Were we crazy to book flights to Hong Kong to spend 36 hours there? Probably but it was a fun adventure! We found these flights for a steal last July and decided why not? Visiting all the Disney parks of the world is one of my Bucket List objectives so we jumped at the opportunity. Our adventure started on a 4 hour flight to San Francisco and a 30 MINUTE LAYOVER. We were extremely tight on time and sprinted through the airport, but we made our connection! We flew United on both legs of our flights and they had a great amount of movies to chose from. The flight from San Fran to Hong Kong was about 14.5 hours. We arrived in Hong Kong around 6 pm. The first thing I noticed about the Hong Kong airport were the temperature check points everywhere. They take their health seriously and urge you to get your temp checked if you are not feeling well. After we made our way through customs, we walked to our hotel. We decided to stay at the Regal Airport Hotel. I thought it would be convenient to stay at the airport, however that turned out to be the opposite. In order to get on the subway anywhere else in the city, you have to take the airport express every time that is 3x the price as a normal one way ticket. The hotel also advertises a shuttle to Downtown and Disney however the times were inconvenient and we didn't get to utilize this one time. Hong Kong's public transportation is exceptionally easy to navigate!
Our first evening we took the train into Downtown and went to the Ladies' Market. There are tons of stalls and if you can imagine it, you can buy it at this market. Our first impression of Downtown Hong Kong was it was extremely clean. Everywhere we went during the trip was very well maintained and hardly had trash anywhere.
The next day we had a buffet breakfast at our hotel and it was the best meal of the trip. They had a wide variety of Western and traditional Chinese breakfast options. After breakfast, we made our way to Hong Kong Disney! We did not take the shuttle provided because the shuttle did not depart until an hour after the park opened, and we wanted to maximize our time. However the train system has Disney as an independent stop and was easy to get to! Unfortunately it rained on us almost the whole day at Disney, but we powered through in our rain gear and did not experience any lines. We were the first ones to the park and made our way to Fantasy land first. We had a blast taking our time in the park. The Its a Small World was great and actually incorporated Disney characters in their respective "land". Another favorite of the day included Mickey's Storybook show. The stage props were amazing and all the songs were in English so we enjoyed singing along! This show is exclusive to Hong Kong Disney so is definitely a must see. Another attraction exclusive to Hong Kong is the Mystic Manor. It is a greatly executed ride and the special effects were fun!
We were able to do all the attractions at Disney including a parade and we managed to finish around 4 pm! We ventured back to our hotel and changed out of our wet clothes for the evening. We made our way to Victoria Harbor where we got to see the impressive Hong Kong skyline and watch the laser light show that happens every night at 8 pm.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the Downtown ferry terminal. One of the reasons we stayed at the airport was we thought we could take the ferry from the airport, however you can only use that ferry before you go through Customs, so we were not eligible. We took the hour ferry ride to Macau, the other city state territory of China. For Macau or Hong Kong Americans do not need Visas for quick trips. Once we arrived at the ferry terminal in Macau, our hotel (and most) provide free shuttles all around Macau. We stayed at the Wynn in Cotai, which is the newer part of town. The hotel was absolutely the most beautiful hotel I have every stayed at. We had a TV in OUR bathroom mirror. The entire room was controlled by iPads and it was just gorgeous.
We settled in then we took the free shuttle to the downtown area. We first walked to a 15th century Portugese church remains. It was gorgeous. There were tons of tourists here, but it was a really pretty sight. We went inside and saw the holy room and the bones.
We also wanted to see the Magic shop from Now You See Me 2. Unfortunately they have relocated and you can no longer visit the location. The cobble stone streets and seeing all the street vendors was so cool! Everyone was giving away free samples of jerky. Macau was a Portuguese territory before it was owned by China, so there are a lot of influences of their culture.
The older side of Macau was a bustling city and we enjoyed strolling around. We then shuttled back to Cotai and got ready for dinner. We ate at the buffet at the Wynn and the food was alright. It was a bit pricey however. We then took advantage of the shuttle and went exploring all the mega casinos around us. The four largest casinos in the world are all located in Macau. We walked through them and saw the impressive décor and mini shows throughout them. The Eiffel tower at the Parisian has a really neat short show and reminded me of our romantic trip to Paris! We did not gamble because all the machines were in Mandarin. After we explored we rode the complimentary people mover at our hotel, and watched the music water show, it was sort of a mini Bellagio water show.
The next day it was time to start the adventure home. We took the ferry straight to the airport. At the airport make sure you get your tax they reimburse you for the ferry. The McDonalds at the Hong Kong airport had a McCafe and made their coffee as a gourmet shop!
Our short trip was definitely worth it and made us closer to our goal of seeing all the Disneys in the world!
