The Chewys’ Hong Kong Disneyland 2017 Trip

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Hola chewy friends! This is gonna be a photo heavy post on our two days (8th & 9th November 2017) in Hong Kong Disneyland! I had previously reviewed the newest hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Disney Explorers Lodge, and you can read about it here.

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Many of our friends thought that we were crazy beyond words to book a 7.30am flight to HK, especially since we were taking Little misschewy and Mini misschewy with us. It was actually my idea and when I sounded misterchewy out prior to purchasing our air tickets, he was totally up for the challenge. LOL. Yup, we left our house at 4.30am to head to the airport. I wanted Disneyland to be the first stop of our HK trip and planned to reach there as early as possible so that we could make the most out of our admission tickets!

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We spent a considerable amount of time in our hotel room when we checked in at Disney Explorers Lodge but luckily, I still remembered to perform my timekeeping duties. Hehe. When we reached the park, it was around 2pm which wasn’t too bad considering we reached HK airport at 11.30am!

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Plenty of “distractions” once you enter the park. Gotta focus! Haha.

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We first passed by Mickey and Minnie at Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A and was appalled to see the long, snaking queue of fans, which actually shouldn’t really come as a surprise since they are Disney’s most popular couple! Just a few metres away, we spotted Donald and Daisy! There was a queue too but it looked manageable so we joined in without hesitation.

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It’s really sweet that the mascots interact with the fans. Little misschewy was shy but after we had our photographs taken, she kept saying “Daisy Duck hugged me!”

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We were really lucky because the queue for Duffy and Stella Lou was quite short too!

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It is easy to miss Market House Bakery, so be sure to keep a look out because there are plenty of goodies to fill your hungry tummies!

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Just look at those Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh donuts! Cuteness overload! We bought one and I wanted to take a nice photo under natural light but Little misschewy just wouldn’t allow me. LOL.

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It was time for the Flights of Fantasy parade but we gave it a miss because our plan was to watch it the next day. Since most people were watching the parade along Main Street, U.S.A., it was a splendid time for us to go for as many popular attraction rides as possible!

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Our first ride was Orbitron at Tomorrowland. We queued for about 5 minutes only!

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Have you seen anyone eating while on a flying saucer ride?

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Try your hand at one of the game stalls if you visit HK Disneyland!

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I have always enjoyed It’s a Small World since my first ride at Tokyo Disneyland many years ago!

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Sing along to the classic anthem of world peace during a musical boat tour hosted by the children of the world. Climb aboard a cozy boat and set sail along the Seven Seaways canal for an approximate 9-minute journey.

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It was hard to take photos because of the dim lighting and there was plenty of movement from the singing and dancing dolls, and also the boat ride. Taking videos would be a better idea!

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Due to routine maintenance and inspection, It’s a Small World will be temporarily suspended from January 3 to 16, 2018.

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When we were in Fantasyland, we grabbed FastPass tickets for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

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Another highly recommended ride for young children! The four of us shared a Hunny Pot and were taken through a colorful, song-filled storybook wonderland!

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As it was quite some distance to walk to the Baby Care Centre at Main Street, Mini misschewy and I managed to find an empty bench near Mad Hatter Tea Cups which was temporarily suspended during the time of our visit. A baby’s gotta drink when a baby’s gotta drink!

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In the meantime, misterchewy and Little misschewy went for the Cinderella Carousel which looks even more stunning at night.

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Boy, were we famished after a long day! Early dinner beckoned at the Royal Banquet Hall.

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This medieval dining hall serves American, Japanese and Chinese specialties. Be spoiled for choice as you choose from four food stations — Grill, Japan, Guang Dong and International.

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I had the Japanese Curry Pork Chop Bento (HK$139). The portion was quite huge! Food tasted mediocre but still acceptable.

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The hubs chose the Baked Pork Chop with Rice Combo (HK$129) so that Little misschewy could share some of his food which was non-spicy.

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We bought the 3-in-1 meal coupon which includes an ice cream or popcorn.

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Just look at these! How cute!

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Decided it was a good time to squeeze in a bit of shopping before the night time parade! So in love with the new Disney character, Stella Lou!

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Continued shopping before fireworks began!

Called it a day after watching “Disney In The Stars” Fireworks!

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We were ready to conquer Disneyland again on our second day! Dedicated about 1.5 hours in the morning for a photoshoot which I will blog about in a separate post!

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Time to reward ourselves with some food and it was lunch time anyway! Love the Explorer’s Club Restaurant at Mystic Point!

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Both kids were asleep so we queued for Mickey and Minnie!

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Grabbed a good spot for the Flights of Fantasy parade!

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Sofia the First!

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Little misschewy was so excited to meet Snow White in person!

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Isn’t this such a sweet photo?

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We skipped the night time parade and fireworks on the second day since we had already experienced both the day before. Did some last minute shopping along Main Street!

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Do you know that there are two Disney stores at Hong Kong Airport? If you regret not getting something you like at Disneyland, you can always try your luck at the airport!

