Reaching Hong Kong Disneyland hotels?
 

Got a quick layover in HK after Thailand in early November, and some folks on the board mentioned the two new hotels at Hong Kong Disneyland as being very close and convenient for a short layover. According to the HK D-land website, the rates (around HK$1000) are very attractive compared to the Regal Airport and others in Kowloon.

Problem is, it's IMPOSSIBLE to reach these guys. There is no online booking, only a Hong Kong reservations number. I spent the last few nights on long-distance hold for 30+ minutes at a time and never got through. Emails have also gone unanswered. Today I called Disneyland in SoCal and they suggested AAA travel, but when I called them they could not even find these hotels on their reservations system.

I know it must be hectic with the grand opening on Sep. 12, but do these hotels actually exist? And if so, how the hell are we supposed to book them? I've probably already blown any potential savings on long-distance charges to China. Anyone know what is going on there?

What a crappy operation. No online reservations in this age? Gosh... Really tell you the HK Disneyland isn't interested in getting international tourists to their park. Big thumbs down.

Sorry for suggesting them to you and wasting your long-distance fees.

Not your fault, rk -- I just didn't expect this from a Disney operation. I've tried to copy my complaint to Disney corporate, but just try to find an email address on that site! I guess Disney is going underground these days.

It baffles me how they could be three weeks from a grand opening with a billion Chinese ready to descend on the park, yet hotel booking service is nonexistent! Wonder if it signifies larger problems with the opening. Any Disney insiders who care to weigh in, please do. In the meantime, I guess I'd better grab something in Kowloon after all.

The problem I believe is that Hong Kong Disneyland is so focused on mainland tourists they just don't see or can't see what real world-class operation are like these days.

While more and more Chinese use computers and the internet, e-commerce at the retail level is still very far behind the US. Look at the official webpages of their three major airlines - those sites are totally amateurish and takes forever to load.

So many of the tickets and hotel packages for the Hong Kong Disneyland are sold wholesale to Chinese tour companies. I guess they feel like that's enough business for them.

Good point -- I also wonder, since one of the two hotels has rates far below the Regal Airport, if they, in effect, hold those rooms for park-attending mainlanders who are staying awhile, and try to discourage international layovers like me from taking rooms from potential resort guests...

Not that I can blame them, but they could at least make it clear one way or another -- not answering the telephone is not the most helpful approach and doesn't burnish Disney's longstanding brand position.

Can you give me your exact dates in October, my firm uses a good travel agent here and I can ask if they can get bookings, if so, I can write back with contact details of the agent and you can take it from there.

That being said, I don't think staying at the Disney hotels will save you any time in getting to the airport. In the first place, you will be about a 10 minute bus ride to the Disney train station, then you have to take the train to a station where you have to switch to the main line to the airport. While the two train journeys are short, IMO, having to get on a bus, then on a train, off a train after a short journey, and then onto another train is not worth all the hassle. The other thing is that you will be stuck out at Disney all night where there is NOTHING AT ALL TO DO except to go into the park, which closes at 9 pm most nights at 7 pm some other nights. To pass up a night in Hong Kong, and a non-stop, no change train ride from either Kowloon or Hong Kong side to stay out at Disney seems crazy, IMO.

(I spent some time on hold with the Disney hotels myself today. Not to malign Disney, which I enjoy doing despite being a shareholder, I am guessing that these hotels are franchises and are not managed by Disney, and therefore you are not getting the customer service you would normally expect, plus they are overwhelmed with pre-opening. The buzz here is that the hotels are in fact not ready to open. The same has happened with the Four Seasons and the new Mandarin hotels which are going to both miss their opening dates.)

Well, I'm thinking more like a taxi ride from the Airport. And the hotels should have shuttles too, I presume. Just like I saw shuttle buses to Disneyland Paris from CDG.

Anyways, I can't help but fear about chaos when the park opens, like when the new HKG airport opened in 1998. Yikes...

You are aware that Disney HK is being developed in phases and some of the attractions won't be opening for another year or two. It will not be in the same scale as say Disney Anaheim.

I'm wondering the cast members would be speaking in English? I suspect it would be Cantonese/Mandarin. Reason is when in Disney Tokyo the cast members were speaking Japanese although some announcements were in English. They would be catering to the majority of visitors who would be Chinese.

