Beyond Disney’s Magic: Embarking on an Unforgettable Exploration of Hong Kong’s Marvels

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Why I Left Disneyland…

I literally cannot believe I did everything I wanted to do in Hong Kong Disneyland in the span of 3 hours! 11 official attractions and 2 entertainments done and had gone all around the whole park. I actually bought a Premier Access ticket for 8 attractions but I barely used it. The park was just empty, which shocked me, since this is a DISNEY park. Please, DO NOT buy the Premier Access, you will probably not need it.

I was done with the cute parade on Main Street, Mickey & Friends street celebration, and with coffee in hand I proceeded to leave the park, with the intention to go into the city, explore a bit, and come back for the “Momentous” Nighttime Spectacular and maybe repeat other attractions.

When I left, the cast member did not stamp my wrist, which was a surprise because when I left both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, they did that with some UV ink. I asked her if it was necessary and she said in broken English that only the ticket was required. I thought it was maybe because of the park being so empty? Regardless, I left the park AND the safe zone, and headed to the train station.

People were still coming in from the station, so contrary to the parks in the US, this one was going to be an afternoon-evening kind of park. To my surprise, they did sell a Tourist Day Pass for 65 HKD, approx. 9 USD. This made my day, because for a cheap price I could go into downtown and come back on a cheaper price than an Uber. The problem: they only accepted Hong Kong currency. I could not believe this. I asked everywhere where I could find a Currency Exchange or in the worst case, an ATM. But everyone told me inside of Disneyland. F***.

I went back into the safe zone of Disneyland, found an ATM, got some Hong Kong money, and then came back to the station. The walk is not close, so I was very upset of having to do this. I bought the Day Pass, and made into the station. I was finally seeing the Disneyland Resort Line. It reminded me of the one in Tokyo with the Mickey shaped windows.

On the way to Hong Kong

The Disneyland Resort Line took me to the Sunny Bay station where I took the metro to Hong Kong station, and then walked to Central Station (all underground) to end up in the Statue Square, where I could finally see the highrises from the street level.

The Peak

Two of the most famous towers were in front of me: Bank of China Tower and the Two International Finance Centre. I had to continue walking up to get to the tram. The subway adventure took a good chunk of the time, and now walking, it seemed like maybe not taking Uber was not the best idea. I left around 12 PM, and now it was almost 4 PM. Not good.

I had done The Peak Tram in the past, but I still could not find the building where it is located, even though there are tourist signs all over downtown to prevent you getting lost. I just knew I had to continue to go up. I finally found it, and used some of the HKD cash I had just gotten on the ATM.

The Return ticket was 88 HKD, approx. 11 USD. I was finally going up the peak.

After we get to the station on top, we have to walk up a bunch of escalators to go to the lookout, although the city was pretty visible from many angles and places.

I was just so glad I came here, even though it took me a long time. I could see now the International Commerce Center. The whole bay is just so beautiful, and as a fan of skyscrapers and skylines I was in heaven.

The view on the other side of the mountains was beautiful as well, expanding very far into the horizon, and showing all of the numerous islands to the south west of Hong Kong.

While I was coming back down, I noticed the Victoria Peak’s Lions Pavilion. I also noticed that there was way more development up here than the last time I came a few years ago. More commerce and restaurants.

The Peak Tower was full of amenities like restaurants, coffee shops, souvenir shops, and even the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

Sky100 at International Commerce Centre

I did not go into the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, but I was just so surprised of how touristy this look out had become. I mean it is good news I guess. I got a coffee from one of the coffee shops, and after a few minutes I went down to see the views for a last time in who knows how long.

My supposedly rapid had gone too long, and now I needed to go to my next destination, another lookout: Sky100 at International Commerce Centre. I walked back to Central, then walked inside for a long time to Hong Kong Station and took the subway to Kowloon station to go into the building. I found the Ticket Counter really fast and got my tickets to go up: price was HKD 178.00, around 23 USD. A bit expensive for this part of the world.

393 m later, I was up in the Observation Deck.

The place was huge and the views were even better, I would totally recommend come here to appreciate a 360 degrees view of Hong Kong.

I was surprised of all the construction happening just north of the Victoria Harbour. This city was definitely going to be growing vertically, and I was a fan of it.

From the Observation Deck I could where I had just been just minutes ago, up in those hills and looking towards the Central District.

The view of the bay and all the boats was even better from up here. I could not stop looking at it. But that sun was telling me something: The sunset was about to come, and just like a Disney Princess, I had to go back to Disneyland before it happened. And I had some more spots to see in the city itself.

Time to go eat…

I just like how vertical this city is, but now it was time to go down and get to my next destination.

I had to use Uber this time, because the subway could not take me easily to my next spot, and I could not waste more time doing that. After figuring out where to wait for my Uber I finally got in, and oh surprise, it was rush hour. Fortunately, the next spot was not too far.

I was starving, so I get to one of the places I saw on Google Maps that had what I was looking for: the very Hong Kong buttered pineapple bun.

I was so lucky I picked this one because the food was amazing. I was hungry but still the saltiness and sweetness of the bun and the pineapple and the pork, were fascinating.

I devoured this pork bun and proceeded to pay. Nobody spoke English here, so I had to do gestures to communicate.

It was already 6:30 PM and the sun was coming down. I was way past my 5:30 PM return time to Hong Kong Disneyland, but I was enjoying my little stroll of the city. Next, I went to Fung Chun Dumpling Shop just by foot.

I was going to South Africa tonight, and these were the last minutes of feeling fully safe while walking around in the streets. I had no idea what was going to happen, but for now I was still hungry.

I needed to try the dumplings, so I tried the 8 pieces mixed and fried for around 5 USD (super cheap).

The dumplings were good, but they were a bit oily for my liking. When I was done, I rushed to the Prince Edward station that was just around the corner, and went back during rush hour to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Did I managed to get on time there? Find out right now.