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Hong Kong March 2014

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:09 pm

Eight more sleeps to go - not that I'm excited :D :D :D
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

mushu mama
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Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby mushu mama » Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:12 am

Getting so close :) you must be getting excited now
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

churros
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby churros » Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:58 pm

Ok Keith you need to fill us in on you trip plans so we can live vicariously

KeithS
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:43 pm

Ok Keith you need to fill us in on you trip plans so we can live vicariously
I have to admit that we don't have a lot of plans for this trip. We may have a few things arranged with the wonderful help of HK Barry, but I'm not going to mention them beforehand, you'll just have to read my daily updates to see what happens!

We are flying out on Sunday 23 March, staying at the HKDL Hotel and return to Sydney on 1st April. Beyond that, we are playing it by ear! We are booked in to the Star Guest program and that includes the Duffy dessert decoration experience, and we have a couple of character breakfasts booked.

I'll start posting on Sunday with updates!

Just five sleeps to go!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:04 pm

Last day at work - and two more sleeps to go...
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

churros
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Location: The Shire

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby churros » Fri Mar 21, 2014 4:26 pm

-/

KeithS
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Sat Mar 22, 2014 8:19 am

One more sleep!

I've just finished my main packing - just counting down the time now.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

churros
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby churros » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:04 pm

Have a great trip Keith and Della! Make sure you update us regularly, you know we all live vicariously!

The highlight of my coming week is to travel to Moree for work for the day on Tuesday!

KeithS
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:06 am

Thanks Beth!

We are sitting in the Qantas Club having a bite to eat. We board in half an hour. Can't wait to get to the hotel tonight.
We will keep the updates coming!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:50 pm

We are here safe and sound. About to hit the hotel shop. Wait to you hear about our room! You'll have to wait though until I get back.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:19 am

Day 1 - 23 March 2014 – Departure

Time to go! After counting down the days, the time had finally come to head off to Hong Kong Disneyland. The night before departure, we had to go to a family engagement party which wasn’t the best preparation for us, but we managed to get-everything packed beforehand. I headed over to Della’s house early on Sunday morning to pick her up and we headed over to the airport.

As usual, Della hit the airport shops but despite being severely tempted by new items in the Swarovski store, she held off and we boarded the place to Hong Kong without any additional purchases. The flight was fairly smooth and being a daytime one, it seemed to go by really quickly. I watched a couple of movies and then next thing I knew it was time to land.

After getting our bags and a completely painless trip through Customs and Immigration (our longest queue was for the ATM!) we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.

Check in was fun as they made a big fuss of us, getting us our Happy Anniversary buttons and an itinerary of things that has been arranged for us (which I won’t spoil here, you’ll just have to keep reading each day!). Then we headed up to our room (we’d been upgraded to a sea view balcony room like what we had on the Club Trip in 2011.

We entered the room and WOW – amazing. There were Happy Celebration items everywhere. This included bed overlays, a celebration tote bag, a celebration Mickey plush, balloons, special slippers, a Minnie Mouse window dressing (which is great!) and towel animals which include our names done with pipe-cleaners (you’ll understand when you see the photos!). Also, our in-room telephone has a photo of Me, Della and Rapunzel on it!! How they got that photo, I’ll never know – I don’t even think Della and I have that photo! Disney Magic and Hong Kong Barry at their best.

So after photographing the room – we did what any real Disney fan does first – head to the hotel shop! There was a lot of new merchandise and Della bought a Duffy t-shirt to kick things off. We then went back to the room, fussed around and got some room service food before going to bed. Big day tomorrow as we hit the parks!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

mushu mama
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Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby mushu mama » Mon Mar 24, 2014 10:02 am

OMgosh... missed your departure...

have a wonderful time guys :) cant wait to hear about the trip :)
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

churros
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby churros » Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:46 pm

What a great start! You could come home now and be content!

