Hong Kong Disneyland: How to Avoid Queues

*Update* Video of the parade has been added in! Scroll down to view.


And so I returned to my Panda Hotel in Hong Kong after a lot of theme parks touring in Shenzhen, China.




Isn't that cute? A bear in a bear costume.
Or more like, bear in panda bear costume.




Anyway, we checked into the hotel again in the morning and hopped onto the bus and made a bee line to Hong Kong Disneyland!




I believe this was my third time to visit a Disneyland. First being in Los Angeles, second was in Tokyo.

I've heard from many people that Hong Kong Disneyland would probably be the worst Disneyland ever existed. Though I've heard pretty much the same thing about Paris Disneyland when I was in Europe (hence I didn't bother to visit that). So I was expecting much seeing that I've been to the two best Disneylands there are.


In the bus, each of us were given our entrance tickets to the theme park.

There were four designs, of which I collected from the other passengers to take a shot of them.




Mine was goofy.





Always read the fine print


Though I had hoped for a minnie. But well, goofy's nice. Goofy's cute, and he's kind. :D




Soon we have arrived at our destination.

It's a long walk into Disneyland, so I decided to camwhore while walking.





As you can see, it's rather cold



Lamp post


Then there it was!




The entrance of Hong Kong Disneyland.

And we kept on walking.


tongue twister



piggy kiss


If you've been to Hong Kong Disneyland, you know you're almost there when you see this fountain.




Just turn right and walk straight ahead.

It was Chinese New Year, each of us was given a Golden Mickey Coin stored in an ang pow upon entering.




So ta da! Finally, Nicolekiss in Hong Kong Disneyland!



(at point of writing I'm actually really hungry so I have no idea what I was writing about)


And now, the Main Street!




Here's a photo of me standing in the middle of the Main Street.




I have no idea why the photo is so small. Probably made a boo boo when I add in the watermark in photoshop. Bah, too lazy to re-edit again. Deal with it. Bahahaha...


Up on the main street, there were many shops selling things that would rip tourists off, for example, this set of Crystal Winnie the Pooh set selling in one of the glass display panel in one of those expensive souvenir shops.




It even had fancy words to describe how exclusive this item was.




Ohh... Limited edition. Must. Buy.


Until of course, you looked at the price.




I'm pretty sure that wasn't in US dollar currency. But bloody hell, even in Hong Kong dollar it's tooooo bloody expensive ok!


In other shops, you'll find cuter, more affordable, though still over-priced stuff.




I found Ariel the mermaid statue in one of the Disney clothing shop.




Ariel has always been my favourite character of all Disney characters, other than Jasmine and Aladdin (I LOVE the couple).

I was so tempted that I was THISSSS close to steal this away from the statue.




Which was placing conveniently next to the mermaid.




Btw, most of the things (I realised), especially those chocolates, were imported from Tokyo Disneyland. Hence it's actually cheaper to buy from Tokyo Disneyland than in Hong Kong Disneyland. o.O

If you fancy a Disney bakery to satisfy your hunger during your visit to the wonderland, you can always drop by one of the many cartoon-ish restaurants and cafes on the Main Street (or anywhere in the park really).




Just be sure not to buy something that's inedible.




Oh yes, they're fake alright.




As pretty as they may appear.




Then up at the end of Main Street, you will find the smallest Sleeping Beauty Castle ever.







Cinderella will be pleased to know that her castle is so much bigger in Tokyo.




In Disneyland, regardless which one or where, there will always be queues.




Not queues for rides mind you, but queues to take photos of the Disney characters.




The more popular the characters, the longer the queues.




You'll be surprised at how long the queues to take a photo with Mickey and Minnie.
I once queued for two hours just to enter the house of Mickey in Tokyo. -.-

Even the recent characters will be swamped with people.


Bolt and Mittens, I like Mittens more


I took this video two years ago when I was in Tokyo Disneyland. Not sure if I have posted it. But here it is again.




Why didn't I mention about the queues for rides? Obviously there were many long queues for rides in these theme parks.

Especially for rides that are famous like Buzz Lightyear.




Now there's on trick on how to avoid queues.

Don't worry, kiddy rides like this will never have much of a queue


who want to go space rides


Though not all kiddy rides are unpopular.




Tea cups will always be everyone's favorites. *sing* gonna make you puke, gonna make you puke.


Now I don't know if all Disneylands apply to this mechanism, but so far Tokyo and Hong Kong have it.

Anyway, here's Nicolekiss Way to Avoid Queues in Disneyland.

1. Go Early

Trust me, you might think that I'm pulling your leg here. You know, yea, of course you can avoid the queue when you go early, sort of shit. But no, that's not really the point.


2. Run to all the famous recommended rides on the map and get your Fast Pass ticket.




Now the Fast Pass tickets are tickets which act like a cut-queue ticket.

Basically you go there, collect your Fast Pass, and the ticket will act like you're queuing while you're gone.

Be warned, on holidays, or even everyday if you're on Tokyo Disneyland, some of the Fast Pass of the popular rides will be finished by noon. HENCE, GO EARLY! (refer to one)


The tickets can be obtained from machines located nearby or in front of every single ride (or more popular rides), including 3D movies.

They might shape differently according to the themes of the rides.


3. Return to the ride some hours later

On your ticket there will be a time marked, return on that time to join the rest of the fast pass queue (which is now going to be a very very short queue) to claim your ride.

Trust me, you wouldn't want to queue like the rest for popular rides crowded day.

When I was in Tokyo Disneyland, I queued for 3 hours for the popular ride Winnie the Pooh, which was very different to the one in Hong Kong Disneyland.


Hong Kong one sucks big time!


I have to say, it was well worth it! But if I could have known earlier, and collect my fast pass much sooner, I wouldn't have to waste half the day at the park queuing! The fast pass for that ride in Tokyo was already finished by noon. T_T

But there you go, 3 Easy Steps on How to Avoid Queues in Disneyland. :D


Enough with the rides. Let's move onto something slightly different. Like me camwhoring around in HK Disneyland!




It's great to have a brother who would take every single photo for you without much complaining (though he did make a grump a few times, lol).





This is the place where you take photos with all the Disney characters.





Oh look, Minnie the bride,




with the price tag on.


It was 3pm when it was time for the afternoon parade, we adjourned to the main street to grab our prime spots on the floor.





Daddy so cute sitting on the floor with me


Let the parade began!

*Update* Click to watch video.




Guess which cartoon these are from?




Alice in Wonderland of course!








There's also the Little Mermaid boat.




Flounder and Ariel being seen together.




And a dancing seaweed.




A singing Princess Ariel.




And giant human jellyfishes.




With purple solid octopus.




Then there's the toy soldiers from Toy's Story!




All of them looked so cool. Hah!

With pink girlies following behind.




Finally, a boat full of Chinese New Year costumed Disney characters. Mickey and Minnie being on top!




After the parade, we sat in to watch a show nearby of a Lion King replay.




By humans, duh.




I thought the robotic Simba looked pretty realistic.




The performance was quite impressive though.

Expecting that HK Disneyland wasn't that great to begin with, it wasn't really such a let down in the end.

Reporting not-so-live from Hong Kong Disneyland, have a Great Ox Year everyone.




Wait, are fortune gods part of Disney characters?