8 days in the East - Trip Report

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4

Studio Lounge only seemed to open in the late afternoon and evening once Hollywood and Dine was shut and took over serving a very short list of meal items.





Out exploring the grounds: the hotel from the back




The pool






The empty kiosk near the pool



The Hollywood Hotel sign is still here but there is no access to the esplanade at the back at the moment as they are digging up behind the screens.



Most of the other items in the grounds are gone-hopefully only temporarily while building works are on. One car is left.



Children's play equipment

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 5

Street signs





A butterfly we spotted



Image on the side of the hotel



A different view of the front of the hotel I forgot we took



Loved the hotel shuttle buses which came frequently and we always got a seat.

 

[zanzibar138]

I just love your sunset castle pics - I will definitely have to try to recreate them on my trip! I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for a nice sunset!

Not sure how I feel about the Halloween party. It doesn't actually look that scary, but if people come up behind you to scare you, I think that would be too much for me. Were there no haunted houses this year?

Great photos of the Hollywood Hotel. We had breakfast at the cafeteria place one morning we were there. DH got one of the sets on the board, and I just got a tub of yoghurt and fruit. It was perfectly adequate. We also enjoyed pizzas one night in the Studio Lounge. It was so quiet in there, and the pizzas were quite good.

 

[AngelDisney]

Thanks for the lovely pics and detailed review. I am planning to stay at the Hollywood Hotel this July for 2 days. I will definitely find time to explore the beautiful grounds.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh WOW! What amazing sunset shots behind the castle. Wonderful colour!

And love, love, love the Halloween shots. Seems like it might be a good place to go visit in September/October!

Great set of pics from the hotel!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I just love your sunset castle pics - I will definitely have to try to recreate them on my trip! I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for a nice sunset!

Not sure how I feel about the Halloween party. It doesn't actually look that scary, but if people come up behind you to scare you, I think that would be too much for me. Were there no haunted houses this year?

Great photos of the Hollywood Hotel. We had breakfast at the cafeteria place one morning we were there. DH got one of the sets on the board, and I just got a tub of yoghurt and fruit. It was perfectly adequate. We also enjoyed pizzas one night in the Studio Lounge. It was so quiet in there, and the pizzas were quite good.

Fingers crossed for great sunsets for you.
The Halloween Party was pretty mild and no haunted houses this year or good stage show (though admittedly we seemed to keep missing the puppet show-it was probably only in Cantonese anyway) compared to what I had read was running other years, which was disappointing. Characters didn't often come up behind you. With the cowboys I invited it because I was staring at and snapping pics of him and made eye contact and as I turned away he came after me, DH and DD saw and kept quiet for fun. With the 'ghosts' at Mystic Manor they also came up behind you to look over your shoulder to see what you were doing but never touched you. Depending on your body language they definitely judged who they should approach and who not. Some came and took girls by the hand and led them off into the gardens a little way - lol.
Studio Lounge was quite busy when we got back the non Halloween night. The pizzas did look nice.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 7 Monday Hakuna Matata

Part 1

Woke up a bit sad as today is our last full day in the parks and on hols. DH had a bit of a scratchy throat – we’re on hols so it’ll be his usual coming down with a cold! We covered so much ground yesterday the park being so quiet I decided we could slip back into Hong Kong first up this morning and visit the Peak, which as you know we did catching the train in and out. We breakfasted in our room first on supplies we had brought with us from Kowloon. I have already posted our pics from our couple of hours this morning.

We got back to Disneyland around lunchtime and having already eaten in town we decided to go straight into the park and not waste time going back to the hotel first, as we had only made a few purchases in town that we were carrying and they stuffed in DH's backpack (why we bring him on hols - our packhorse!)

The castle on day 2. Baymax was a popular balloon here, especially with the teens.





Plaza Inn looking much like its counterpart in the US



Plaza Inn menu



Some more characters who were out and about. Daisy.



My favourite Duffy but I didn’t queue for a M&G this trip.



Shellie May in her Halloween outfit – first time I have seen a M&G with her



We spent a little time looking at the merch in Main St shortlisting potential purchases for later and exploring some more of Adventureland including areas we had discovered after dark last night. First though DH wanted to ride the train and as he didn’t feel like climbing all the steps of the Treehouse DD and I went straight there instead.

Tarzan’s Treehouse was easily the best of the Treehouses though I couldn’t really say why (and I will confess now that I have never watched Disney’s Tarzan movie).



Real scenery merging with the artificially created.



First you had to ride a raft to reach it.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2

There was a waterfall by the entry and a rope bridge.





Great views from up high. It seemed higher than the other tree houses. Lots more borrowed scenery.









Leopard attack.



Tarzan’s crib.



Inside the Treehouse

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 3

Details






I thought the ‘magic’ sketchbook automatically sketching his pic while you watched was pretty cool.