KeithS
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby KeithS » Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:17 am

Day 2 - 24 March 2014 - Hong Kong Disneyland

We were up at 6am this morning, even though the park didn’t open until 10am. I guess we were still on Sydney time. We took it easy and decided to have breakfast at the Hollywood and Dine café in the Hollywood Hotel down the road. We walked over to the hotel and had a look at the site where the third hotel is to be built but there is no sign of activity there yet – not even any white stakes in the ground etc.

After eating breakfast, we went to the shop in the Hollywood Hotel before heading out the back of the hotel for the walk along the waterside back to our hotel. There is a lot of construction going on out the back of the Hollywood Hotel, but you can’t tell what it is yet. It is a big area, so maybe a DVC wing, or perhaps some backstage offices for Disneyland in case they want to free up land nearer the park. Who knows?

When we got back to our hotel, we just got our backpack ready and then headed off to the park. I should mention now the weather is glorious! Blue sky and about 24 degrees, with a cooler breeze blowing – great t-shirt weather! We took the walk to Disneyland from the hotel and listened to the music as we went – that is one of our favourite Disney park walks. As we approached the entrance fountain, we saw thousands of people coming from the railway station towards Disneyland – it looked like it would be a busy day.

We got to the entry to the park and made our way through the turnstiles. Another Disney adventure was about to begin! We headed into Town Square and saw that the entire right hand side of Main Street was covered in a printed scrim as they were doing maintenance for the entire length of the street. The printed scrim was terrific though as it still looked like the Main Street buildings. We headed straight towards the castle and then went left through Adventureland and into Grizzly Gulch – our first new land to check out.

We noticed here that the crowds were non-existent! The new roller coaster was a walk on and we loved it! I think it is better than Big Thunder in Anaheim as there is so much variety on this coaster – chain lifts, backwards section and a linear induction launch – all in the same coaster. It is very smooth and not scary – just a great thrill ride.

We walked past Chip ‘n’ Dale in their cowboy outfits and headed over to Mystic Manor. Again, this is another new section of the park and again it was a brilliant attraction and a walk-on for us! The queue is well themed with lots of little nods to Imagineers and Disney fans. The attraction itself features the trackless ride system similar to Poohs Hunny Hunt and the ride is kind of like a Haunted Mansion crossed with the theming of Tokyo’s Tower of Terror. The special effects on the ride are terrific – I really enjoyed this!

After a quick trip to the gift shop, we headed into Toy Story Land and hopped on RC Racer before checking out the new ‘Andy’s Toybox’ shop that had been built since we were last there. Lots of good things, but we didn’t buy them until later in the day as it was time now for lunch. We’d been told the fish and chips in Grizzly Gulch were good, so we headed over to the Lucky Nugget Saloon and grabbed them – and wow, they were amazing. I highly recommend getting them on your next trip to Hong Kong!

After lunch, we headed on up to Fantasyland and a mandatory trip on It’s a Small World. The Golden Mickeys is down at the moment, so no viewing of that on this trip. We walked on to Space Mountain next which is still a favourite and then Buzz Lightyear (I won with over 200,000 points).

It was now time for Della to take the lead with some Main Street shopping. We did both sides of the street and picked up a bit of loot. We then grabbed some Mickey Icecreams and staked out a spot on Main Street to watch the parade. We had a really good close encounter with Eeyore during the parade stop which made us laugh.

After the parade, we headed back to Mystic Manor and Grizzly Gulch to do the new rides again, and back to Toy Story Land to buy the stuff at Andy’s Toy Box. It was beginning to get cool and so we got our jackets out of the locker and went to dinner at the Royal Banquet Hall – I had a yummy steak and Della had a bacon pasta meal.

Straight after dinner, we wandered back to the castle to watch the 8pm fireworks. Once that was finished, the park closed, so we made our way down Main Street and walked back to the hotel. It was a really fun day where everything went so well. We had lots of little cast member encounters and fun little things throughout the day. If every day goes like today, we’ll be very happy!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

churros
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Re: Hong Kong March 2014

Postby churros » Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:11 pm

Sounds like a perfect day!


kuchnie Czeladź

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