Absimilliard
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 15, 1999
By a complete fluke, I was able to visit every Disney theme park in the world in the span of 10 months. I had been to all those parks before, but never that close together. Those are my impressions about the Asian parks.
My favorite of the lot is Tokyo Disney. Great cast members, crowd with reasonable food prices. Souvenirs are not what foreigners expect, but there is Nakano Broadway and Mandarake Complex in Akihabara for that. Last september, I stayed at the Disney Celebration Hotel Discover and I liked it. Located a little further from the park than I was expecting, but still reasonable. The decor of the hotel and rooms was exactly what I like at Disney: the PARKS. At Discover, the adventure themed lands and rides are celebrated, with models of Journey to the Center of the Earth ride vehicle and others in the lobby. The murals are amazing too. If I can score it for less than 200$ a night, this will be where I stay when I go to the parks. I am heading back for an impromptu trip this month for the opening of Soaring Fantastic Flight, but staying at the Washington Hotel Ariake Tokyo Bay since the Discover was over 400$ a night and the other Disney hotels above 700$ a night.
Over in Hong Kong, stayed at a Holiday Inn Express Mongkok and it was easy to reach the park by MTR. In general, the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express along with the Comfort Hotels are much nicer in Asia than they are in the US. The park was a little more crowded than I was expecting, but perfectly manageable. There were even items on sale inside the park too: scored two Mystic Manor umbrellas at 50% off notably. Food was amazing, but quite expensive. Amazingly, inside the Lego mall in Yau Ma Tei, called In's Point, there was a store selling old Tokyo Disney items. I scored a grand opening Popcorn Bucket from Tokyo DisneySea from him. Why do I call it the Lego Mall? The mall is litterally filled with small stores that sell every Lego has on sale right now along with older sets. Individual minifigures? No problems. I scored two bounty hunters sold in the 20th anniversary Slave 1 set for a reasonable price. The store is on the second floor and the best way I can direct you is by telling you to go left when you exit the escalator. Its on the main aisle of the mall closest to the street and you'll see Mickey Mouse items in the large window.
For Shanghai Disneyland, park was very crowded since school holidays were starting. Got in at 08:45 after the park opened at 08:30 and there was already no fast passes for Soaring Above the Horizons left and a 105 minutes queue already. Other fast passes were nearly gone, so got one for Seven Dwarves Mine Train later and stopped walking toward Adventure Isle. I went back on the Shanghai Disneyland app and bought the 8 attractions Premier Access. This is a set of use any time you want paid fast pass for the 8 major attractions and this saved us, even if it was more expensive than park admission. For lunch, we had food at the Stargazer Grill in Tomorrowland. Amazing Captain America Wagyu Burger in a red bun and cool float. My girlfriend had a spicy grilled chicken sandwich and it was great. I also discovered that they sell Dole Whip: Tomorrowland too, downstairs in the snack place under the spiral staircase. Its themed to Stitch too. Merchandise was disapointing as they barely have any attraction or land branded items left. TRON had a small selection left, no more adult t-shirt and best I could get for Adventure Isle was a school set with pens, erasers, etc.
I did not do the 144 hours transit visa in China as we were there for a trade show in Shanghai. I applied for a work visa and it went quite seamlessly during the application and pick-up in Canada.
Any questions about those parks?
My favorite of the lot is Tokyo Disney. Great cast members, crowd with reasonable food prices. Souvenirs are not what foreigners expect, but there is Nakano Broadway and Mandarake Complex in Akihabara for that. Last september, I stayed at the Disney Celebration Hotel Discover and I liked it. Located a little further from the park than I was expecting, but still reasonable. The decor of the hotel and rooms was exactly what I like at Disney: the PARKS. At Discover, the adventure themed lands and rides are celebrated, with models of Journey to the Center of the Earth ride vehicle and others in the lobby. The murals are amazing too. If I can score it for less than 200$ a night, this will be where I stay when I go to the parks. I am heading back for an impromptu trip this month for the opening of Soaring Fantastic Flight, but staying at the Washington Hotel Ariake Tokyo Bay since the Discover was over 400$ a night and the other Disney hotels above 700$ a night.
Over in Hong Kong, stayed at a Holiday Inn Express Mongkok and it was easy to reach the park by MTR. In general, the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express along with the Comfort Hotels are much nicer in Asia than they are in the US. The park was a little more crowded than I was expecting, but perfectly manageable. There were even items on sale inside the park too: scored two Mystic Manor umbrellas at 50% off notably. Food was amazing, but quite expensive. Amazingly, inside the Lego mall in Yau Ma Tei, called In's Point, there was a store selling old Tokyo Disney items. I scored a grand opening Popcorn Bucket from Tokyo DisneySea from him. Why do I call it the Lego Mall? The mall is litterally filled with small stores that sell every Lego has on sale right now along with older sets. Individual minifigures? No problems. I scored two bounty hunters sold in the 20th anniversary Slave 1 set for a reasonable price. The store is on the second floor and the best way I can direct you is by telling you to go left when you exit the escalator. Its on the main aisle of the mall closest to the street and you'll see Mickey Mouse items in the large window.
For Shanghai Disneyland, park was very crowded since school holidays were starting. Got in at 08:45 after the park opened at 08:30 and there was already no fast passes for Soaring Above the Horizons left and a 105 minutes queue already. Other fast passes were nearly gone, so got one for Seven Dwarves Mine Train later and stopped walking toward Adventure Isle. I went back on the Shanghai Disneyland app and bought the 8 attractions Premier Access. This is a set of use any time you want paid fast pass for the 8 major attractions and this saved us, even if it was more expensive than park admission. For lunch, we had food at the Stargazer Grill in Tomorrowland. Amazing Captain America Wagyu Burger in a red bun and cool float. My girlfriend had a spicy grilled chicken sandwich and it was great. I also discovered that they sell Dole Whip: Tomorrowland too, downstairs in the snack place under the spiral staircase. Its themed to Stitch too. Merchandise was disapointing as they barely have any attraction or land branded items left. TRON had a small selection left, no more adult t-shirt and best I could get for Adventure Isle was a school set with pens, erasers, etc.
I did not do the 144 hours transit visa in China as we were there for a trade show in Shanghai. I applied for a work visa and it went quite seamlessly during the application and pick-up in Canada.
Any questions about those parks?
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