Keith and Della's trip report

[calisota]

Figured it deserves a thread of it's own.

First off...nice report, a good combination of facts and impressions. I can almost see the walk to the park in my mind as I read about it.

You didn't have the park tickets already but got them at the Hotel desk?

Watching the fireworks out the window and on TV at the same time must have seemed surreal?

Hollywood and Dine is so clever I almost missed it.

Is this a "one day" park?

Greg

[mushu mama]

Great job guys, worth the wait....

Lots of similarities to TDL too - eg:the mix of western/eastern food, the great service.

We could see the fireworks from our room in Tokyo and they were spectacular as you would imagine, but I wish we'd had them on the TV too, that would have been magic.

Keith, do you suppose the dock would be big enough to dock one of the Disney Cruise Liners there..... ( Sigh......My dream holiday - the Disney Cruise).

Sounds like a fantastic trip.

- Lisa.

[KeithS]

Boy, I'll be busy with the quotes here!

You didn't have the park tickets already but got them at the Hotel desk?

That's right, I had always planned to buy the tickets the nights before we went into the park. They don't sell multiple day tickets yet (I guess they are working out crowd number fluctuations over a 12 month period etc before committing to multiple day tickets - ticketing has been a problem in peak periods.) The hotel desk sold them on demand. You can also buy them in some Hong Kong railway stations. If you stay in a Disney hotel, no matter what the day you are guaranteed entry to the park, so we had no worry. As it turned out, the crowd numbers were low (about 1/3 capacity during the week, 1/2 full on weekends) - it was off season.

Watching the fireworks out the window and on TV at the same time must have seemed surreal?

It was awesome to be able to sit on the bed with the room lights off and the music playing - although the audio soundtrack played on the TV, there was no vision because you were meant to be looking out of the window.

Hollywood and Dine is so clever I almost missed it.

Me too - Della pointed that one out for me!

Is this a "one day" park?

Yep - you could easily do this park in a day - but I suppose you get out of these parks what you put in. On our first full day in the park, we didn't even get into Adventureland because we were taking it slow and soaking it up piece by piece. And we love talking to the characters, so that can take some time (and Della loves shopping..she is a girl after all...) so that can also take some time

Keith, do you suppose the dock would be big enough to dock one of the Disney Cruise Liners

No, sorry, not that sort of big. The dock actually had three separate piers, but they were ferry sized piers with giant queue lines. I've got some pictures so I'll post them in my Hong Kong album.

Della and I also plan to do a Disney Cruise one day (maybe 2008 or 9...we'll be out of annual leave and money after this September's trip!). Wayne and Jennifer who run the club have been - and I viewed their pictures with envious eyes! It looks amazing.

[calisota]

Aaahh, just the audio on the TV, I'd assumed that it was vision as well for the people who had rooms facing the wrong way.

Has anyone seen any of those package deals that travel agencies offer...airfare, accomodation, tickets type thing? Of course they are always twin share {|= (just trying out the new smilies I've set up, I'm actually in a good mood)

Greg

[KeithS]

One thing I missed from our trip report is the type of room we had. There are three types of rooms in the Hollywood Hotel: Garden View (cheapest), Sea View (mid-price), and Park View (most expensive).

Now, because of budget we booked a Garden view room and were placed on the third floor of the hotel - but on the Park side overlooking the front entrance and gardens. This is exactly the same as a Park view room, but just a couple of floors lower and many $$$ cheaper! We still had an uninterrupted view of the fireworks and could see the top of Space Mountain and the Castle.

The hotel only has 8 floors, so I don't know if there is any real advantage to getting a park view room, except you are higher up and can see a bit more over the berm around the park.

We loved our room!

[mushu mama]

Just read the meeting report and was wondering if Della's Disney phone was one of the Dmobo Mickey Phones? =P~

- Lisa

[KeithS]

Just read the meeting report and was wondering if Della's Disney phone was one of the Dmobo Mickey Phones?

Hi Lisa, you guessed it in one - see http://www.dmobo.com

I haven't read the meeting report yet - hang on a second, I'll give it the once over. I didn't know the phone was mentioned...

...ahhh cool. I didn't know Wayne had written that report. This is cool that we are keeping this site more active and up to date. Great Stuff.

Now, as for the phone, I can relate a funny story.

I went to Hong Kong looking to buy a new mobile (a man's one...) and when I was looking in a shop, Della screamed (yes screamed...) and pointed at the Disney phone. There it was in the window, covered with little hidden mickeys. And so began a quest of EPIC proportions, full of adventure, intrigue, disappointment, resignation, humour, excitment and finally - success!

We began to hunt all over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon - stopping at EVERY mobile phone shop (if you've ever been there, you know that's a lot of stopping). Sore feet, hungry boyfriend, rain, crowds - but Della was determined. She looked and looked, climbing up the side of the mountains, fighting off tigers, looking for the temple of the lost Mickey phone (errr...I might have made that last bit up...for the sake of a good story.)