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If not, there is always Airfrov that you can count on! Get travellers to shop for you! New users can get $10 credit just by signing up on Airfrov’s website or app! Go to the Credits page and redeem “CHEWY” code BEFORE you post a request. The credits can be used for $5 off $35 spend, or $10 off $70 spend (before service & delivery fee). Some of the items you see in this photo aren’t mine! 😉

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Hope you enjoyed reading about our two-day trip to Hong Kong Disneyland! Stay tuned to our next post!
Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy 🙂

Disney Explorers Lodge in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Review

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Hello everyone! I will be starting a series of blog posts on our recent family trip to Hong Kong (8th to 13th November 2017) and this first installment is a review of Disney Explorers Lodge, the newest hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland which opened on 30 April this year.

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In the past, staying at a hotel in Disneyland had never once crossed our minds. Since we were travelling with Little misschewy and Mini misschewy this time, we decided that staying in Disneyland would be a nice experience for all of us! Plus it would be well worth the money since there are four of us! LOL.

Room and 2-Day Ticket Package

Spending a night in a hotel in Disneyland isn’t cheap but there are special hotel offers listed on the Hong Kong Disneyland website where you can save up to 40% off when you book 21 days in advance. One day in HK Disneyland is definitely not enough especially when you have young kids in tow, so we selected the Room and 2-Day Ticket Package which starts at around HK$3624 (S$626). The standard rate (room only) for a one-night stay in Disney Explorers Lodge averages about HK$2600 (S$449) to HK$3350 (S$578), depending on season, so the package is really enticing and value for money!

Shuttle email

DISNEY PRO TIP: This is not mentioned anywhere in the HK Disneyland website if you search under Travel Information but there IS an airport shuttle service which you can request, by emailing Disney Resort Centre at online.reservations@hongkongdisneyland.com
This is only for hotel guests. Per trip, it costs HK$40 per adult and HK$20 per child (3 to 11 years old). We took the Combo (1 Adult & 1 Child) at HK$50 + 1 Adult at HK$40, which is HK$90 (S$15.50) in total. Do take note that the operating hours of this airport shuttle service is only from 10am to 8pm.

Airport Shuttle Counter Map

Upon confirmation, we received this Airport Shuttle Counter Map which was really useful in helping us locate the counter service staff upon our arrival at the airport and we were led the way to the shuttle bus at the carpark. This airport shuttle service is very convenient and highly recommended if you are planning to head straight to Disneyland from the airport. The journey from the airport took about 15 minutes.

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We chose to stay at Disney Explorers Lodge because it is the newest hotel of the three and also because I was attracted to its exploration theme. I absolutely love the lodge motto “ad explorare et somniare” (“to explore and dream”). Interestingly, the rooms are facing and furnished according to the four unique tropical climates of Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa.

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Since we arrived on a Wednesday, there wasn’t any queue for check-in, much to our relief. However, the check-in process took a little longer than expected and Little misschewy started to grow impatient, so we went exploring the huge lobby together!

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There is also a hotel map framed on the wall at the lobby.

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Yay finally! The hubs received a smaller version of the hotel map (as compared to the one on the wall), park admission tickets, attraction priority pass, field guide, guide map, times guide and a handful of stickers!

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Time to freshen up in our hotel room before visiting the park!

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Even the hotel lift is so cool! Wish I had taken photos of the lift buttons and all!

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How cute is this room key card!

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All of us were so excited upon entering our room and boy, was it huge! Little misschewy was the most exhilarated of all and couldn’t stop gushing over all the little Disney-related details she discovered while prancing around in our room.

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I had earlier requested in my email to be provided with a baby cot but a bed guard was attached to one of the beds instead.

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We stayed in the Oceania wing, overlooking the beautiful Rain Drop pool.

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Breathtaking, isn’t it? I wanna wake up to this everyday!

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Gotta love the bathroom amenities! We brought home the tin box as a souvenir.

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There are toothbrushes for kids too!

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Plastic cup for children to prevent breakages!

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I was quite amused to find hotel room slippers in different sizes!

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Ready to conquer HK Disneyland with our guide map and times guide!

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There are resort shuttle buses to ferry hotel guests to and from the park. You may also choose to walk, although I would advise against it since the shuttle bus comes very frequently.

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I have confirmed with Disney cast members that this is a loop service, starting from and ending at the Disneyland Resort Public Transportation Interchange.

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Will be blogging separately about our two days in HK Disneyland!

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Apart from in-room dining, there are other dining options available in Disney Explorers Lodge, namely Dragon Wind, World of Colour Restaurant and Chart Room Cafe. In the interest of time, we only had breakfast at Chart Room Cafe.

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Really adorable Mickey pancakes but mediocre in taste. If you have the time and budget, you might wanna go for the character dining buffet experience at Dragon Wind, where the Disney characters mingle with guests and go to every table for photo taking! We skipped that because we are not a fan of buffets.

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Disney merchandise collectors will be happy to know that there is a shop at Disney Explorers Lodge, called The Trading Post. You can find some items that are exclusively sold at this shop.

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DISNEY PRO TIP: What do you get when you place two of your room card keys side by side? Hehe. You need not return these cards upon checking out! They are meant as souvenirs for Disney Explorers Lodge guests 🙂

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When we returned to Singapore, I received an email to participate in a survey for being a hotel guest of Disney Explorers Lodge. The reward is a couple of wallpapers which you can use for your PC and mobile phones.

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Hope this review on Disney Explorers Lodge is useful to you! Feel free to comment or email me at missuschewy@gmail.com if you have any questions. You may also drop me a text at my Instagram @missuschewy 🙂