Up at 4am to meet the minibus at 4:30 which took us to the airport for a 7am flight out to Hong Kong. The descent into Hong Kong was a bit bumpy. There was a lot of cloud around. I have a feeling this is pretty normal. The city looks awesome from the air. Just a mass of winding roads and highrise buildings. But also vast expanses of green. Mostly hills, fair enough, but still.
We took 2 taxi’s from the airport to the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel where we’re staying for the 4 nights we are in Hong Kong. They cost just over HK$100 (about AUD$14.00) each. Took roughly 30 minutes and we arrived at the hotel around 12:30.
Here’s a tip. Even if you’re not going to Disneyland, stay at this hotel. This is top of my awesome list for the trip, and so far there have been some pretty awesome things. The mood and atmosphere as soon as you walk into the place is fantastic. There are probably some very nice hotels in Hong Kong but I can’t imagine anything coming close to this one.
There really is a magic surrounding Disneyland and it pretty much smacks you in the face and drags you through the front door as soon as you arrive. Plush carpets, massive rooms, huge chandeliers and floors polished till you can see your face in them.
As we were actually early (check-in was at 3pm), we registered at the front desk and went looking for some lunch. (The staff were all too happy to store our luggage for us until the rooms became available.) We asked where we could get some food and were directed to the poolside cafe. Walking out the back door and down a gigantic staircase (one of two) you get a view of the back gardens and the signature Mickey Mouse hedge maze, with Mickey’s head at the centre.
Everything is immaculately clean and tidy. At the back of the hotel is also a large ferry jetty but we never found out exactly what it was used for.
Around the east wing of the hotel is the pool. And what a pool it is. They sure don’t do things by halves around here! Slides, spas, another indoor lap pool, gym; the works. Even the bloody change rooms are classy.
We had lunch at the garden view cafe and then took the kids for a swim. There are lifeguards on duty and they even have backpack style floaties for the kids in various different sizes. The slide was loads of fun.
We went back up to reception to check if the rooms were ready. Two of them were good but there was still one unavailable because it hadn’t been double checked by the head room checker. This place is quality. It wasn’t long before the final room was ready so we headed up (or more correctly, around! How much more perfect can you get? We didn’t even have to take an elevator. Sweet!!!)
