So I finally completed a life goal: to visit every Disney theme park on the planet. I got to spend two fun filled days at Hong Kong Disneyland!
Honestly I had only one MUST do at Hong Kong Disney, the Mystic Manor ride. For Disney park nerds, this is touted as the best version of a Haunted Mansion in any theme park.
Of course I also wanted to experience what was unique about this park, including the attractions, shows, food and shopping.
MYSTIC MANOR REVIEW
Here’s my Mystic Manor (non spoiler-y) hot take: it’s … FINE.
PROS
Mystic Manor has a beautiful exterior and interior design. It’s not anything close to the original mansion, but it’s unique and eye catching. The Victorian touches and global explorer vibe is fantastic. I could look at all the art in the queue for awhile.
It’s absolutely dense with effects, both practical and digital. The trackless ride system is used to great effect. Definitely makes this a repeatable ride. The four times I rode it, I kept discovering new things and perspectives.
All the scenes are very well done. The second to last scene is INCREDIBLE and worthy of it’s placement in China. (No spoilers!)
CONS
It’s not scary or even creepy. That’s kind of a requirement of a haunted mansion, in my book. It should be at least a little intimidating for a small child. It’s not. It’s silly, fun and light, which is great, but not on brand for a haunted mansion. I get it, that Chinese people don’t eff with ghosts. But don’t they want to be a little scared?
The park leans heavily on your investment in the main character, Albert the monkey. He’s cute, but that’s about it. I don’t need him plastered over all the merch and adverts for the ride.
Contrast that with all the incredible characters from Haunted Mansion — Madame Leota, the hitchhiker ghosts, the portraits, the chorus, the ballroom dancers. ICONIC. A monkey isn’t going to match all that.
Conclusion
It’s a great ride. But it barely cracks the top 5 of trackless rides for me. I’m so grateful I got to experience it though.
Other Park Attractions
Most the park will feel familiar if you know Disneyland or Magic Kingdom. The only big change is Tomorrowland, which is basically Marvel-land, with two E or D Ticket rides, two gift shops, and a restaurant all themed to Marvel. None of it is really any good and doesn’t feel right in the land, if I can be honest. The worst offender is the Ant Man and the Wasp ride, which is the worst version of the “shoot at stuff” ride that I’ve ever been on. The Iron Man ride is only marginally better, but only because I kind of like Iron Man.
The other weird bit is that their Space Mountain is permanently themed “Hyperspace Mountain,” i.e. the Star Wars version. I’m just okay with that variant. Since there is no other Star Wars stuff in the land, it feels kind of off.
Other notable rides:
- Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars: A terrible title for a pretty decent thrill ride. I wish it wasn’t so short.
- The Jungle Cruise: They have a Chinese and an English version. It’s pretty well done, although it’s weird that they still have a section with the “natives” almost attacking the boat.
- The Disneyland Railroad: Pretty similar to other parks, but this one has some light Duffy and Friend’s theming.
- Frozen Ever After: Very popular. The same as in several other Disney parks.
- Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs: Pretty fun, but very short.
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Despite being a “classic” tracked ride, it’s got some really fun and weird elements I enjoyed.
The Shows
- The Lion King show: Honestly this one is such a banger. Dancing, acrobatics, trapeze, fire, puppets. I got a little emotional all over again.
- Sam Wilson Meet and Greet: It was actually pretty fun and a little intimidating to meet this character! There were a ton of character meet and greets.
- Mickey’s Wondrous Book show: It was cool how they had simultaneous subtitles in Chinese and English. It’s basically the greatest hits of Disney in one show.
The Rest of the Park
Duffy and Friends are EVERYWHERE in the park. In every gift shop, featured on various snacks, walking around as hundreds clamor to get pictures with them, dancing at two different theater spots during the day, and adorning most of the young people in the park on their clothing and clutched in their arms.
There are many picture taking spots where you can pose your Duffy bear or other character on a stand with some iconic view behind it. Long lines of people patiently wait their turn to pose their stuffed animals waiting for a Disney photo shoot. I know, it’s weird, but clearly it makes people happy.
It looks like the reputation of Chinese people as being massive resellers of Duffy merch is true. I saw many park guests carrying around giagantic bags full of Duffy stuffed animals and other branded items. On the train ride back to Hong Kong, I sat next to one girl with a full bag of Duffy stuffed animals. I pointed to it and said “nice haul.” She explained that she had bought all of them “for other people online.”
I hadn’t heard much about the food and drinks at Hong Kong Disney, so I didn’t get my hopes up. That said, for dinner I went to the River View Cafe next to the Jungle Cruise and had a delicious Indonesian meal featuring spicy beef rendang, coconut rice, some spiced chicken wrapped in banana leaves, and pickled veggies.
Overall, it feels gratifying to complete this life goal, as silly as it seems. For the record, that includes:
- Disneyland
- Disneyworld (and it’s associated theme parks)
- Paris Disneyland
- Shanghai Disneyland
- Tokyo Disneyland
- Tokyo DisneySea
- Hong Kong Disneyland
Okay now on to the Disney cruises! Just kidding. (Or am I?)
Other random observations:
- The merch was just okay. I didn’t fall in love with anything in the stores, if I can be honest. Most egregiously, there is a lack in Mystic Manor branded merch, other than Albert the monkey.
- The crowds were fine. The longest lines were at most 30 minutes during a lot of the day, and lots of rides were walk ons. The only exceptions were the Frozen rides, which were always 45 minutes or more.
- It’s super easy to get there from the main part of Hong Kong. No need to stay on property! The train takes maybe 40 minutes and runs at all hours.
