HK Disney New Year’s Eve Countdown Party

dbuckho

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
This may be a better question answered after the elections, but wanted to get thoughts on the New Year's Eve Countdown. They are offering 2 day tickets that let you enter on the 30th or 31st -- and then a second day within the next 7 day period -- and includes a wristband for the party, 3 dining tokens to use after 9 PM, a Mickey Headband, and a NYE Countdown Party Pin.

We are 2 adults and 2 boys (9 and 3) and booked our travel to Hong Kong 10 months ago. We land the afternoon of December 23rd and have flights out to Singapore January 2nd.

Original plans were staying at the IC Grand Stanford for 5 nights, taking an overnight trip to Macau, and then 4 more nights back at the Grand Stanford. HK Disneyland was to be a dedicated day but traveling to/from the hotel in Kowloon. Was planning a similar day at Ocean Park. Now, assuming we do not change our flight out/leave earlier, trying to re-work the trip to avoid being in central Hong Kong during our weekend weekend there and New Year's eve/day.

I still have a 5 night reservation in central HK but also a back up one in the Cyberport area. Figure worse case we can stay out west and take opportunistic trips in with a driver if there is a lot of activity, especially on the 25th and 26th when people will be off work. Then we will go to Macau for 2 nights over the weekend Dec 28-30. And then back to one of the HK Disneyland hotels for 3 nights Dec 30 - Jan 2.

Wondering what New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is usually like at HK Disneyland -- i,e, what was it like last year? What would it be like if the protests were not happening?

Unless things really calm down and there are a lot of last minute bookings from the mainland, will probably still be a good time to go. But we can re-arrange this trip other ways as well - i.e. going to Disneyland first over Christmas Eve/Day. Or going to Macau first and being at Disney the end of that week Dec 26-28.
 
The hard ticket event was introduced this year and has never been available before. It's very clear that these hard ticket events are being introduced to make the finances look better given the protests. The night run hard ticket event was cancelled so depending on how next month goes, there's a chance of this event being cancelled entirely also.

That said, HKDL has been putting more effort into the mini-stage shows so they're probably worth a watch. They're usually nice but not spectacular (similar quality to Newsies in DCA or the Welcome Show at Magic Kingdom). Since they're the only reason most people would pay for a ticket, people will probably be saving spots for them ASAP so if you're arriving 30 minutes before, you'll be watching from the back. If there's some Marvel characters that aren't usually seen in the park like Thor, lines will be over an hour with rampant line cutting. If it's the usual stuff, lines will probably be more normal.

Depending on how many tickets they sell, it could be nightmarish crowds (rampant line cutting with people running and shoving to get places) or a bunch of fun activities with civilized crowds (mostly locals and Japanese with few mainlanders).
 
This may be a better question answered after the elections, but wanted to get thoughts on the New Year's Eve Countdown. They are offering 2 day tickets that let you enter on the 30th or 31st -- and then a second day within the next 7 day period -- and includes a wristband for the party, 3 dining tokens to use after 9 PM, a Mickey Headband, and a NYE Countdown Party Pin.

We are 2 adults and 2 boys (9 and 3) and booked our travel to Hong Kong 10 months ago. We land the afternoon of December 23rd and have flights out to Singapore January 2nd.

Original plans were staying at the IC Grand Stanford for 5 nights, taking an overnight trip to Macau, and then 4 more nights back at the Grand Stanford. HK Disneyland was to be a dedicated day but traveling to/from the hotel in Kowloon. Was planning a similar day at Ocean Park. Now, assuming we do not change our flight out/leave earlier, trying to re-work the trip to avoid being in central Hong Kong during our weekend weekend there and New Year's eve/day.

I still have a 5 night reservation in central HK but also a back up one in the Cyberport area. Figure worse case we can stay out west and take opportunistic trips in with a driver if there is a lot of activity, especially on the 25th and 26th when people will be off work. Then we will go to Macau for 2 nights over the weekend Dec 28-30. And then back to one of the HK Disneyland hotels for 3 nights Dec 30 - Jan 2.

Wondering what New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is usually like at HK Disneyland -- i,e, what was it like last year? What would it be like if the protests were not happening?

Unless things really calm down and there are a lot of last minute bookings from the mainland, will probably still be a good time to go. But we can re-arrange this trip other ways as well - i.e. going to Disneyland first over Christmas Eve/Day. Or going to Macau first and being at Disney the end of that week Dec 26-28.
The hard ticket event was introduced this year and has never been available before. It's very clear that these hard ticket events are being introduced to make the finances look better given the protests. The night run hard ticket event was cancelled so depending on how next month goes, there's a chance of this event being cancelled entirely also.

That said, HKDL has been putting more effort into the mini-stage shows so they're probably worth a watch. They're usually nice but not spectacular (similar quality to Newsies in DCA or the Welcome Show at Magic Kingdom). Since they're the only reason most people would pay for a ticket, people will probably be saving spots for them ASAP so if you're arriving 30 minutes before, you'll be watching from the back. If there's some Marvel characters that aren't usually seen in the park like Thor, lines will be over an hour with rampant line cutting. If it's the usual stuff, lines will probably be more normal.

Depending on how many tickets they sell, it could be nightmarish crowds (rampant line cutting with people running and shoving to get places) or a bunch of fun activities with civilized crowds (mostly locals and Japanese with few mainlanders).

FYI-just announced but they cancelled the NYE party this year due to transportation concerns! They are still doing some stuff at hotels for guests, but not a lot!
 
So much for that. Though I did read a positive review about the New Year's Eve at the Explorer Lodge from a few years ago (a small show in the center). What about crowds the 31st and 1st during the normal hours? How are they normally?
 


Crowds are usually normal weekend levels for Dec 31 and Jan 1. So maybe 30 minutes wait for RC Racer and Pooh but other rides a bit shorter than that. People may save spots for the Christmas shows quite a bit in advance though. Depending on how the protests on Dec 31 go, the crowds may be lower than normal though.
 

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