Anyway, after getting stacks of prices (and then me, groaning when Della said "where was that cheapest shop again?") we were down to our last shopping day in Hong Kong. But beforehand, in the morning we decided to go out to the Big Buddha near Disneyland (on Lantau Island). We climbed the stairs and said g'day to him. Then, as we came down the stairs, a fog came in and blotted him out (this story is going somewhere - I promise) but we were lucky and got great pictures. Then just as we got on a bus, it began pouring down rain - we got lucky again.

Then, we get on a train to head into Hong Kong, and Della says to me "you know - I don't think I need to get that Mickey phone - it is a bit expensive and I have a good Nokia anyway. I don't really need it do I?" Here I am, thinking lucky again - that Big Buddha does give good luck, I wont have to traipse around HK looking for a phone today.

So here we are on a train, and Della has resigned herself to not buying the phone and is happy with her decision. Then, within 30 seconds of explaining this to me (and I am NOT exaggerating - it was 30 seconds...) the girl beside Della (no, not me...on Della's right hand side!) opens her purse and pulls out the Mickey phone! And opens it up. And plays the pixie music. And we see Mickey mouse - and he's tapping his foot, and the icons are moving, and Della is poking me in the ribs, and yelling at me "look! He's tapping his feet!"

...and all through the carriage, everyone could hear me groan - because the Big Buddha's hand of fate had just delivered good luck...to Della...and I knew that for the rest of this last day in HK, we would be hunting for that phone. To this day I still see that girl in slow motion, pulling out the phone right beside Della...it was fate that Della was going to get the mobile!

Well to make a long story slightly shorter than what it could have been (although I have rambled and would be rather surprised if anyone reads this far) we eventually got the phone in the rainbow colour scheme - and it really is an awesome item for Disney fans and we are so glad we didn't leave it behind. And along with the phone, the shop even threw in a Mickey Mouse mp3 player to go with it.

So if you go to the website above - you can check out the Dmobo phone (and their new release - the Pooh anniversary phone) and see what we are missing out on in Australia.

Hope you enjoyed my tale - I'll be writing the screenplay next year for a major movie release

[mushu mama]

No need to go to that website - it and I are well aquainted. I was angling for one of these for my Birthday early in the year but of course it didn't happen. I then decided to buy one for myself and bid and won one on eBay. Then the 'delightful' (for want of a better word) seller reniged on the sale and I missed out. Was not a happy camper

And Della, I would have gone to the end of the earth to get one too!

I've just bought a cheapy to tide me over until I have another go at getting one. But it does say 'Mickey' in its own way - I stuck diamontis all over it in Mickey head shapes - will have to do for now!

- Lisa.

[calisota]

Okay, I was going to bite my tongue about this phone, given that I don't have a mobile phone and don't want one (apart from the tech, buttons and flashy things side of me wanting to play with one) but I'm not able to.

Where is the Duck!!!???

Greg

[mushu mama]

Where is the Duck!!!???

I'm afraid he's too hard to do in diamontis

- Lisa

[KeithS]

Where is the Duck!!!???

I hate to say this - but you did pose the question...

Now, you have to remember what market this phone is being sold in - Southern China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand...

...now what do countrymen from these countries like to do with duck? That's right, barbeque them with crispy skin and orange sauce...delightfully tasty!

If you get up to HK, you will see BBQ duck and chicken everywhere. So I'm guessing the Mouse is a more friendly and recognisable character for their phones, whereas the "The Duck" - well, it is like carrying around a phone with a picture of a big juicy steak on it (hahaha - sorry Greg, couldn't resist )

[calisota]

Okay, I'll give you that.

I've been to China and know first hand the Chinese love of anything with feathers (or fins or fur...) in the pot. I ate some strange things while I was there and loved all of it.

I even had one guy practising his english on me seem extremely confused when I explained what a kiwi actually is and that we don't eat them.

Greg

[KeithS]

I've added a few ferry pier photos to my Hong Kong album. They aren't the best angles - but will give you an idea of how the place looks new but abandoned.

[calisota]

You have to be impressed by the way that they plan ahead. There may be no ferrys now or for a while but they have the facilities in place. Forward thinking and paying for it now when it's cheaper than later when it would cost more.

I suppose in Hong Kong people are used to taking ferrys so it makes sense.

Greg

[KeithS]

Yeah, they have planned well ahead on this one.

I just hope this park gets the patronage it deserves. The problem I see is that people are thinking, "we'll go when there are more attractions" and Disney is thinking "we'll build more attractions when more people come..."

Hopefully opening Autopia and Stitch in June will help attendence figures over the summer period.