Disneyland is certainly one of Hong Kongs top attractions and it is certainly a must for the visit list if there’s kids in tow. In this short article I’ll cover a couple of tips to make your time more enjoyable, how to get there and how to save some money.
The first of the money saving tips is buying the tickets, you can do this direct from the Disney website where they often have special offers but also it’s worth checking local travel agent sites, plus group buy sites and online malls, see them listed at the bottom of the article. Quite often these agents buy in bulk and sell at a discount.
How to get to Disneyland: if your’e in Hong Kong it’s very easy, just take the subway to Sunny Bay Station then transfer to the special Disney Line. From nearby Shenzhen to Disneyland is also easy, from Shenzhen Bay port there are regular privately operated bus services, you simply buy a ticket at the large bus ticket window on the Shenzhen side, before you enter the border building, ticket costs around 90RMB (110HKD). There are also regular bus services from Huanggang Port, after crossing the border, around 80HKD.
Also from Luohu or Futian Port, once over the border into HK, you can take the East Rail Line to Kowloon Tong Station, then get off at Prince Edward Station and transfer to the Tseun Wan Line and head to Lai King Station where you get off again and transfer to the Tung Chung Line and head towards Sunny Bay Station where you get off and finally transfer to the Disneyland Resort Line which terminates at the park. The entire trip will cost around 54HKD for one adult.
There are two hotels near the park, both owned by disney. There is the Disney Hollywood Hotel and the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. They offer the Disney experience and are the only hotels directly near the park, but considering it’s so easy to get too by MTR, you can stay anywhere and choose more affordable hotels in HK.
Getting around the park is easy, for kids you can hire strollers. When entering the park they do a bag search, you cant take packaged foods into the park but they did let me go through with the bottle of water, perhaps because it was wrapped in a towel. On the subject of food there are several options, at least 12 restaurants plus food carts, but don’t expect any amazing value, it’s all pricey (by standards of the region). On main Street there’s a bakery with limited seating, further along there’s the Corner Cafe, the burgers are upwards of 160HKD and there wasn’t anything under 70HKD for a kids size meal. As you’d expect, Chinese style food is easily available and probably is the best value with say a meat and rice dish at around 60HKD, check out the restaurants around Tommorowland, meals around the other sections of the park seem to average around 70HKD and up. Check out all the dining options at the Disneyland website.
Getting around the park is easy, and most of it can easily be seen in one day, but here’s a big tip, on weekends it gets really busy, theres ques for everything and some of the popular rides may see you in line for 20-40 minutes. During the week you’ll more than likely breeze through. Another tip is to check the weather, Hong Kong is sub-tropical so it can get really hot, so pack a hat, umbrella even, plus sunscreen and drink plenty of water.
At night, around 9.00pm in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle there’s the fireworks show, it can be difficult to get a seat, when I say seat I mean somewhere to squat on the ground, so get there early for a good position.
Resources
Official Disneyland website
MTR Journey Planner
Trans Island Coach services (Shenzhen Bay Port to Disneyland)
Look for discount tickets online
Taobao – (Chinese)
Group On HK
BeeCrazy (local group buy website)
Map Location featuring hotels near Disneyland HK