Tags
Asia, Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters, China, Disney, Grizzly Gulch, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disney, Hong Kong Disneyland, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Mystic Mansion, Selfish Years, Space Mountain, Toy Story Land
In yesterday’s post, I went over my general impressions of Hong Kong Disneyland (HKD). Today, we’ll go over the specific rides on which me and Mr. Selfish went. One common denominator for all of the rides was the wait times were usually about 5-10 minutes. This is a very short wait time compared to the rides at Orlando parks or even the rides at Disneyland Paris.
We’ll start with the rides that were unlike any other Disney ride. In the area known as Grizzly Gulch, we rode Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. Although the ride has a long title, it was a very enjoyable roller coaster. In fact, it is very similar to Everest in Animal Kingdom, which is one of my favorite rides. Both Big Grizzly Mountain and Everest both contain fuzzy characters that mess with your track and cause you to ride backwards for a bit. Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed this ride so much that we rode it three times – in the front, all the way in the back, and (for posterity) in the middle.
Mr. Selfish and I were sad to learn that HKD did not have an equivalent of Haunted Mansion. We discovered that HKD is in the process of building Mystic Point, which will have its very own Mystic Mansion. This area is slated to open in May 2013, so we just missed it. Here’s a photo of Mystic Mansion, which is still under construction.
In Toy Story Land, we rode the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. This ride was pretty straight-forward. It just brings you up and drops you down. I much prefer the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios in Orlando, which does the same thing but is themed as the Twilight Zone. We rode the faster single rider line, which is how I got a photo of Mr. Selfish with two little Chinese girls.
Otherwise, all of the rides on which we went were similar to other Disney rides. Our favorite was It’s a Small World, which we’ve been on plenty of times in Orlando. HKD’s Small World had characters from almost every popular Disney movie incorporated into the ride. As far as I could remember, Orlando’s Small World does not.
Mr. Selfish and I also rode the Jungle Cruise. The Orlando version is one of my favorites since it is so kitschy with bad puns and jokes. For HKD’s Jungle Cruise, you get to choose your language – English, Chinese, or Japanese. Luckily, English had the shortest line. However, it was quite odd to hear similar Jungle Cruise jokes told in a very thick Chinese accent – even if it is in English. Mr. Selfish and I still enjoyed it though.
Finally, we went on Space Mountain and Buzz Light Year Astroblasters. These rides were very similar to the ones in Orlando, as well as in Paris. Unlike in Paris though, these rides were very well-themed. Even Orlando’s version of Buzz Light Year Astroblasters doesn’t have a giant Etch-a-Sketch next to Buzz Light Year while you’re waiting in line.
As I stated before, the best thing about the rides at HKD is that all of the lines were waaaaaay short. Even though we rode all of the adult rides once, Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars three times, and It’s a Small world twice, we were still done with park in under four hours.
I can’t wait till you move here so we can go to Disneyland together! No one wants to go with me.
We’re going in early August. You should totally come!