the exit gift shop.

Live Entertainment and Characters at Hong Kong Disneyland

Though the ride roster at Hong Kong Disneyland is somewhat lackluster, the park makes up for it with a marvelous array of shows and live entertainment.

The number one must-see show at Hong Kong Disneyland is Adventureland’s Festival of the Lion King, a plussed version of the Animal Kingdom production with Broadway-quality performers and explosive stage effects.

If you only see one show in Hong Kong, make it this one!

Also found in Adventureland is Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, a modest outdoor show that features some fun audience participation. As you can see in the below video, shows at Hong Kong Disneyland use a combination of English and Chinese language to tell their stories:

Another excellent stage production is Mickey and the Wonderous Book, which is held inside a huge indoor theater in Fantasyland.

Thematically similar to the old Magical Map show at Disneyland, this show uses a huge cast of costumed characters, live singers, and impressive video projection mapping to sprint through favorite musical numbers from a half-dozen animated classics.

Shows at Hong Kong Disneyland are popular and can fill up even on slower days, but character experiences can be even more in demand. Free roaming characters at Hong Kong appeared relatively rarely, and are largely reserved for formal meet-and-greets or parades.

Princesses are confined to a concealed area inside the castle, and Marvel heroes appearing in Tomorrowland.

Most surprisingly, Mickey Mouse and the foundational “Fab Five” seem to be secondary characters as far as the Hong Kong audience is concerned. Instead, Duffy and his animal pals dominate here, just as they have taken over Tokyo Disneyland. Duffy and Friends food, merchandise, and decorations can be found in nearly every corner of the resort, and the line to meet Luna Bell or another member of his gang was consistently the longest queue in the park.

In fact, Hong Kong Disneyland visitors are so in love with Duffy that I spotted multiple guests taking their dolls around the park and posing them for pictures. There’s even an entire walkthrough area in Fantasyland devoted to photo shoots for your fuzzy friends!

Finally, no visit to Hong Kong Disneyland can be considered complete without a viewing of Momentous, performed on and around the central Castle of Magical Dreams.

This new nighttime spectacular combines the best elements of Disney’s castle fireworks shows with World of Color-style fountains and mist screens. While the pyrotechics don’t pack as much punch as in similar stateside shows, the blend of technical elements and emotional-triggering music makes it one of Disney’s best “goodnight kisses.”

Dining and Shopping at Hong Kong Disneyland

Shopping and dining are major attractions at most Disney resorts, but (with the notable exception of World of Frozen) they take a back seat in Hong Kong. Quick service restaurants and snack stands offer a mix of familiar American park favorites — including turkey legs, Dole Whips, and Marvel-themed sandwiches– along with items aimed at Asian appetites.

Sample some savory squid in Adventureland, if you dare!

You’ll even find a caffeinated taste of home at the Main Street Starbucks, which adjoins a second coffee shop serving milk teas.

The best meal I had inside Hong Kong Disneyland was at Mystic Point’s Explorer’s Club.

This “semi-buffet” serves all-you-can-eat international fare in an environment evoking both Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion and Jungle Skipper Canteen.

Shop shelves at Hong Kong Disneyland that aren’t overstuffed with Duffy dolls are largely stocked with generic Disney Parks merchandise indistinguishable from what you’d find in Orlando or Anaheim.

I struggled to find a single hat with the words “Hong Kong Disneyland” on it, and attraction-specific merchandise is even scarcer.

Hong Kong Disneyland: Final Thoughts

As a veteran of America’s theme parks, my first visit to an Asian Disney resort felt like a thrilling mix of all-new experiences and eerie deja vu. The brief lineup of must-do rides might classify it as a one-day (or even half-day) attraction, but if you are accustomed to rushing around from rope-drop until park closing, Hong Kong’s relaxed pace and garden-like grounds make for a refreshing change.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t stress that the best reason to visit Hong Kong Disneyland is that its near Hong Kong, one of the world’s most fascinating cities.

I took a free walking tour of the central city, and took the heart-stopping NP360 aerial tram to Ngong Ping’s giant Buddha statue, but that barely scratched the surface of Hong Kong’s vibrant history and culture. My only regret is that I flew all that way, and didn’t have several more weeks to explore this rich region.