MMietaiyouRevisiting Hong Kong Disneyland after fifteen years, I wanted to relive the magical journey with my daughter, but the actual experience was rather disappointing. The biggest upside to Hong Kong Disneyland now is probably just the shorter queues.
We stayed at the newest hotel, Disney Explorers Lodge. The public areas have lots of adventure-themed decorations, and the room was spacious. At just over HKD 2,000, the price was acceptable, but the details left a lot to be desired.
1. The hotel is considered part of the park, so prices are the same. A bottle of mineral water costs HKD 32, and a lemon tea is HKD 40. The room doesn't provide complimentary water, only a water dispenser. There are no other places nearby to stock up on supplies.
2. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and razors are not provided. You have to buy a kit for HKD 40. Even for something you pay for, the quality is poor. Back then, the All-Star Movies Resort used to offer specially designed toothbrushes, but now they're just the cheapest disposable items, worse than those you can grab for free in the lobbies of Japanese budget hotels.
3. The room's blackout curtains were ineffective, with a large gap at the top, allowing light to stream in as early as 7 AM.
4. We couldn't access our room when we tried to check in in the afternoon. Only after playing in the park and returning to the hotel did we realize the room came with some discount vouchers, like for the costume photography. We had already spent thousands, only to receive the HKD 100 voucher that evening. For comparison, Legoland Nagoya provides vouchers to guests during check-in.
Other aspects were pretty much the same. Lower-floor rooms of the standard type had very poor views, entirely obstructed by plants. For birthdays, they offer a cake made of towels, but it's very simple. Breakfast was better than expected; while the food in the park is terrible, the hotel breakfast offered freshly made noodles and rice vermicelli, and the steamed dim sum was also very fresh.
Overall, it felt like they offered a bit of every service, but all of it was perfunctory and superficial, or designed to encourage more spending. It's a far cry from the experience we had before, and quite disappointing.
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