Displays down below included some interactive areas with ropes to pull and buttons to push to make things work like the baby elephant blowing water and the kettle boiling.

 

[zanzibar138]

And with that, I will have Hakuna Matata stuck in my head all afternoon

I think the standout for me with HKDL's treehouse is the view over the REAL mountains and jungle type surroundings. The rafts are cute, but sometimes I can't be bothered to ride them lol! Having said that, last time we went over, we had a pretty cool interaction with a pirate who took over our raft.

 

[PrincessInOz]

OOH! Baymax balloons are gorgeous.

I love the Treehouse at HK as well. I agree. The view of the mountains from up top are really great.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4

And with that, I will have Hakuna Matata stuck in my head all afternoon

I was going to run a quiz at the end - who can id the movies the quotes on the day's headers come from - this is an easy one! It wasn't a bad idea but then I got really stuck finding quotes that fitted my day's activities! so it kind of fizzled out.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4

We were rejoined by DH by the Leaky Tikis. He was disappointed with the train as it ran on diesel not steam and didn’t go through any cool areas or anything – I could have told him that!







We explored some more of Fantasyland as well but realised we had no time to ride It’s a Small World right away as it was nearly parade time. We do feel that a few more rides are needed here – e.g. a Pinocchio or Alice would be good.







Dumbo



Fantasy Gardens were closed off unfortunately. Meet and Greets with the princesses were being held in selected spots, mostly in Main St, but the gardens would be a pretty location. There was a gathering of what looked like a special group in one rotunda though.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 5

Riding Winnie the Pooh - not as good as the Japanese version but still a nice ride for Pooh fans like us. We fitted this in last night as well when it was walk-on. This one has FP if you need it. It had one of the longest stand-by waits of the day - 25 mins!













Love the clock



Rear view of the castle.



It was time for the Flights of Fantasy Parade and we succumbed to some caramel popcorn while we were waiting for the parade to start – OMG it was so good. Easily as good as that sold in Tokyo Disneysea, if not better, as it was really hot and crispy (we must have got a fresh batch).



More balloons

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 6

The Flights of Fantasy Parade was good fun with lively music. It opens with a marching band then Mickey’s magical airship.









Bother the man in red at the front!








It stopped nearby with a character dance. Winnie the Pooh’s float, Caught up in Daydreams, was nearby which was great as they are among my faves.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 7









Acrobats





Romance takes wing - the Princesses float (Cinderella, Princess Aurora, Snow White, Belle) approaches

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 8





Jumpin' Jungle Jam with the Jungle Book. Lion King and Tarzan combining on the one float.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 9

The Magic of Pixie Dust







Hangin' Ten and Ridin' High





To Infinity and Beyond

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 10

When it was over and while it continued down Main St we headed over to Tomorrrowland and rode Buzz again (I thrashed DD and DH score who went together – so rare I beat DH at anything-love it! ) I chickened out of Space Mountain and am really annoyed at myself now.

But first, out of order, I missed this pic of Snow White’s Grotto.



Entrance to Tomorrowland



You can tell it's not our favourite land - every Tomorrowland I fail to take pics!

Inside Buzz



For now we now headed out back to the hotel for a rest. DH wasn't feeling the best - his cold had come on very quickly and he decided not to rejoin DD and I for an evening venture although the park closed early tonight and instead just watch some TV and rest up.

DD and I had a mission before returning to Disneyland - to go over to the Disneyland Hotel and book breakfast at Walts as we decided we couldn't justify the price of a character breaky at the Enchanted Garden.

We caught the bus over there and took the opportunity to explore a little – we would back to explore some more tomorrow.

Looking back at the hotel



The sun was setting over the Esplanade so we took several pics before walking to Disneyland.

The still inoperable ferry terminal



Love this pic of DD



Hazy Hong Kong Island I think



Liked the cloud formations

 

[zanzibar138]

I was going to run a quiz at the end - who can id the movies the quotes on the day's headers come from - this is an easy one! It wasn't a bad idea but then I got really stuck finding quotes that fitted my day's activities! so it kind of fizzled out.

Fun idea though!

Ooh my favourite parade! It's on my must-do list for our upcoming trip. When we were there for our anniversary, we had the Tigger pogo guys (I'm sure you know the ones I mean) stop in front of us. One of them noticed our anniversary buttons and wished us a happy anniversary, then pretty much stayed in a perfect spot for photos and kept smiling and waving at us lol! We got heaps of anniversary wishes from CMs in the parade as they passed by. So much fun! You got some great photos.

I'm with you on Tomorrowland. It's definitely must least photographed land wherever we go! I also agree that an extra dark ride in Fantasyland wouldn't go astray.

Great photos from the Disneyland Hotel. I love that photo of DD too! I wonder when they're going to start using that ferry terminal?