HK Disney Part 2

[shellymeister]

Here's the surprising good news: The attractions (even the staples like Jungle Cruise) are significantly improved and are mostly superior in many ways to their counterparts elsewhere around the world.

 

Here's the not-so-surprising bad-ish news: Just as predicted by many, the Park IS way too small, and the detail and architecture in the park is just passable, certainly no match for California or Paris.

 

The staff at Disney we spoke to blamed the lack of investment by the Chinese govt as the main reason for the obviously too small, and generic looking park. I'm only partly convinced that this is true. I think Disney Management has some responsibility in not pushing for or going out on a limb and investing more of the company's money in what could be the most profitable Disney park anywhere on the planet.

 

The day we were there, the powers that be decided to pick that day as a test of how many people could actually be accomodated & serviced in the new park.

 

It turned out to be almost disastrous.

 

The park was swamped from the 10am opening right through to about 7pm. And I'm talking SWAMPED. To the point where it was virtually impossible at times to actually MOVE (I'm not kidding). When a show like the Festival of the Lion King (capacity about 2200) let out, the sea of humanity was stifling, especially when trying to pass the approximately 3000 people waiting in groups to see the next show.

 

Some wait times we witnessed: (Approximations) 2 hours for Philharmagic, 2-3 hours for Astro Blasters, 2 hours for Jungle Cruise, 2-3 hours for Golden Mickey's, etc.

 

Here's the part of the TR where I have to compliment and extoll the virtues of a number of American Disney employees (most of whom have been in HK since about January of this year) who, when made aware of our situation, helped us enormously to get to most of the attractions.

 

All of the American Disney employees we met were just terrific & justifiably proud of their contributions to the new park.

 

My thanks go out to Jim (Space Mountain), Theresa (operations manager), Mike (a great guy) ( Robb has posted a photo of Mike recently),

Troy (Philharmagic), and Paul (Golden Mickeys). Without the help of these caring people, our 1 day at HK Disney would have been ruined.

 

You might be surprised to hear this, but partly as a result of the overcrowding experience in HK Disney on Sunday combined with the slowly evolving realization that HK Disney is just too small to accept the kind of crowds that are now projected, two decisions have been made: 1) the Park will be forced to limit the attendance daily, especially on the weekends, and more significantly, 2) Tickets will be sold only for specific days, even in advance. Yes, that's right. Unlike any other Disney park anywhere, tickets sold will only be able to be used on the day stamped or printed on the ticket. No matter how the ticket is purchased (online or at the park , for example).

 

This decision is, IMHO, absolutely the smartest and most practical solution to a daunting problem. Too many people, not enough park.

 

The only potential downside to this arrangement is that people who want to visit Disney will have to plan well in advance (kind of like buying tickets to a concert or a Broadway show). Visitors who are visiting Hong Kong will potentially be disappointed if they planned to visit HK Disney as a kind of spur of the moment thing, as they are unlikely to snare any tickets on short notice. I also feel bad for many Hong Kong area residents who will not be able to just pop into the park any old time at their whim, like Floridians or Southern Californians.

 

But this is the way its going to be for sometime, unless the park is not as successful as I think its going to be, or Disney goes on a massive construction binge and dramatically expands the park rapidly.

 

My Take on the attractions (Bear in mind, that we have been to every Disney park on the Planet):

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

 

Space Mountain: Hands Down the Best Space Mountain yet! ( With the possible exception of the new re-done Space Mountain in Disneyland California) Great Soundtrack, Great Score pumped throughout upper dome area, Great new special effects at "Launch", Great new visuals all throughout the ride, Great new super smooth track with larger diameter pipe and wheels, and Great new effects at the end of the ride.

The track layout (I believe almost identical to Tokyo Disney's Space Mountain) is designed to increase the G-Forces as the ride unfolds, with some of the best turns and moves toward the END of the ride.

Got to ride it twice and I loved it both times.

Short Takes: Building is similar to other Sapce Mountains (except Paris)

Cue area inside is short, and loading area room is smaller than most.

Single rider line is available.

Little themeing on cue line.

Seating is two across with 3 rows and two cars per train. Loading and unloading takes place on the same platform.

Overall, a winner.

 

Jungle Adventure Cruise: (yes, Adventure)

This ride has gotten some serious attention from the Disney Imagineers and (dare I say it?) is easily the best Jungle Cruise in any Disney Park by a wide margin.

One of the things I always felt was missing from the typical Jungle Cruise was any real interactivity with the animals and the natives.

Well, this ride addresses those issues in spades.

First, the animals all have superior movements and better animatronics and just look much more real. When the elephants spray their trunks at you, they reach you! Just about everyone on the boat got sprinkled at least once if not more.

The natives play hide and seek with you, and blow darts at you similar to the dart blowing sequence in the Indiana Jone Ride.

The Gorillas who take over a camp site just look so much more convincing than before.

The "river" is much wider and seems to be longer than most other Jungle Cruises.

The real surprise is at the end of the ride. This new sequence was added about 6 months ago, I'm told.

The only way to describe this sequence is to tell you that the your boat will come to halt in a kind of rocky cove, where the rock face resembles a skull. A number of impressively close Fire effects and very rumbly sounds will ensue, followed by almost complete immersion in a seriously dense mist cloud. You will eventually "escape" from this inferno to be brought back safely to shore. It is a Jungle Cruise feature unique to this new park.

Short takes:

No "Backside of water" routine segment.

There are English narrated boats as well as Chinese.

The dock and landings are all very similar to previous Jungle Cruise rides.

The boats as well.

Overall: Another winner!

 

To be continued.....

[BelizeIt]

^I Need Photos!!!