Thanks for the replies, folks, and for your kind offer to help, Cicerone. I was thinking of just taking a taxi, and we get in rather late (8pm) and leave by 9am the next day, so the park is out of the question anyway. It just seemed easier than going back to Kowloon for that short period of time.

But from all the comments I am becoming convinced that D-land is a good place to avoid, given all the likely opening hassles. Like the time I spent over an hour trying to check in to a Vegas hotel. Don't need that at the end of a long trip. So I'll go back to square one and find a convenient hotel in Kowloon. Thanks again for all the advice!

In fairness to the HK Disneyland folks, here's an update: Before I had a chance to book elsewhere, I did receive an email response from the HK Disneyland Reservations Center, apologizing for the long wait times on the HK-based reservations number and offering to book the room by email. (This email arrived about a week after I sent mine complaining about being unable to get through). They also apologized for not having a US-based reservations number yet.

While there is good reason to expect opening-months problems, we went ahead and booked a room for our layover night. The confirmation email arrived the next day. Since we get in late and depart early the next day for our flight home, there is no opportunity to see the park anyway, but the HK$1100 rate for the Hollywood Hotel (and its proximity to the airport) looked interesting. So we'll give it a try and report back in November. But once contact was made, they did a good job of making the arrangements, so we'll see how it goes.

Yes, please kindly report back after your trip. Including how you ended up getting between the airport and the hotel.

ClarkB - The two Disneyland hotels officially opened two days ago, along with the park. And all they got are terrible reviews and complaints, especially the Hollywood. Check-in lines that are hours-long, mosquitos in rooms, long wait for room service, no food after 10:30pm, and on and on.

In short, it's a fiasco. Hopefully they'll have things sorted out by the time you go. I'll post on this thread again if I read anything new about it.

But come to think about it, HK$1,000 is US$130. While cheap compared to the Regal Airport, it's still just a 3* hotel from what I'm reading. For that price, one can get the JW Marriott in Central on Priceline. Or the Sheraton, with enough money back for transportation to the city.

Maybe the Hollywood isn't such a good deal afterall...

I've been to all Disneys (except HK) and apart fr Orlando I cant help feeling disappointed everytime I was there. I donno why people wld pay to wait an hour in lines to sit in a 5 min ride, eat lousy food and stay in small cramped hotels.

Paris was the worst. Rooms were musky and small and under-maintained. Orlando parks and hotels were best in terms of space n variety.

If not for the kids I donno why I would wanna visit the parks again, which has lost a lot of its magic now that you can find a Disney park 7 hours from anywhere in the world.The novelty of a ride thru an American region is long gone.

In this day where service and quality is so high I cant help but feel Disney has failed to keep up with the competition.

wein - I just want to state that the OP isn't visiting the HK Disneyland. Instead, he/she was looking for an alternate to the Regal Airport Hotel for an overnight stopover at HKG. And unfortunately suggested one of the hotels at the HK Disneyland.

Anyways, lots of negative news from the whole park, even before the grand opening...

I am so happy that I am not the only one spend 30 minutes on the phone watiting for a response and I had sended 6th email to Hong Kong disneyland and noresponse and I also had send email to Hong Kong tourist association In San Francisco no reponse. the Hong kong office reponse and ask me to wait for a week before they may help me. I guess I had give up at this moment. Hong kong was crying for tourist after SARS. Now I guess they dont need tourist no more!!!

Well, better late than never, I suppose. It's been 18 months since I promised I would report on the layover stay at HK Disneyland just after the grand opening, on the way home from Cambodia. Happy to say that everything was fine. Took a taxi to the Hollywood from the airport, arrived about 8pm, there were a number of people in line but we had our key about 10-15 minutes later. Check-in was a little slow, but I've had worse.

Rooms were fine -- clean and comfortable, if basic, with a good bathroom. All in all better than you would expect for HK$1000/night. Not much in the way of dining choices -- some take-out style food in the small cafe, and restaurants that were fairly busy, but we didn't try them.

This works fine as an inexpensive layover hotel without having to go all the way back into Kowloon. Hopefully they have improved their online booking situation by now.